“Radical Together” —Uniting around a Gospel-centered Vision
So I’ve been meaning to get on and post my thoughts on the book “Radical Together” and now since I have an extra day off decided to take action.
In this book, David Platt brought some challenges for the church to band together and unify with a Gospel-centered vision. The one question Platt wanted to answer was “How can we in the church best unleash the people of God in the Spirit of God with the Word of God for the glory of God in the world?” In the book he went through the following points: 1. One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church. 2. The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work. 3. The Word does the work. 4. Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people. 5. We are living–and longing–for the end of the world. 6. We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.
So here are my thoughts…..
Tyranny of the Good: Many times the church has programs and budgets and ways to reach out to the community and world, but many times these “good” things are hindering us from achieving the great things God has for us. In this chapter, I had to ask myself what are some “good” things that I should let go of to pursue the great things God has in store.
“When Jesus calls us to abandon everything we have and everything we are, it’s almost as if he is daring us to put ourselves in the flood plain. To put all our lives and all our churches, all our property and all our possessions, all our plans and all our strategies, all our hopes and all our dreams in front of the levee and then to ask God to break it. To ask God to sweep away whatever he wants, to leave standing whatever he desires, and to remake our lives and churches according to his will.”
We are called to lay everything on the table and let God direct us the way He wants, but too often we let our wants, our pride, our very sin nature in letting God take those good things and direct us to His best things. We are called to do this individually as well as a body of believers….are we willing to say “Lord, we don’t want to settle for good things as your people. We want only your best”? It’s a scary question but it’s a question that needs to be answered.
The Gospel Misunderstood: Many times we struggle with maintaining the correct view of the gospel. We will never be radical enough, no matter what we do we can’t be accepted before God but in the same sentence real faith always creates fruit. It’s understanding we can’t do enough, but Christ has. It’s the understanding that the gospel is the reason for radical living. We must avoid becoming a church who continually “work hard to earn the approval of God while ultimately wearing out in our assignment from God” but we also must avoid becoming a church “constantly defending the gospel while rarely demonstrating it.”
The Word does the Work: This was an encouraging chapter as I prayed whether or not to be a community group leader. I felt I wasn’t adequate, that there was someone better but I realized I don’t do the work, the Word of God does.
“Scripture is clear that any leader who wants to unleash the people of God in the church for the glory of God in the world must simply be competent to communicate and faithful to follow the Word of God.” (Matthew 28:20; 1 Timothy 3:2)
As I read this chapter I became increasingly aware that it wasn’t me who would lead but that as we studied the Bible together the Word would guide and direct. I began to pray “Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.” It wasn’t about how good of leader I was or could become but about the Word. “The Word is sufficient to hold the attention of God’s people and satisfying enough to capture their affection.”
The Genius of Wrong: Platt posed the question: “But what if the church itself–the people of God gathered in one place–is intended to be the attraction, regardless of who is teaching or singing that day?” As I read this chapter I began to see that it isn’t about the buildings, the programs, the pastors but the people of God who attract. I began to see opportunities and platforms to spread the gospel.
” And if you are a member of the church, start dreaming and strategizing. Consider where God has placed you, who God has put around you, and how God desires to use you for his glory where you live and work. If you are single, how can you make the most of your singleness for ministry?…If you work outside the home, how can you share Christ in your workplace? Be careful not to let programs in the church keep you from engaging people in the world with the gospel. Make the most of the opportunities for ministry that God has built into your life.”
So I’ve begun to dream (for those of you who know me this isn’t hard at all), how can I make the most of my opportunities for ministry that God has built into my life? I have begun to build relationships with my coworkers and try to see the opportunities to share with them. I realize that even though I live back under my parents’ roof and with my siblings which wasn’t ideal at first, God has placed me there to help encourage my siblings to grow as they become young men and women of God. I have seen that God is using my singleness to give me time after work to help create environments that bring college students and young professionals into the throne room of God. I also see how I have extra time to sit and learn from amazing authors and ultimately sit at the feet of Jesus during quiet evenings of reflection.
Our Unmistakable Task: ”This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). This was a hard chapter for me not in the sense that our mission is to reach the whole world, but the fact that I’m longing for the end of the world to come. Me? A twenty-four year old, single girl who has just finished school and who has a whole life before me? Yes, I’m longing for the end. The end when I can stand (or probably lay flat) in front of Jesus, who paid the penalty of my sin. The Jesus who so victoriously rose from the dead and who counts me as an adoptive child of God. Goodness, I get chills just thinking of how awesome that will be that day!!!!
I could spend more time on this part but it was only an introduction to what Platt spoke about in the rest of the chapter, so I will try to continue..we need to be able to make disciples of every people group and if we just spend our lives in the comfort of our nation, in the comfort of our day-to-day life this won’t happen: “for while we spend our lives on the people we see in front of us, more than six thousand people groups for generations have never heard the gospel and remain in the dark.” Platt doesn’t stress either/or but both/and because within the context of biblical discipleship we can reach locally and globally.
Short term missions can impact long-term if it fuels a long-term disciple-making process in another context and fuels a long-term disciple-making process in the sending church. “As we go together into other contexts, we grow together in Christ.” This short-term impact of a mission trip can then fuel us on our long-term mission to make disciples….wherever we are through our professions, relationships, etc.
The God who Exalts God: Throughout this chapter, God spoke to me through Platt’s writing. This was a great chapter of encouragement to read about people who have radically altered their actions and have begun to do some hard things God has called them to do….
“It is certainly not because they read an orange book entitled Radical. Rather, it is because they are gripped by an overwhelming God. They know they belong to a God who desires, deserves, and demands absolute devotion in their lives and in their churches, and they want to give him nothing less. He is worthy of their all–their lives, their budgets, their ambitions, their programs, their relationships, their possessions, their careers, and their trust.”
One of the biggest things I was confronted in this chapter was my prayer life and a constant dependence on God. ”Unleashing God’s people to accomplish God’s purpose in the world requires that we devote ourselves to relentless prayer in the church.” Platt told the story of how on a mission trip he continuously prayed that he would make it without being bit by a highly poisonous snake and whatever he did he prayed. I was convicted that even though I might not have the likelihood of being bit by a snake I need to have that same prayer mentality everyday. Just as Platt on that trip, I am on a mission field and my relentless prayer and dependence on God will help me through my day.
“As long as church consists of normal routines and Christianity consists of nominal devotion with little risk, little sacrifice, and little abandonment, then we can do this on our own. But what happens when we give ourselves to something that is far greater than what we can accomplish on our own? What happens when we dare to believe that God desires to use every one of our lives and every one of our churches to bring about kingdom advancement to the ends of the earth? We will find ourselves around every corner and at every moment dependent on his power and desperate for his grace as we devote ourselves to his purpose.”
I want to be dependent on God for everything in the good times, in the bad times….I desire to wake up every day thanking God for new day He has given me to be used by Him–asking Him to direct and use my as He wants (not how I want) and to lay my head on my pillow praising God for what He has done in my life and what He has done….I yearn for that and pray that every day will be a step towards a deeper realization of this dependence I desire. I want prayer to be fundamental and not just supplemental in my life.
Secondly, I realized that God doesn’t need me. We should be selfless followers of a self-centered God but many times I allow my pride in the way of thinking He needs me. Here are some thoughts by A.W. Tozer on the self-sufficiency of God that brought my knees:
“Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world…
Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of younger persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today.”
I know there have been times of foolishly believing that God needed me to do something and this chapter hit me with the truth that God doesn’t need me. God doesn’t need my church. God doesn’t need our conferences, conventions, plans, programs, budgets, buildings or mission agencies.
“The reality is that your and I, your church and my church, all the structures we have constructed and all the stuff we have created could turn to dust, and God could still make a great name for himself among the nations. God does not involve us in his grand, global purpose because he needs us. He involves us in his grand, global purpose because he loves us.”
Ultimately God allows me–a sinful, fallen, prideful lady–to be used by Him because He loves me and desires that I know Him better. Right now, God is graciously letting me be involved in ministry at First Baptist in Arnold with college and career–He’s allowing me to have a part of His kingdom here on earth and get to discover Him in real ways. Like Platt said God involves me because He love me–He doesn’t want me to miss out on what He’s doing.
