World Missions (Radical Ch.4)

Well, I am going to try to do justice to Radical chapter 4 by David Platt and mix in some of my insight (or lack thereof), but really, you just need to get a copy of Radical and read it for yourself.
World Missions, Chapter 4
"David, I think it's great your are going to those places. But if you ask me, I would just as soon God annihilate all those people and send them to hell." A deacon of a church said these words to David Platt just casually, flat out, with no remorse. Can you imagine, after reading my last blog about Hell, anyone wanting anyone to ever go to such a horrible place? The first few pages of this chapter talk about how too many churches here in America are focused on all the wrong things and have their hearts in the wrong places. Far too many of them spend their time giving sermons that have no Biblical grounds at all, just talking about politics in a religious setting. And too many churches spend a good deal of their money supporting other people and churches to go on missions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, supporting people who are doing the work of God, but shouldn't they also be doing the work of God in other nations? The fundamental reason why God created us was to have intimate relationships with Him and to further His glory. "God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his extravagant glory to all peoples on the earth." Think about that, the whole reason we were created, the reason God has blessed you enough to be able to have food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and apparently a computer to read this on is all for the sake of His own glory. "If that is true, we may wonder, then does this make God selfish? How can God's purpose be to exalt himself? This is a good question, and it causes us to pause until we ask the follow-up question: Whom else would we have him exalt? At the very moment God exalted someone or something else, he would no longer be the great God worthy of all glory in all the universe, which he is." Platt redefines Christianity in every chapter of this book. In this chapter he asks what the message of Christianity is to a typical American believer. The answer is usually something along the lines of "God/Jesus loves me", which means that the object of Christianity is me. How conceited do you get? "The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him-his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness-known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him." Doesn't this make a lot more sense? There is actually a section in this chapter titled "I'm not called" which is simply awesome. I have never liked or believed in sayings like this, they just sound stupid and really make no sense to me. When a Christian says that they are not "called" to teach the Good News to others, in any way, shape or form, at any time, for any reason, they are fundamentally reducing a Command and turning it into a Calling. No where in the Bible will you find someone saying this. Where would the disciples been if they had taken this mindset? No, it is very clear in the Bible, Jesus very directly states numerous times, that we are commanded to go forth and make disciples of all nations. This is a command, and you cannot just reduce it to a calling because it is inconvenient to what you are doing at the time. I will quote it again "every saved person this side of Heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of Hell." I think that is a good motto for every Christian and follower of Jesus to take on. In this section, Platt rightly gives several examples of how Americans have twisted the Bible in that the blessings and good things listed in Scripture are meant for all believers, but the hard things and the commands are only meant for a select few. This is comparable, in my mind, wanting to have a job just for the paycheck. You really do not care about the job or want to do the work, you just want the paycheck, and that is what Americans are doing to the Bible. We want all the good stuff, but leave that hard stuff, the fundamental commands and teachings of Jesus to just a select few. *buzzer* WRONG! Some people use the excuse, "But what about the needs/people here?". Platt really does cover all of his bases in this book. Yes, the need here in America for real disciples and for homeless and hungry is also great, but are you really doing something about the needs here either? If you are not 'called' to go overseas to third-world countries, are you going out to the projects and the bad parts of the towns and cities that you live in here? Are you giving money to the homeless, sheltering those who have no home, feeding the hungry, giving water to those without any? Are taking the Good News into the places here in America that are hurting and in need of help? Another problem with looking at it this way is that only 5% of the world's population lives in the United States, so by saying that you only have a heart for the United States, you are ignoring the needs of the other 95% of people in the world. *buzzer* and there is our problem as Americans, we use excuse after excuse after excuse and reduce commands down to callings and in the end, most Americans Christians are really just not following the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. And if you are, then I commend you and ask that you continue doing so. Platt gives three good examples of average Americans who are making a difference. In doing so he shows that you do not have to give up everything you have and all of your comforts and blessings to follow the Great Commission, only that you make small sacrifices and help those who are in need. I will end my rant with one of the last paragraphs of the chapter: "So what might this look like in your life? As we explore what it means to be radically abandoned to Christ, I invite you simply to let your heart be gripped, maybe for the first time, by the biblical prospect that God has designed a radically global purpose for your life. I invite you to throw aside gospel-less reasoning that might prevent you from accomplishing that purpose. I invite you to consider with me what it would mean for all of us-pastors and church members, businessmen and businesswomen, lawyers and doctors, consultants and construction workers, teachers and students, on-the-go professionals and stay-at-home moms-to spend all of our lives for the sake of all of God's glory in all of the world."