If you gotta start somewhere why not here
If you gotta start sometime why not now
If we gotta start somewhere I say here
If we gotta start sometime I say now
Through the fog there is hope in the distance
From cathedrals to third world missions
Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave
TobyMac, City On Our Knees
I’m going through Radical by David Platt for the second time now. This time slowly, so that I can take in and digest the truths he has written. And one thing is painfully clear: things have to change. If I’m going to follow Christ, I must follow Him in they way He commanded and not how my culture has deemed acceptable. Jesus has no time for casual Christians. The Father seeks worshipers and has commissioned His children to go find them no matter the cost. And while the cost is great, the reward is greater. See, Jesus is the reward. And He is enough!
While I currently give to international mission efforts, and plan to give more in the future, I’m not going to the international mission fields anytime soon. The fields in Pierce County, GA are white unto harvest and the laborers are few. So the place is here and the time is now to go and make disciples. People right here, right now, are dying without the truth. Sure, we’re in the Bible belt and most people here have at least heard of Jesus. But what “Jesus”? The one Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn preach about, who for a fee will give you your best life now and maybe even heal you? Or the Jesus of the Bible who commanded anyone who would follow Him to deny themselves daily. And have they ever seen the Gospel lived out? Or do they just see people gather week after week in padded pews and climate controlled buildings? As my awesome pastor says, “They see the church, but do they see the Church?” So I will go. For the glory of my Savior, I will go. And whatever comes, He will lead and guide me.
I encourage you to read Radical, thoroughly and carefully. I have seen many reviews where people have taken David Platt to say that poverty is the way to holiness and having wealth is evil. These people have missed the whole heart of the book. Two questions you must answer for yourself while reading this book are, “Is this author telling the truth?” and “If he is, what am I going to do about it?”
