Radical by David Platt

Just read the book for yourself and get your answer. It has been a while since I read it but I don't see how the reviewer came to this conclusion. It appears that the reviewer came to the book with some preconceived notions.

 

Read the book. Not some blogger's opinion.

It's a great book. I highly recommend it for any church. It has done much as a tool to help liberate people from cultural consumer captivity.

 

Read the book and disagree with it strongly.

I do not see it as sin to save for retirement or to plan to pay for your own children's education.

In fact, disobedience to God is sin. If God has called you to overseas evangelism or missions of course you should go.

But God does not call all to that. Some are called simply to be faithful farmers or housewives or whatever.

Radical lays a guilt trip. It is more in the "do more try harder" and maybe God will be pleased with you vein.

Instead I recommend reading Christless Christianity as counterpoint.

 

I read the book a few months ago, and returned it to its owner. As I recall, the author had the attitude that if you don't have the same desire to serve Christ in the same areas as he does, then he questions if you are really saved.

For instance, he says that every Christian should have a burden to go on missions trips. He discounted the idea that the Lord may not be leading you to go on missions trips. The author then says that if you don't have a burden to go on mission trips, then he has reason to question your salvation.

I think there was a thread on here about this book a few months ago. It could have been on another forum. In the other thread, one person considered it a guilt trip book. I tend to agree.

I thought the book could be devisive in that it could encourage some people in a church to critize others, who are not lead to serve the Lord in the same way as they were.

It will be interesting to see what others on here think of the book after they have read it.

 

I agree with Nodak. I posted my post before I got to read Nodak's post.

 

Well, it appears we now know what freeatlast's name is! :tongue3:

 

How in the world can anyone be critical of a book they haven't read for themselves? That said, your view of "missions" seems to be askew from the principle contained in Acts 1.8.

The book has been a "huge hit" because it challenges the notion that a Christ-Follower can embrace certain elements of what Platt refers to as the "American Dream" and still maintain fidelity to the Christian life. I for one am grateful for Platt's position and his willingness to point out how the church has embraced "Americanism" to the detriment of the Kingdom.

I will be leading the church I pastor to work through "Radical Together"... Platt's follow up work for groups/churches.

 

When did Way of the Master become the standard (Lord help us)? If I showed up with a banana and wanted to talk about Jesus I would be laughed out of the building.

Radical is just ok. Seems as though he went on a mission trip, saw the realities of how other believers are living and returned with some "I sure have a lot of stuff and it sure is easier for me to be a believer compared to those folks over there" guilt.

 

I'm not a fan of the Way of the Master program. Does that make me "against the Bible?"

 

One day this book and every other book will be burned into oblivion :

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Only the word of God will survive:

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Please Him.

HankD​

 

My thoughts exactly...

While ripping up Platt, those thinking that ANOTHER book is the only way. :wavey:

I've read the book and been involved with some of the people who are in the Platt camp for some time. They are on to something, but those who read and see the word "gospel" and still think about what happens in a traditional Baptist church service on any given Sunday morning will be clueless.

On the other hand, I find some of Platt's concepts to be a tad reckless, and note that he cannot live by his own preaching. That aside, the book is a worthy read if for no other reason than that it challenges so many assumptions that we take for granted, i.e., "I can only do this for the church and no more..."

 

Having read "radical" and obviously missing the place where he comes out against WOTM, can you offer a page number? Is there another work/instance where he makes that statement?

I'm struggling with the notion that Platt is against confrontational evangelism as he clearly indicates in his ministry that he practices it in his own life.

 

There are lots of reasons why I don't care for Way of the Master. The first, and probably most important, is that it isn't the biiblical method of evangelism. Though the authors might purport it as such clearly there is room for other methods of approaching people that are also found in Scripture.

That Spurgeon, Whitfield, etc used it, or a similar pattern, is incidental.

The whole thing is theological imperailism, trying to pull of their method as the method when honest scholarship shows that there are multiplicity of evangelism methods.

I don't want to get into a big ole hairy argument about it. We don't use Way of the Master in the ministry I lead for this and a number of other reasons. The methods we employ and train people with are just as effective and we see souls saved and lives changed.

If you use it for the glory of God that's great! :thumbs: Just please don't go around here acting like it is the divine revelation of exactly how we should go about our commission.

 

For what it's worth you won't meet a better pastor or authentic leader than Platt imho. He's honest about his life, tries to live what he preaches, and does engage in personal evangelism (not that it is a test for fellowship.)

He's a great guy who has written an excellent book that can help liberate people from their cultural captivity in America. The American dream isn't the biblical pattern. I agree with him on that. Our lives are here to give them away.

Now I'm not saying go to an extreme (which I don't see him advocating) and sell everything and live in communes. But we need a prophetic voice calling out our people who bounce from lakehouse to beachhouse to residential house and never think twice about how they can be biblical stewards of their money.

 

I don't recall Jesus asking everyone He met if they had broken a commandment. I do recall Him stepping in to keep the adultress from being stoned. I remember His conversation with the woman at the well, in which He never brought up commandments. I remember the many people He healed without even speaking a word to them. Many believed and were converted, but some didn't.

I have nothing against WOTM (I enjoy the TV show), but from watching Jesus, there are other ways to evangelize without being "against the bible". I think Paul may have had a clue when he said he became all things to all people that perhaps he might win some to the Lord.