Here Come the Radicals!
Paul KisselevHere Come the Radicals!
It's not easy to make the Church at Brook Hills, Alabama's second-largest congregation, look like a slum. But in 2010, the church collected trash all over Birmingham and set its stage in corrugated metal, scrap wood, plastic tarps, and other detritus. Three months before, their lead pastor, David Platt, had proposed that their church "take India," by which he meant pay for Compassion International's child survival programs in the country for an entire year. The whole church couldn't jet off to India, but the rubbish on stage tangibly reminded its members of the country's impoverished communities.
With the stage literally set, Platt called his church to something more than giving $525,000 to Compassion. Platt and the Church at Brook Hills (affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention) spent a full year praying for the world, reading the entire Bible, giving their money to those in need, spending time in a context beyond Birmingham, and building community.
The five components of "the Radical Experiment" may not seem that radical; they're more like basic Christian discipleship. But they struck a nerve at the church and beyond. Forty families and singles committed to moving into a disadvantaged area of Birmingham. As one attendee told me, the news created something of a reputation for the church. "People still ask me," she said, "whether I go to that church where people are moving into the most dangerous parts of Birmingham." And the message spread well beyond the city of 1 million. After Platt released Radical in May 2010, it spent more than two years on The New York Times advice best-seller list. Three years later, it's still on CBA'S (formerly Christian Booksellers Association) best-seller list.
The first thing you notice about Platt is how young he is. When he took the position in 2006 at age 27, he was almost certainly the youngest megachurch pastor in America. Yet Platt's youthfulness belies both the boldness of his message and the conviction with which he presents it. His style avoids the verbal pyrotechnics some preachers rely on for their message to stick. The rising and falling intonations of his slow Southern drawl, and the way he draws out particular words and hesitates before hurtling through a string of sentences, make his preaching like a lazy float down a river with the occasional burst of rapids. He reels people in, almost unwittingly, with his easy charisma and lack of self-awareness. One moment, he'll have a grin reminiscent of a schoolboy on Christmas morning. The next, his voice will crack with an intense, pleading tone that betrays heartfelt resolve. When Platt told his church, "Let's say, Brook Hills, 'We're going to take India,'" the final words had that raspy, gasping tone. It suggested Platt felt the weight of the responsibility too deeply for his words to convey.
At the heart of Platt's message is his claim that we mistakenly turn the "radical Jesus of the Bible … into the comfortable Jesus of 21st-century American culture." He warns that the culture of "self-advancement, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency" and our "individualism, materialism, and universalism" have neutered American Christians' witness and blinded us to widespread global poverty, an orphan crisis, and the massive number of those who still have never heard of Jesus.
Platt's critique goes beyond the people in the pews. In case anyone missed his criticism of budgets and church-growth strategies, Platt's follow-up book, Radical Together, brought it to the surface: "[J]udging by what we hang on to in our churches, convenient programs and nice parking lots are still more important than [impoverished and orphaned] children and their families."
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Jeff Chalfant
The passage that came to my mind as I read this article was Hebrews 11:32-40. If you read this passage, there is a distinct shift from those who found apparent "success" in this life (conquering kingdoms and stopping the mouths of lions and such) and those who "lost" (at least in human terms - flogged, chained and destitute). I know it is easy to glorify suffering as well, and that is not my point. I just wonder if we are really OK with silently carrying our cross daily, wherever we are that God calls us to. I LOVE the city, but am living in the suburbs . . . even sacrificially, trying to use my resources and position to honor God and asking God to use me where I am. I have a friend moving to the city to help plant a church, 3 young kids and I wife. I am praying that God will "establish the work of his hands." I wonder if we are willing to carry our cross in both the mundane & the more apparently "sacrificial". God calls each of us in the BODY of Christ to a different function.
Maegan Keel
I apologize if this comment has already been made, I didn't take the time to read all 75 comments. My question is, why are no women mentioned as a part of the New Radical Movement? Where is discussion of Jen Hatmaker, the author of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess? Jen's book, which is being read by women in droves, discusses these exact principles of excess and complacency in the church. She cites in her book the influence of Claiborne, Platt, and Chan. I'd hate to assume that the author ignored women in his assessment of the New Radicals, but they are strangely missing from this piece.
Ryan Connor
This article hits the nail on the head. Thank you! I wonder how much the new radicals would have to say without their "American Church" straw-man as a whipping boy. Do most people in America attend a mega church with tens of millions in property? Do they attend church just for entertainment but are not "really committed" to discipleship? Sure, there are some churches like that. But, less than 2% of churches in America are mega churches. Most churches are small churches with less than 100 members led by a solo pastor or bi-vocational minister. The real American Church is the one down the street where real people worship together, study the Bible, find fellowship and support, and serve together in their local communities in simple but important ways. The Christian woman who serves in the church's clothes closet and faithfully attends worship and women's Bible study is no less a disciple than the woman who goes on short-term mission trips and adopts children. Thanks for some balance here!
Jeff Mountcasel
It's amazing how Christians slam each other so quickly. We need to be challenged by people like Matthew in order to stay on our toes. I heard it said from an old preacher, we can dot all the I's and cross all the t's, and still spell the word wrong. Who is it we are living for again. Really
Jeff Mountcasel
We are the body of Christ. Everyone of us has different gifts. Such as Matthew, David Platt, & myself, a 42 year old truck driver. Our confidence comes from Christ Jesus, our very being is in Him. When we find out who we are in Christ by seeking him diligently through his word & prayer, we find out why we were created& where we are supposed to be. Do I stop being an American? No. I began to serve right where i'm planted. Growing in Him all along trusting Him for everything. books like "Radical" help me to press on in a world that has backslidden. In a world that doesn't want to here about Christ& His free gift. To be bold enough step out in faith to follow Him. Body we need each other, we need encouragement to get out of our comfort zones& tell the world about Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 9;23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself & take up his cross & follow me."When the body, begins to build up instead of tear down maybe then we can get somewhere. Thanks David & Matthew.