This morning I am feeling both excited and a little nervous. I just started reading Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt. I first learned about this book on Facebook. I was reading the posts of two of my friends from Canada and got really excited about what they were saying about this book. I asked if it would be possible for them to send me a copy with one of the teams coming down here, and last week, my copy arrived with the Kamloops E Free team! (Thank you Anna and Greg!)
Last night, I read Chapter One, "Someone Worth Losing Everything For" and my conflicting emotions are a result of what I read.
The author's position is that the church of North America - the US in particular, but I believe Canada is really no different - has manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. Wow! That is a pretty courageous statement for a pastor of a mega church to make. I was deeply impressed that as he writes, he is not saying what others should do, or even what he has already done, he is walking through his own journey, thinking and reflecting, and inviting the reader to join him. I like that!
The following is a small exerpt from Chapter One:
Do we really believe he is worth abandoning everything for? Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in him? Do you and I believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture - and maybe in our churches - turn the other way? ...We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel he taught (page 18, 19).
In our work here, we spend time with the groups talking about the Guatemalan culture and pointing out to them how those living here are immersed in a culture of polytheism and they don't even really see it. The rituals they perform are so much a part of their lives, they don't even really think about them or what they mean. We ask groups to reflect on how they have embraced their own culture - not polytheism, but rather antitheism - and allowed culture to define their norm. What have they, as North Americans, embraced to the extent it has become a part of their thinking and their lives without really even examining it in light of scripture?
I am excited to keep reading Radical; and, yes, I am a little nervous, too. I don't think this is going to be an easy read. Not because the language is difficult, but the concepts hit very close to home and have already begun to stir my heart. Last night as I was reading, I felt a sense of conviction that prayerfully, if I am willing, will lead to change in my life.
I am not sure what the Lord is going to ask of me as I take this journey, but I want to be ready to say, "Yes!"
Blessings,
Karren
Last night, I read Chapter One, "Someone Worth Losing Everything For" and my conflicting emotions are a result of what I read.
The author's position is that the church of North America - the US in particular, but I believe Canada is really no different - has manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. Wow! That is a pretty courageous statement for a pastor of a mega church to make. I was deeply impressed that as he writes, he is not saying what others should do, or even what he has already done, he is walking through his own journey, thinking and reflecting, and inviting the reader to join him. I like that!
The following is a small exerpt from Chapter One:
Do we really believe he is worth abandoning everything for? Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in him? Do you and I believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture - and maybe in our churches - turn the other way? ...We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel he taught (page 18, 19).
In our work here, we spend time with the groups talking about the Guatemalan culture and pointing out to them how those living here are immersed in a culture of polytheism and they don't even really see it. The rituals they perform are so much a part of their lives, they don't even really think about them or what they mean. We ask groups to reflect on how they have embraced their own culture - not polytheism, but rather antitheism - and allowed culture to define their norm. What have they, as North Americans, embraced to the extent it has become a part of their thinking and their lives without really even examining it in light of scripture?
I am excited to keep reading Radical; and, yes, I am a little nervous, too. I don't think this is going to be an easy read. Not because the language is difficult, but the concepts hit very close to home and have already begun to stir my heart. Last night as I was reading, I felt a sense of conviction that prayerfully, if I am willing, will lead to change in my life.
I am not sure what the Lord is going to ask of me as I take this journey, but I want to be ready to say, "Yes!"
Blessings,
Karren
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