RADICAL

I just finished reading Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream, by David Platt. I found the book very motivational. The author calls readers to follow the call of Christ to forsake all for His sake. Contained within the book are countless illustrations of God's work in surrendered Christians.

Platt ends his work with a challenge for readers to change their priorities for one year in the following ways:

1) Pray faithfully for the gospel to be spread in each country and culture around the world. Concentrate specifically on each area until you have prayed for each one fervently. To this end, readers should learn about the needs in each area.

2) Read through the whole Bible faithfully for a year ( a familiar goal, but a worthy one). Platt guarantees readers that time spent in the Word will change their lives (and all Christians should be familiar with scriptures to that effect).

3) Challenge yourself to live on a minimal amount of your income, giving your surplus to a Godly cause, to spread the Gospel and support the poor and destitute.

4) Spend 2% of your time (works out to one week, approximately, in a year) outside your comfort zone, outside your city, doing the work of the Lord. Many examples are given of Christians who visited poor countries or did disaster relief work in the US, or even donated their time in an inner city outreach. By personally participating in the sharing of the Gospel and following our admonishments in the scriptures to care for "the least of these," Christians will find their hearts and priorities changing personally.

5) Become an integral part of a Christian church community. Participate joyfully, forming strong bonds with brothers and sisters in Christ. Serve with a generous heart, not grudging any time or commitment that may require.

Despite the title of the book, I don't actually find the challenge all that radical. I honestly believe most Christians should do most of this based on the commands in the New Testament.