Radical

I've been reading a book recently at the encouragement of a pastor friend. The book is called Radical by David Platt. So far, it's fantastic. One part has really hit me:

"The gospel reveals eternal realities about God that we would sometimes rather not face. We prefer to sit  back, enjoy our clichés, and picture God as a Father who might help us, all the while ignoring God as a Judge who might damn us. Maybe this is why we fill our lives with the constant drivel of entertainment in our culture--and in the church. We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in His Word, we might discover that He evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship that we are ready to give Him."

As I read that it hits me like a ton of bricks. I feel the weight of it every day and there it is on the written page. Platt had been talking about how Jesus spent much of His time talking people out of following than talking them into it. When people wanted to follow Jesus He responded with statements like, "Go sell all your possessions and then come follow me." Platt made the point that we try so hard to twist Jesus' words to sound better and that Jesus didn't really mean it. I wonder in my life how many times Jesus has requested the same, or maybe something different, from me that I ignored as more of a heart matter than a reality. Maybe it is just a heart matter but I also think a lot of the times the only way for the heart matter to resolve is if the actual act comes to be.

This part of the book also reminds me of a sermon I heard months ago about how we capitalize on the characteristics of God that we like and minimize others. We don't like to think of God as wrathful, jealous or angry. It's interesting, isn't it? How we make God be who we want Him to be a lot of the time. I agree with Platt that I think I do it because I'm scared of what He really is, what I might have to give and what I might have to experience.

I'm only thirty pages in but so far, it's a great book. You should check it out.