Truly Radical: A Book That Will Change Your Life

David Platt’s Radical reads like a modern, American version of Martin Luther’s nailing of his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Chapel door.   The book is well named for what he is proposing is truly radical.  Jesus has called the Church to be salt and light in the world, spreading His Gospel and making disciples of all nations.  However, instead, we in America have absorbed another gospel, a false one, that seeks for the prosperity of the individual at the expense of the international and comfort for oneself that is blind to a world that is headed for Hell without Christ.  How often we have criticized the prosperity gospel types while in denial that we are engaging in a similar mindset. 

Platt zooms out and seeks to stimulate a sense of urgency to reach the 4.5 billion people of the world who are without Christ, of which more than a billion are starving.   Having done that, he then zooms in on specific needs around the world, examples of suffering by people in general and our brothers and sisters in particular.  Before the reader of this review gets the idea that Platt is another social gospel proponent or a post-modern confusing the Gospel with working to create a utopia on the Earth, understand that Platt urges that contributions be made to Christian organizations that are gospel centered.   

His concern is that people realize that sending money alone is not enough.  God the Father sent Jesus the Son, a Person, to us in our time of need and not silver, gold or money.  He challenges the Church to obey the Great Commission which doesn’t say send money or other people but “Go.”  As Jesus said to the Pharisees, they needed to do the one without leaving the other undone. 

To find out how Platt expects everyone to abandon the American Dream for God’s plan instead, I would encourage you to read the book.  It is a prophetic call to the present generation to forsake their nets and follow the Fisher of Men.  If you only read one Christian book this year, this is the one.  I highly recommend it.

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Disclaimer:  A review copy of Radical was provided to me by Multnomah.  The views in the review are my own and I was under no obligation to endorse the book but to present an honest review of what I thought.