Radical

I just finished a very uncomfortable read. I don't think I've ever read a book that made me so defensive, aware of my defensiveness, and grieved over it all at the same time. Radical, by David Platt, is the book I fault for this unnerving experience.

This book had been recommended to me by several trusted friends and family, and more than once I had thought about picking it up in the bookstore. When I signed up for the Blogging for Books program through WaterBrook Multnomah and saw that it was one of the books available for review, I didn't even look at what else was available; I selected it on the spot.

I admit that it has taken me several weeks to get through this book. This wasn't because the book was poorly written or difficult to understand; the material is just heavy. The basic premise is that as American christians, we have no idea what it means to live like Jesus, a life of mission. We chase after a life of comfort and security, and care way more about living the American Dream than we do about people's souls. This has trickled into the culture of the church in our country, and we are disobeying God's command to go to the nations with the good news of the gospel, mainly because we don't want to sacrifice these idols. The author goes into a lot more detail on these topics and issues a radical challenge to change at the end of the book. The whole thing is biblically based and very convicting. Needless to say, God has used this book to expose some idols I didn't realize had such a hold in my own life.

The only things I wish the author would have touched a little more on would be the attitude of the heart in these matters. It is easy to tell everyone to quit being selfish and move overseas to share the gospel with the lost; in reality, however, there are a lot of people who just aren't in a position to be able to do this. That doesn't mean that God is less pleased with them, as long as their heart is willing and, should God provide an opportunity, obedient. Sometimes the opportunities that God provides us with are right in our neighborhood, and I don't feel like that was emphasized enough.

Overall, this was a worthwhile read and God has really been using it in my life to change my heart over the last few weeks. If you're interested in previewing this book, you can go here and download chapter 1:

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/2010/04/20/sneak-peek-radical-by-david-platt/

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.