What if the most radical thing about Christmas isn’t that God came near—but that he came to serve?
Watch the full conversation on YouTube
Russell Moore talks with pastor and author David Platt (McLean Bible Church, Radical) about his new book All You Want for Christmas, which is built around one verse: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Together they explore why this claim stands apart from every other religion’s story of humans climbing their way up to God—and why the Christian story begins with God coming down the mountain to us.
Platt and Moore talk about what it means to believe in a personal God in a culture that prays to “the universe,” how to face grief and doubt in the “happiest season of all,” and why the wonder of Christmas is both more comforting and more unsettling than we realize. They also discuss the difference between divine service and the prosperity gospel, the surprising role of dreams and magi in God’s self-revelation, and what it means to repent and trust when belief doesn’t come easily.
Platt shares stories from a Southeast Asian temple, a Muslim Uber driver’s midnight conversion, and his own family’s Christmas traditions—complete with “giving jars” and a goat that wasn’t for the kid who thought it was.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- All You Want for Christmas by David Platt
- Radical by David Platt
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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producer: Clarissa Moll
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Leslie Thompson
Associate Producer: McKenzie Hill
Senior Producer: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Kevin Morris
Video producer: Sam Cedar
Theme Song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra
