I have embarked on a journey that is unfamiliar for me. I have decided to pick up a book and read for fun! Now what I have chosen is not a book most people would think is for fun, but for me to read for fun is reading anything that I am not forced to read for class. It was recommended that I read Radical by David Platt. Now I just finished the first chapter and I have so many question running through my head. He is dealing with examining the words of Christ against our modern Middle American Christianity. He starts off by telling a story of when he was serving overseas meeting with leaders of underground churches in Asia that struck me to the core. How these leaders had members of their churches being openly persecuted for faith in Christ Jesus and I have take my own faith for granted on numerous occasions.
Now I am hoping for the sake of the Gospel this book will allow me to take the harsh statements of Christ and mold me life around them instead of molding the statements to fit my life. Platt in taking a harsh look at the American Church points out that Jesus' message is basically "Give up everything you have, carry a cross (an instrument of torture), and hate your family. All of this he backs up using the words of Christ in the Gospels. I don't know about you, but that is tough for me to swallow.
One of the toughest images that Platt pulls out in the first chapter is found in Luke 9:59-60 where he tells a man to follow me and he responds let me go bury my father for he just died. Jesus responded with, "let the dead bury the dead and you proclaim the Kingdom of God." Now this is tough for me because I am all that my dad really has left as far as family goes. Then to have Jesus tell me to let someone else take care of his funeral arrangement is hard to hear but one that I know I have to come to terms with.
I will leave you now with these thoughts and will reflect after I have read more of the book.
