I haven't written in some time...
Some time ago, I was asked to write a review of David Platt's "Radical" for another site. I love his premise; but I have some significant problems with some of his specifics. Thought I'd post the review here, even tho' it's a bit long for a blog post.
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A Review of David Platt’s Radical
Roger Fankhauser, D.Min.
David Platt makes a needed challenge in his book, Radical, as condensed in the subtitle, Taking Back Your Faith From the American
Dream.
He summarizes the book with these words:
Throughout this book we have
explored a variety of bold claims about our purpose in life that are contained
in the gospel yet contradicted in the American dream. Claims such as these:
Real success is found in real sacrifice. Ultimate satisfaction is found not in
making much of ourselves but in making much of God. The purpose of our life
transcends the country and culture in which we live. Meaning is found in
community, not individualism; joy is found in generosity, not materialism; and
truth is found in Christ, not universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth
risking everything to know, experience and enjoy. (183)
He then challenges his readers to try a radical experiment:
for one year, to pray for the entire world, to read through the entire Word,
to sacrifice their money for a specific purpose, to spend their time in another
context (such as a missions trip), and to commit their life to a multiplying
community (church). (185)
Many of the principles in the book hit the mark, and provide
a cry for believers to get out of their comfort zones and follow the Jesus of
the Bible (13), a cry that churches and Christians need to hear. He wants the
reader to abandon the “American Dream” version of Christianity, with focus on
the self, and instead radically follow Jesus. He wants the church to actively
and radically commit to global missions, including giving generously to the
poor. I agree wholeheartedly with his overall goals. However, the problems in
the book prevent me from recommending this work to anyone except those with a
strong knowledge of the Scriptures who can “filter out” the problems and
appropriately apply those principles that are biblically valid. The problems
center on the author’s view of the gospel and evidence of salvation in the life
of the believer.
Platt begins with a challenge that the church, as a whole,
has “missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is
comfortable” (7). He believes that
following Christ demands total devotion to Christ, and a willingness to give up
anything (“radical abandonment”, 10) in order to follow Him. He acknowledges
the high cost of discipleship but wonders (rightfully), if the cost of
nondiscipleship is even greater. So, he asks, do we really believe He is worth
following as Jesus commands us to follow, not as “a nice, middle-class,
American Jesus” (13)? “We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel”
(19).
In developing his definition of the gospel, Platt says that
it is fundamentally “the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can
be reconciled to him” (28). And so he summarizes:
This is the gospel. The just and
loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and
sent his Son, God in the flesh, to bear the wrath against sin on the cross and
to show his power over sin in the Resurrection so that all who trust in him
will be reconciled to God forever. (36)
If Platt had stopped here, his gospel message as it pertains to eternal life would be clear
and concise (see my earlier post on the meaning of "gospel"). It is at this point, however, that the author takes a wrong turn.
Even though he used the words “all who trust in him”, he then invites the
reader to “consider with me the proper response to this gospel” (37), which, he
says “surely evokes unconditional surrender of all that we are and all that we
have to all that he is” (37) and that each of us “need to consider whether we
have ever truly, authentically trusted in Christ for our salvation” (37). He
presents a caricature of many gospel presentations, adding what he sees as
correctives:
We have been told all that is
required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus,
but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his
glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on
earth. Our sin will be tolerated along
the way…. Here the gospel demands and enables us to turn from our sin, to take
up our cross, to die to ourselves, and to follow Jesus… Jesus is no longer one
to be accepted or invited in but one who is infinitely worthy of our immediate
and total surrender. (38-39)
In His caricature, he presents a straw man, that “we can
live however we want…. our sin will be tolerated along the way”. I know of no
one who teaches this; and his argument certainly runs counter to Paul’s words
in Romans 6:1-2! Believers who sin run the risk of serious consequences,
including the possibility of physical death. Anyone who tries to be honest with
the Scriptures would not teach that “we need not worry about his commands”.
He recognizes that his corrective makes salvation sound as
if it is a result of obedience, but says we are saved from our sins by a free
gift of God of grace. This gift of grace, however, changes our hearts so that
we “want Him so much that we abandon everything else to experience him. This is
the only proper response to the revelation of God in the gospel” (39). I agree
with the author’s desire to challenge believers to radically follow Christ, but
his gospel definition has blurred the distinctions between our change in legal
standing before God (justification) and our practical living (sanctification). He
here (and throughout the book) implies that one who has truly, authentically
trusted Christ is necessarily a disciple / follower of Christ. He necessarily links certain actions and
attitudes of the person to their eternal standing, as will be seen in his
discussion of reaching the poor. And so, at best, what is required for
salvation becomes unclear.
Having given his definition of the gospel, he next reminds
the reader, correctly, that the source of the power to live radically for Jesus does not
come from their own strength. He warns the reader about letting “American dream” mentality
creep into the church, instead of relying on the power of God to accomplish His
purposes. Referencing the early church, he concludes, “I cannot help but long
to be a part of this kind of scene in the church today. A scene where we refuse
to operate in a mind-set dominated by an American dream that depends on what we
can achieve with our own abilities…. A scene where the church radically trusts
in God’s great power…” (53). The source of that power is the Holy Spirit. Platt
incorrectly implies, using Luke 11:13 (“… how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”), that God will give us the
Holy Spirit in answer to our prayers, rather than understanding that the Spirit
already indwells us (Rom. 8:9). Despite this flaw, however, he rightly argues
that real power flows from the Holy Spirit, not from our own abilities.
The specific application Platt addresses that requires this
power is extending God’s glory to the ends of the earth. “Jesus commands us to
go. He has created each of us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.” He
desires that “our hearts should be consumed with making the glory of God known
in all the nations” (77), a desire in line with Matt. 28:19-20. Anything less
than radical devotion to this end, he argues, is unbiblical Christianity (64).
And, he concludes, the command to take the gospel to the ends of the earth is
intended for each follower of Christ. We are to “be consumed with making the
glory of God known in all the nations” (77). However, “it is not uncommon to
hear Christians say, ‘Well, not everyone is called to foreign missions.’” (72).
Unfortunately, he is unclear about whether a follower of Jesus can have a
legitimate passion for ministries at home (I use the word “legitimate” to
differentiate those who are actively involved in some form of ministry and
those who, in reality, use these words to excuse themselves from any ministry).
Platt does include a few examples of work on home soil, but in other places,
his words communicate a different message:
As we have seen all over Scripture,
God’s heart is for the world. So when we say we have a heart for the United
States, we are admitting that we have a heart for 5 percent of God’s heart, and
we are proud of it. (76)
His use of a percentage like this is misleading. I have a
friend who will soon be moving to Kolkata, India. I would never describe him as
having a heart for only one quarter of one percent of God’s heart!
I do not disagree that the average Christian in the United
States needs to become more globally involved with God’s purposes in the world, but what becomes
unclear in Platt’s writings is whether a believer can have a commitment to
world missions, with a specific passion to carry it out on a local level. I
think of my daughter who has committed five years (and counting) of her life to
serving full time in an inner city ministry in a major U.S. city. She has a
passion to reach the world, but the venue God has given her is within the U.S. I
think his intent is “both / and”, but his words tend to convey only the
“uttermost”. Acts 1:8, however, says the
disciples would be witnesses not just in the uttermost parts of the world but also at home (Jerusalem and Judea).
The next question Platt addresses is, “How do we make God’s glory known to all the nations?” (87, emphasis
his). His answer is, “The megastrategy of Jesus: make disciples” (90). His
views of disciple-making are healthy. “Any Christian can do this” (90),
implying that all believers should be involved in making disciples. The process
of making disciples, he argues, is not programs and classes (although he
acknowledges they have their place), but happens in the context of
relationships. And in that context, “making disciples is not an easy process.
It is trying. It is messy. It is a slow, tedious, and even painful at times”
(93). He challenges his readers to be reproducers of God’s Word, not simply
receivers of it. Instead of asking what we can get out of it, he says we should
instead ask “How can I listen to God’s Word so that I am equipped to teach this
Word to others?” (102).
Platt then moves to a “blind spot” in American Christianity
– materialism, and the related issue of neglect of the poor. After a brief
introduction to the problem of global poverty, he concludes, “Anyone wanting to
proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only
how to declare the gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the gospel
visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry” (109). I agree with Platt
that this is a huge global need, one the church cannot ignore. But, while he
makes some valid points which I will discuss below, the connections he makes
between reaching the poor and our salvation reinforce the confusing gospel he
presented earlier in the book:
The Bible nowhere teaches that
caring for the poor is a means by which we earn our salvation. The means of our
salvation is faith in Christ alone, and the basis of our salvation is the work
of Christ alone. (109).
On this, I agree. But then he adds these strong statements:
Yet, while caring for the poor is
not the basis for our salvation, this does not mean that our use of wealth is
totally disconnected from our salvation. Indeed, caring for the poor (among
other things) is evidence of our
salvation… Caring for the poor is one natural outflow and a necessary evidence
of the presence of Christ in our hearts. If there is no caring for the poor in
our lives, then there is reason to at least question whether Christ is in our
hearts. (110, emphasis his)
The phrase, “a necessary evidence” trumps the words “there is reason to at least question”. It carries more weight than that. In the realm of logic, a
“necessary” condition is “what is required for something to be the case”.
In other words, in this case, if care for the poor is missing, the person is not saved (justified), based on
Platt’s words. I hope he simply chose his words poorly, but this does not seem
to be the case: “More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion
for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all”
(111), and “rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God…. What
scares me most, though, is that we can pretend that we are the people of God”
(115), and “Our neglect of the poor illustrates much about where our hearts
lie. But even more than that, the way we use our money is an indicator of our
eternal destination.” (138).
I agree that care for the poor is a blind spot for many
believers and churches and is an issue in which the church must become more
involved. It is an issue I am evaluating in my own life. Platt, however, makes it a subjective test of one’s justification.
But, failure to have a passion for the poor can come from many different
problems, including ignorance of the problem and/or how to address it,
maturity, disobedience, and so on. But these are all sanctification issues, not
justification issues. To necessarily link the two results in evaluating one’s
legal standing based on works, not on the object of faith, Jesus Christ and his
work on the cross.
Despite this serious error, Platt does offer some sound
counsel in this chapter. First, he reminds the reader that wealth is not
inherently evil; that the Bible does not condemn riches. Second, he challenges
the false assumption in our culture that if we follow God, He will necessarily
bless us financially. Third, he questions the financial priorities of the
American church: “Every year in the United States, we spend $10 billion on
church buildings” (118). Fourth, he raises the question of whether we trust
Jesus enough to meet our needs when we give radically. Fifth, he asks, “Why not
begin operating under the idea that God has given us excess, not so we could have more, but so we could give more?” (127, emphasis his). He
closes with the challenge that “You and I both have a choice. We can stand with
the starving or with the overfed… We can stand with Jesus while we give away our
wealth, or we can walk away from Jesus while we hoard our wealth” (140).
After reminding he reader that God has no “Plan B”, that is,
that God chooses to use His people to carry the gospel to the uttermost parts
of the world, Platt closes his main argument by pointing to the “risk and
reward of the radical life.” After reminding the reader of the concept that the
world will hate his followers because it hated Him, he transitions to the
reward that comes from following Jesus: “Are we willing to obey the orders of
Christ … Are we willing to risk our lives to go to great need and great danger…
to accomplish an eternally significant task and achieve an eternally satisfying
reward?” (171). He summarizes:
Yes, Jesus promises great reward,
but his reward looks much different than what we might expect. The reward of
the American dream is safety, security, and success found in more comfort,
better stuff, and greater prosperity. But the reward of Christ trumps all these
things and beckons us to live for eternal safety, security, and satisfaction
that far outweigh everything this world has to offer us” (171-172).
Although he does not address the concept of reward for the
believer at the Bema seat, I agree wholeheartedly with his overall point that
the choice that ultimately it costs us more to not follow Christ than it costs to
follow Him. The benefit of discipleship far outweighs the cost. He concludes
that the key to taking back our faith
from the American dream is recognizing that death is a reward and believing
that this world is not our home (179).
He closes the book by inviting the reader to the experiment
mentioned at the beginning of this review, “to see if radical obedience to the
commands of Christ is more meaningful, more fulfilling, and more gratifying
than the American dream” (184).
In summary, Platt offers a compelling call to set aside the
“American Dream” version of the Christian life, and to radically follow Jesus.
This offer calls us to follow the real Jesus, to wholeheartedly embrace being a
biblical disciple. As a whole, what he addresses is a necessary wake-up call
for the American church. Unfortunately, in the midst of his offer, he offers a
seriously flawed gospel and a seriously flawed view of works as “necessary”
evidence of the presence of Christ in the believer’s life. I would challenge us
to take the key concepts presented in the book, rework them in the context of
the right gospel, with a correct understanding of the connection between
discipleship and our justification, and seriously confront the American church
to be radical for Jesus Christ.
