Review of "Radical" by David Platt

I'm not much of one to do book reviews, but I wanted to highlight this book to the readers of my blog because I really enjoyed it.  During the past year or so I have returned to reading a little more of the classic Christian authors (basically, dead guys, primarily Spurgeon) and have not been reading as much contemporary material.  Then this book was sent to me in the mail, and it intrigued me, particularly as a pastor and missionary.

I believe Platt really nails it on the head in so many areas.  After living in Brasil for just one year I have considerably revamped my view of the idea of "American Christianity" and how there are so many toxic elements.  At the same time there is much redemptive to be found in the church in the US as well.  Platt walks a fine line of critiquing the church, but doing it in such a humble and winsome way, that even those who may not agree with his message end up respecting him.

I know that Kevin DeYoung and even JD Greear have posted some concerns with respect to Platt's viewpoint, while still valuing the overall message of the book, which is this:  Take back your life from the American Dream, for we have (by and large) manipulated the Gospel to fit our cultural preferences.

I agree with some of their critiques.  Yet sometimes in critique we miss the overall message of the book - which is not some kind of "poverty theology" but rather is considering the words of Jesus at face value.  This is not directed at DeYoung in particular, but it's interesting how many pastors and ministry leaders, in order to justify relatively comfortable lives, will defend the status quo of ministry in the States. 

I don't believe "Radical" was meant to be a heavily theological book, but rather a book designed to encourage and equip the church as a call to action.  It produced this result in me.

Pratt's call for the average American Christian to stop "giving scraps to the poor" and start asking serious questions about what it would take to eradicate poverty are also timely in my mind.  

Chapter six "American Wealth in a World of Poverty" is a goldmine.   We need to stop asking "What can we spare" and start asking "What will it take?"  This isn't just with relationship to poverty, but also to evangelization.

Check it out.  I like Radical because it is succinct, practical, challenging, and comes from a global perspective.

Comments

[Paul C]

Just finished this book not too long ago myself and I personally got a lot out of it. As someone personally praying about going back out into the mission field (Central America), I thought it was a great encouragement and re-affirmation of what the call is and what God's over-arching plan is.

"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." Romans 1:5

Nice blog.