Maximum Gospel Impact: A Review of Radical Together by David Platt (Multnomah Books, 2011)

Radical Together by David Platt (Multnomah Books, 2011) is a stand-alone sequel to his first book Radical which created tidal waves with the call to each Christian to take back his or her faith from the American Dream. It met with mixed reaction from the Christian world. The sequel, Radical Together, shows how individuals can unite together as God intended them to do in order to create maximum gospel impact. This second book will likely meet the same reception from American Christianity. Those whom are comfortably chasing the American dream while reinventing the gospel to suit their individual situations will likely dislike this book as much as the first. Those whom understand that God’s mission is global in scope will welcome this book as a much needed revival wind. 

When I started the book, in all honesty, I did not expect much. Radical was awesome and I expected this to be more of the same information rehashed and repackaged in a new cover with a new target—focused on the group as opposed to the individual. I was wrong. David Platt immediately grabs the reader’s attention with his well written, easy to understand style and solid biblical exegesis. Once again he leads the open-minded person to wonder, “How did I miss that simple point in all the times I’ve read that passage.”  

Radical Together focuses more on the church as a group entity and brings to light many of the issues which cause us to stumble over our own feet and inadvertently prevent God’s people from accomplishing God’s purpose. Platt organizes the book around six of these premises. One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church. The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work. The Word does the work. Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people. We are living—and longing—for the end of the world. We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.

Throughout the book, the author takes each principle and expounds it with real life examples, colorful illustrations, and supporting Scripture references. The style is easy to read and understand yet at the same time somber and challenging. Each principle brings the reader face-to-face with a very real decision: Do I agree that the church belongs to Christ and exists for a global purpose? Or, will I continue to assert that the church belongs to us exists to serve me?

Radical Together is a must read that will challenge every Christian’s view of the church body in some form or another. Leaders will be forced to examine the direction they are taking the church body in which God has entrusted to their stewardship. Members will be forced to examine the idols of church life in which they hold dear and determine whether or not they will smash these idols in order to allow the church to focus on God’s plan.

The Future of American Christianity

The Next Christians: The Good News about the End of Christian America by Gabe Lyons (Doubleday, 2010) is a fresh look at an old problem. The author begins by recounting a time that he was embarrassed to call himself a Christian for a number of reasons. Based on his research, he learned that the overall perception of Christians was anything but positive: “judgmental, hypocritical, too political, antihomosexual, among other things” (4). Because of these findings, he began to ask questions addressing what roles should Christians play in society.

The role of Christianity holding a place of prominence in the Western culture was gone. The days of the religious right were fading. People no longer cared to hear a defense of Christianity. “They wanted something that could make sense out of their sordid lives” (18). Instead of being a major pillar in America, Christianity was fading to the background and religious pluralism moved to the forefront. The church took a backseat in American society and the author rightfully states, “If they were gone tomorrow, one can’t help wondering if anyone would notice” (25). 

The landscape of America had changed and Christians reacted in basically one of two ways- separate from the culture or assimilate into the culture- both of which are unbiblical. Those who separate spend their time only participating in “Christian” activities with other Christians, fight the culture, and evangelize simply to save people with no real concern for the person or their problems. Those who assimilate into the culture are those who blend in to the point where you cannot tell someone is a Christian even if they tell you they are one, and philanthropists who only focus on doing good work but place little to no focus on a relationship with Jesus. The closest either group comes to being biblical is that the first group mirrors the Pharisees while the latter represents the Sadducees (44-46). 

The Next Christians coming on the scene are the Restorers. They don’t separate from the world or blend in; they engage it. They are determined to tell, and live, the entire gospel from the Bible. Mr. Lyons contends that the gospel is made up of four parts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration (51). Traditionally, Christians have focused on the fall and redemption while leaving off the rest of God’s story. The Next Christians are determined to relearn the whole story which includes the creation and restoration pieces. When these two pieces are added back into the story, the center of the gospel message is no longer me. The focus returns to God & what God is doing in the world, not what God is doing for you. 

Gabe Lyons applies this full gospel to the lives of the restorers throughout the book by example and illustration. He addresses true Christian living in regards to work, creation, relationships, community, and culture by showing the wrong ways separatists and blenders have handled these areas as well as a biblical approach to restore each area. The book is written in a very conversational tone and is easy to read and understand. It should be read with an open mind regarding how one can utilize these principles in their life to be the light of the world they were called to be. 

Anybody serious about living in a manner faithful to the true gospel should read this book. It will challenge many of those who tend to be more set in their ways but will surely resonate with a younger or more contemporary generation. Everyone who sets foot in a church each Sunday cannot help but know that something is not quite right. Gabe Lyons addresses exactly what this something is in The Next Christian.

Shackled by the Past- A review of Redemption by Mike Wilkerson

Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry by Mike Wilkerson (Crossway Books, 2011) is an incredible application of gospel work applied to the darkest parts of our being. It is a must read! It is a necessary resource for recovery ministries and groups. It is essential to marriage and family health. It applies to men and women of all ages and is vital for individual healing and church health. The most amazing aspect of this book is that although it focuses primarily on recovery ministries the message applies to everyone redeemed by the cross of Christ:

We are shackled by the past. Our bodies may be free but our hearts remain in Egypt.

The message of Redemption begins in slavery in Egypt and uses the Exodus event to show how Jesus Christ is your redemption. The message is fully God-centered showing that God's story is about God and how God's story answers real life questions. How does the cross apply to my past abuse? How does the cross apply to my past addictions?  How does the cross apply to other problems in my life: marriage, family, eating disorders, depression, and any other issue I am dealing (or have dealt) with? Why is my life out of balance? Why can't I find peace?

Mike Wilkerson masterfully winds the exodus narrative through personal testimonies and illustrations to show how this major event in Israel's history is our model to understand our redemption in Jesus. This is established by the three main themes of redemption throughout the exodus: deliverance, ransom, and renewal. Through the cross, God delivers us from the bondage of our sin. Through the cross, God pays the ransom for our redemption from the penalty of our sin. Through the cross, God renews and restores us to our pre-fall condition into the image and likeness of his Son Jesus Christ. "When redemption is complete, God's original purpose for all creation will be completely restored" (36).

Like Pharaoh held the Israelites, Wilkerson shows how our abusers, addictions and shame hold us in captivity. He addresses bondage that is against our will well as our tendency to volunteer ourselves for slavery. He shows how we fail to trust in God by not placing our faith entirely in Christ just like the Israelites did not trust God's provision while wandering in the wilderness. In addition, he shows how our faith in Christ is usually not true, biblical faith but rather it is an agreement to trust God as long as he provides for us on our terms (Chapter 5: Demanding Manna).

The wounds of our past, self-inflicted or other-inflicted, define and determine who we are today. We hold onto them. We live in the past. We even long for the days of slavery back in Egypt over an unknown future. We have been set free from bondage and slavery but we are not yet to the Promised Land. We are wandering in the wilderness. We are pilgrims on the way. Every trial and test we face in life is an opportunity to trust God or run back into slavery in Egypt. Redemption helps us see this from God's perspective. God is renewing us. This is redemption. We cannot be the people God created us to be until we stop looking back and run to the cross. Redemption teaches us how. We bring all of our baggage from the past into all we do today. Once the shackles break off and we are truly free, our lives and relationships can begin to be what God intended. Redemption is the answer.

Read it. You will be transformed.

BOOK REVIEW- Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission by Darrin Patrick (Crossway, 2010)

Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission by Darrin Patrick (Crossway Books, 2010) is a long overdue, breath of fresh air in the recent barrage of books about church planting.

Planting new churches is the latest trend taking evangelical Christianity by storm.  Books filled with the latest methods, strategies, and church models line the shelves of every church growth section.  Many ambitious people of all ages are flocking to this form of service to grow God’s kingdom.  Often, though, these planters plow out blindly with delusions of mega-churches in their sights because they have the sure fire method to reach their target area.  They have studied the latest trends, methods, models and strategies and developed their target group, vision, mission, branding.  They have assembled their launch team and raised the financial support.  The sound and lighting equipment is loaded on the trailer and the school location has been secured.  The mass mailings go out, and the pre-launch service takes place to iron out all the kinks before the official launch date that is set.  The excitement buzzes around this “new” come-as-you-are church that is marketed as the: “not your parent’s church” church.  Then, statistically, within 12-18 months the majority of these new church plants close their doors leaving a disillusioned core of people and a frustrated planter.  What happened?  Darrin Patrick cuts to the core of this problem in his new book Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission—the most important aspects are often the most overlooked areas in the planting process.  As the title of the book suggests, Patrick examines the called man, the preached message, and the mandatory mission of the church.  This book is a must read for all people professing a call to plant churches, pastors of existing healthy churches, and pastors of dying churches in need of revitalization.  Further, missionaries and lay leaders will also benefit from the wisdom in the book.

THE MAN

Darrin Patrick draws his knowledge from 20 years of experience in ministry.  He has walked the church planting road as founding pastor of the Journey Church in St. Louis and has the qualifications to speak on areas that make or break church planters and church plants as the vice president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network.    He makes no apology for the title of the book ruling out ½ of the population by gender and quickly reduces the number left due to a lack of maturity required to be considered a man apart from his gender.  After establishing the fact that more than anatomy is needed in order for a man to be considered to lead the Lord’s church in our day, he dedicates the first 1/3 of the book to the biblical qualities needed.  He begins by examining the spiritual condition of the man in question and progresses all the way through to the man’s determination to persevere in ministry no matter what the price.  Quitting is not an option.  Further, the man must possess a clear call into the ministry, be dependent wholly upon the Holy Spirit, possess the correct skills—gifted by the Holy Spirit—to plant/pastor a church, and be willing to lay down his life to protect the sheep that Jesus has placed in their care.  While these qualities seem obvious on the surface, Patrick delves into each area in a manner that will convict even the most tenured pastors by holding up a mirror that reveals to them how they look to God in each area.  Only the people with the most hardened hearts will not be convicted.  The one additional area that probably should have been addressed is where the man fits in demographically (urban, suburban, rural, etc.) to ensure a good fit in the area where he is planting, or pasturing, a church.

THE MESSAGE

After covering the man in question from every possible angle, Darrin moves onto to examining the message that the man proclaims to the world.  This may seem like a no-brainer but many people do not even give the message a fraction of the time that they give the marketing strategy.  This creates a problem when tens of thousands of dollars are raised and spent, the crowd arrives to see what the hype is about, and then they do not even get a chance to hear the gospel.  People do not need another hip self-help club to attend once a week, they need a savior and Darrin Patrick makes no apologies for this fact.  He covers the message from every conceivable angle beginning with the historical reliability of what we believe, the salvation accomplishing power which must always remain centered on Jesus Christ.  A message properly expounded will expose sin in the hearer’s lives and shatter the idols that they have elevated into God’s rightful place.  He anticipates the fact that many people will question the truthfulness, effectiveness, sufficiency and authority of the message we preach and he addresses the objections with sound biblical support.  He handles the message with reverence to the object of the message and necessity of proclaiming the message truthfully and fully.  This section will cause even the long-term preachers to step back and examine the message they have been proclaiming to assure that every time they step in the pulpit they are lifting up Jesus and not themselves or their agenda.

THE MISSION

If you build it they will come may work in theory, but it makes little sense to build anything without an intended purpose.  Darrin Patrick tackles the church’s mission in a manner that challenges the traditional idea of what it means to “do” church.  This section is right on time, given the ease in which one can forget the big picture once they get into the heat of battle.  Everyone must know what they are doing for God and keep that in focus.  Further, if the church is to be a biblical church, it needs to follow the biblical mandate for why a church even exists in the first place.  Just calling itself a church is not enough as Patrick reveals through the final section of the book.  He asserts that the heart of mission is compassion in reaching a lost world, and addresses the biblical teaching answering the questions, what is the church and what does it look like?  He covers the manner in which we can contextualize the gospel for people to understand it and gives a charge to care for the city in order to win the right to have an audience.  The ultimate goal, he concludes, is city transformation whereby the city would weep if the church were no longer present.  This is a radical concept in an age where many churches have turned so inward that they exist to serve and entertain the current members at the expense and exclusion of those outside the fellowship.  This final section will challenge any pastor or leader to examine their church’s activity in the world based upon what the Bible teaches it should be doing and will, if considered, bring about a radical change in our communities.

In a world overflowing with books designed to help the church planter develop their methods, and strategies, Church Planter addresses the more foundational issue of whether or not the person is even a qualified person with a biblical message and mission.  I highly recommend this book to anyone considering a call to plant a church as well as established church pastors.  It is time that we get back to the foundation of building God’s kingdom which involves real people hearing a Christ-centered saving message from a church on mission to transform its community and this book will help all who are serious at coming alongside of God’s work.