Here Come the Radicals!
Platt isn't the only one attempting to recover a more rigorous understanding of the gospel's demands. Six years ago Shane Claiborne introduced "ordinary radicals" into the American Christian lexicon. His book The Irresistible Revolution offers a critique similar to that of Radical, albeit with a political focus that includes a more explicit repudiation of American nationalism (Platt's own work has hints of this) and a pacifist critique of violence.
More recently, Kyle Idleman, teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote Not a Fan after realizing he had made following Jesus "as appealing, comfortable, and convenient as possible." Francis Chan caught the wave with Crazy Love, a book that tries to affirm our desire for "more God," even if we are "surrounded by people who have 'enough God.'" Steven Furtick, whose Elevation Church in North Carolina is one of the fastest-growing megachurches, added Greater to the mix, proposing that Christians are mired in miserable mediocrity and should open our "imagination to the possibility that God has a vision for [our] life that is greater" than what we're experiencing. All of these have hit the Christian best-seller lists, and most are still on them.
In other words, the radical message has found an eager market. The books have their theological and pastoral differences, but the thrust of their rhetoric moves in the same direction. They have both incited and tapped into a widespread dissatisfaction with many Americans' comfortable, middle-class way of life and the Christianity that so easily fits within it. These pastors may not be saying much new about the Bible or Jesus, but their message says enough about us.
Radical Christianity's Favorite Word
Really. If there's a word that sums up the radical movement, that's it. Platt's Radical opens with it, by describing what "radical abandonment to Jesus really means." Idleman says he's going to tell us "what it really means to follow Jesus." Furtick says that "if we really believe God is an abundant God … we ought to be digging all kinds of ditches [for when he sends the rain, as Elisha did in 2 Kings 3:16-20]." Do those who lead mediocre, nonradical lives for Jesus really believe at all?
The question has ample biblical warrant, of course. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to test themselves to see whether they are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Chan draws on this verse explicitly, calling for "a serious self-inventory." Idleman draws on it implicitly as he calls readers to have a "define the relationship" talk with Jesus to "determine the level of commitment." (Idleman draws on Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.") In his latest work, Follow Me, Platt makes his warning explicit: "There are a whole lot of people who think that they've been born again, but they've been dangerously deceived." It's really hard to read these books, one after another, and confidently declare yourself a Christian at the end.
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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!