I just got through reading, Radical Together, by David Platt which takes off where his earlier book, Radical, leaves off by moving the emphasis from the individual to the church. The book is short compared to Radical, but it makes some good points and gives plenty of examples of how the Church as a whole can be radical for the Gospel.
In his first book, Radical, David challenges the individual to lay everything on the table. In Radical Together, he challenges the church to lay everything on the table.
He writes, “We have to put everything, even good things in the church, up for reconsideration before God, releasing them wholly to Him and asking Him to show us His priorities and purposes for each,” he goes on to write, “The ways we minister to children, youth, and college students; how we serve women, men, singles, marrieds, and seniors; how we do music and mission; how we approach and implement finances and budgets, administration and communication; all our policies, priorities, and procedures; all the buildings and land we own or rent –all these things (and more) belong on the table. The gospel compels the church to go to God with everything we have and everything we do and then as, “What needs to go? What needs to change? What needs to stay the same? And then wait for God to answer.” (p. 9 of Radical Together)
Wow… what a RADICAL, thought! Thinking about it left me spell bound for a moment thinking what if the church took those words seriously. It was both scary and refreshing though at the same time. As a pastor, I get tired of watching churches and pastors playing it safe. I love the way David Platt challenges us with the same kind of radical spirit Jesus uses.
Radical together is a very practical and relevant book. David Platt does an excellent job leading the reader to feel the tension that pastor’s often deal with in the church between choosing what is best from what is good for us to be doing as a church. That’s the rub every pastor feels: Choosing what is best from what is good. David Platt leads the reader through a process of discovering the very best things that God has for us to do as a church.
The book includes small group discussion questions in the back. I read the book individually and it was a good read, but it is geared toward group study.
I received this book free of charge in exchange of a honest bias free review of it’s contents.
