Book Review of Radical

Radical by David Platt has been on my reading list for sometime and I finally got around to reading it. This was a good book, but not one that I think everyone should read. I give it three out of five stars.

There is nothing new under the sun here with this book. I know that many people have been completely changed by this book but for me there was nothing here that warrants the kind of praise as a MUST READ for every Christian. There are a lot of books that have spoken to the idea of living radical, sold out and a host of other terms that speak to the Christian life as found in the Bible. That is not to say that it is a bad book, but it is one in a chorus of many that are calling followers of Jesus to abandon the world and to take up our crosses.

With that said, I do think that David Platt wrote some very good things that no matter how many times you have read or heard them, you need to continually be reminded of them because the stakes are high. The first thing is that David reminds us that "The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ."

The next thing that David writes is that "the gospel requires a response." Not just a response to make him Savior but a response to all things that Jesus calls us to. We have accepted this idea that Jesus can be my Savior but I don't have to make him Lord. Scripture is pretty clear that this type of thinking is false. Truly understanding and accepting the gospel will require a radical response. As Platt puts it, "Jesus is no longer one to be accepted or invited in but one who is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender."

The last thing that I truly enjoyed of this book is that David Platt reminds us who the object of our faith is. He writes, "The message of biblical Christianity is not 'God loves me, period,' as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him-his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness-known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is." Not much more to say there.

David writes a good book and it is one that could be very beneficial for some. If you like his writing style then by all means read this one. However, as good as it is, I still don't put it in the Must Read category.