Initial Thoughts on "Radical"....

First of all, a warning.  If you haven't read "Radical", you're going to be super bored, or confused, but mostly just bored, by this post.  You really really are.  So if you don't fall into the category of people who have read the book, I suggest you stop reading now.

Also, I'm kind of laughing at myself right now, because I'm thinking, if you take the 20 or so people who read this blog, then subtract the number of people who HAVEN'T read "Radical", you're probably down to about 3 people, and then if you subtract the number of people who HAVE read it, but who DON'T care about my opinion and thoughts on it, you're probably down to 1 person.  And that person is probably Krista, who is my best friend, and whom I could just discuss the book with in person any 'ole time.

So anyway (Krista) here are my thoughts, thus far ; )

Things  I Definitely Totally 100% Agree With From the Book:
I definitely, totally, one hundred percent agree that God asks us, as followers of Christ, to be "radically" obedient to Him, and I definitely, one hundred percent agree that many of us, probably MOST of us, myself for sure included, are not.  I think that "radically obedient" means that when God asks us to do something, we do it.  EVEN IF...no, ESPECIALLY IF... it doesn't make sense, isn't comfortable, isn't logical, goes against what everyone else is doing, seems impossible, seems crazy.  I believe that it is safe to assume that God OFTEN times DOES ask us to do things that fall into that category.  I believe that God SERIOUSLY is not concerned with what we find to be comfortable, safe, and logical, but that He IS concerned with reaching a very lost, very hurting, very needy, very desperate world, for Him, and that in order to please Him, and truly live for Him, anyone who claims to be a Christian needs to be primarily concerned with the same thing, AND (I know this is a huge run-on sentence) that "being concerned with the same thing" often times will mean that we HAVE to do things that are crazy, uncomfortable, and "radical", because how in the world else are you going to, for example, love on and care for orphans and AIDS victims in Africa, other than to do something a bit crazier than sit in your living room and watch American Idol every night?  Oh wait...I just remembered....there IS that "Idol Gives Back" episode, where you can call in and donate money to charity.  That's pretty radical, right?? ; )

Things That Fall Into the.."I'm Still Chewing on This, and Not Sure What My Thoughts Are" Category:
Well, there's only one, so far. As my small group continues to go through this book, I intend to post more thoughts in this category.  Things that I haven't fully decided I agree with, but definitely haven't thrown into the "this is crap" pile.    This is the category that, if there IS anyone still reading this post, I'd definitely love your feedback on.  Or....Krista....we can just discuss at accountability.

The author, David Platt, seems to go on and on about how it is hard for us, as Americans who have so much "stuff" (entertainment, wealth, resources, education, etc) to be truly dependent on God.  We are so self-sufficient, or at least we think we are, that often times we feel like we don't even need God.  Because of this, Platt challenges all of us to intentionally strip ourselves of many of the "extras" we have, that contribute to these feelings of self-sufficiency....basically, to intentionally simplify our lives, for the purpose of being able to better recognize our need for God.

I'm not so sure about this point.  I'm not saying I'm opposed to stripping ourselves of extras, or simplifying our lives (in fact, I'll discuss that more in a bit), but it seems to me that if we have to DO things in order to make ourselves dependent on God, we're almost manipulating the situation.  The whole point is supposed to be for us to recognize our need for God, and our insufficiency on our own, but if we are orchestrating situations....purposely MAKING our lives more difficult, less comfortable, etc, just so that we can experience a FEELING of needing God, it almost seems to me that that is belittling God.  It's like, God isn't big enough or powerful enough to just,  by His very nature, COMMAND our dependence and worship, or, God isn't capable of putting us in situations where we are required to depend on Him, so therefore we need to "help Him out", and take control, and DO things in an attempt to manufacture a feeling of dependence on Him.

I'm pretty sure that I am not expressing this point in a way that makes much sense.  It makes a lot of sense in my head, but I wasn't really able to verbalize it very well to our small group last week, and I thought I'd have better luck WRITING it out, but I'm still having a hard time translating my thoughts into words.  Anyway, maybe I just need more time to ponder that point.


Things About the Book That I Don't Like
So, I've already stated above what I think "radical obedience" means.  However, I wonder if sometimes books like "Radical", and even "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan, don't possibly result in people being "radical", but missing the "obedient" part.  Here's what I mean...

I think it's possible, after reading "Radical" to walk away and conclude that, the way to truly please God, to truly be obedient, to truly impact the world for Christ, to truly be holy, to truly WHATEVER, is to sell all your stuff.  Or to be poor.  Or to be as uncomfortable and unhappy as possible.  Or to move to a third world country.  Or to frown upon any and all comfort, luxury, and entertainment.  To do those things, and then think, "Ok, now I'm for sure being obedient to God".  What I'm saying, is this:  Radical OBEDIENCE, requires being OBEDIENT to what God is specifically asking YOU to do.  It's not about just being radical for the sake of being radical.  Being radical just to say you are radical isn't necessarily being obedient to God.  Are you purposefully, prayerfully, EARNESTLY, daily seeking God, and His will for your life? (and by the way, I'm not claiming that I do an awesome job at this, because I don't) Through that, do you feel Him leading you to sell your stuff?  Give up some or all of your comforts and luxuries?  Move away and become a missionary?  He might be. He really might be. If so, you've got to do it.  You have to obey, even if it seems radical.  BUT, are you NOT purposefully, prayerfully, earnestly and daily seeking God's will, and you just think that by acting radically on a whim, you're obeying God?  I don't necessarily buy into that.  In a roundabout way, I guess what I'm saying is that I think after reading this book, it would be easy to take our eyes off of God, and what he is specifically asking us to do.  It would be easy to forget about the whole POINT of being radically obedient, which is to reach people for God.  In fact, it could be easy to forget about the PEOPLE completely... lost and hurting PEOPLE who don't know God are the FOCUS of what we're being radically obedient to DO.   I think  it could be easy to  get swept away in the idea of just giving stuff away, and stripping ourselves of stuff, without even remembering that it's for the PURPOSE of being able to GIVE to others.  Here's a good way to summarize what I'm trying to say:

There are three "camps" a reader could fall into, after reading this book:

1) Whoa, that's way too radical, and I don't believe God is asking me to do ANY of that stuff (this, for the record, is a bad camp to be in)

2) I need to go sell all of my stuff now, because David Platt insinuates that I should (and I personally feel like he DOES insinuate that)

3) I need to start praying, "God, what is something you are calling ME PERSONALLY to be radically obedient to?  Show me what it is, so that I can do it" (that is the camp I would like to be in)

Gosh, the more I keep writing, the more thoughts start swirling through my head about this book, and the more rambling and confusing I become.  That's ok though.  This is kind of one of those posts that is more for my own benefit than for my legions (ha ha) of readers.  My hope is that as we continue to go through this book, God will be more and more clear with me about what He wants me to understand from the book.  Maybe at that point, my thoughts on this will get more concise.

Thanks for hanging in there with me through this extremely long and rambling post. Krista ; )