Book Review: Radical Together

This afternoon I read Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God by David Platt.  Radical Together is the followup to the riveting challenge Platt put forth in his previous book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. Radical was a call to examine our lives in light of the gospel.  Radical Together is a call to examine our communities in light of the gospel.  Rather than focusing so much on what I am doing to live out the gospel all by myself, the hope of this book is that I would surround myself with people who are running hard after that goal with me.  We are much more effective as a community than we will ever be as an individual if we are truly sold out to Christ and His calling on our lives.

I’m excited to use Radical Together to start some gamechanging conversations in the days, weeks, and months ahead.  There is a battle raging for the hearts and minds of our communities and we must be grounded in the gospel in order to engage this battle for His glory and the good of others.

This book is a great read that leaves you with a ton to contemplate.  I read this in about 2 hours out on the lake and now I can’t quit thinking about it!  Here are a few thoughts that I highlighted while reading…

  • Simply put, in a world of urgent spiritual and physical need, gospel-believing, God-exalting men and women do not have time to waste their lives pursuing a Christian spin on the American dream.
  • I want to contemplate the force of a people who come together to enjoy God’s grace in the church while they extend God’s glory in the world.  And I want to propose that a movement of such people in such churches has the potential to permeated nations with the praise of God.
  • One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church.
  • The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work.
  • The Word does the work.
  • Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people.
  • We are living — and longing — for the end of the world.
  • We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.
  • God has called us to lock arms with one another in single-minded, death-defying obedience to one objective; the declaration of his gospel for the demonstration of his glory to all nations.
  • We don’t want to come to the end of our days on earth only to realize that we have had little impact on more people going to heaven.  Yet if we are not careful, we will spend our lives doing good things in the church while we ultimately miss out on the great purpose for which we were created.
  • We must be willing to sacrifice good things in the church in order to experience the great things of God.
  • 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.
  • Amid all the good things we are doing and planning, are there better ways to align with God’s Word, mobilize God’s people, and marshal God’s resources for God’s glory in a world where millions of people are starving and more than a billion have never even heard of Jesus?
  • Every church and every Christian has good resources that can be used for great purposes.
  • When we take this step of surrender and obedience together, we will find ourselves becoming part of a movement of God’s people who are accomplishing God’s purpose.
  • Unleashing radical people into the world requires the gospel as our foundation and our motivation.
  • Real faith always creates fruit.
  • When the gospel of God is clear in the church, Christians will work hard by the grace of God with great delight for the glory of God.
  • We don’t have to work to come up with a word from God; we simply have to trust the Word that he has already given us.  When we do, the Word of God will accomplish the work of God among the people of God.
  • There it is: a performance at a place filled with programs run by professionals.  The problem, though, is the one p we have left out of the equation: the people of God.
  • Like you, I am constantly beset by the busyness of life and the responsibilities of leadership, and if I am not careful, disciple making fades into the background.  As a result, I want to act intentionally, for if I forsake the priority of people, then I will miss the purpose of God.
  • If our goal is all nations, then our strategy cannot be defined by what will best reach people within ten miles of our church building.  If our goal is all nations, the our strategy must always revolve around what will best reach people who are ten thousand miles from our church building.
  • We and our churches never have to choose between impacting people with the gospel locally and impacting them globally.  Disciple making frees us from having to make that choice.  As we lay down our lives to multiply the gospel in the context of intentional relationships where we live, we are always doing it ultimately for the spread of the gospel far beyond where we live.  And if we are faithful to Jesus’ command in the Great Commission, we will always be living and longing for the spread of the gospel to all people groups.
  • Successful short-term missions must also be a part of fueling long-term disciple making in the sending church.
  • I do not presume to know all of God’s motives, but I will propose this: you and I have ben given the great mercy of God for a global mission from God.  He has called, commissioned, and commanded each of us as Christians to give ourselves to the spread of his gospel in every part of the earth.  All nations, all tribes, all language groups, and all peoples will one day hear this news, and then the end will come.  As a result, every church that passionately loves the gospel of Christ and patiently longs for the coming of Christ will purposely live for the glory of Christ among those who have never heard his name.
  • Nothing can stop a people who are trusting in the Word of God and living for the worship of God.
  • We have been joined together in the church by God’s grand design for a purpose that is far greater than any of us could imagine or achieve alone.  So let’s live radical together in eager anticipation of the day when we will see his face and, as a community encompassing every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, enjoy his beauty for all of eternity.

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