Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

One of the few reality TV shows I actually enjoy watching is ABC’s Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition.  Now in its ninth season, the show is built around the idea of building or remodeling a home for deserving people.  Projects that would normally span several months are completed in seven days by bringing together a team of designers, contractors, hundreds of workers and local volunteers!  The lucky homeowners always have a heart-warming story: heroes, community leaders, and a plethora of inspirational families are truly the heart and soul of the show.  My wife Becky usually has a box of tissue handy when Ty yells out that familiar line, “Move that bus!”

The reason this program is so popular is, at least in part, because we believe everyone deserves a place to call his or her own – a home, a place where family dreams are made, and futures are built.  Having a house or a home is more than just a luxury in our culture. It’s a place for security, protection and building life-long relationships.

Building someone a house, especially if that someone is a very deserving individual, is something that attracts attention.  Habitat for Humanity is one of the most respected non-profit organizations today.  They have built homes from literally thousands of people and inspired volunteers worldwide.

House building, an important metaphor in the writings of the Apostle Paul, describes what believers are supposed to do for each other.   The word is translated “build up” or “edify” and is used at least six times in the letter to the Ephesians.

It was a common term used to describe the actual building of a house.  Paul used it to talk about what we should do for each other.  To “build up” a brother or sister in the faith means to use words and actions that encourage, uplift and strengthen them.  Literally, we are to “build a house” for them with our love and kindness.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”  (Ephesians 4:16 KJV)

Just as a carpenter plans well for the construction of a home by selecting the right materials, we must carefully choose our words and reactions to those around us.  In a sense, we are building houses in the way we treat each other, houses that will provide safety, security and hope. We “minister grace” through our words.

This spiritual house-building is not optional.  It is critically important for the entire body of Christ.  In Ephesians 4:12, Paul talks about the “perfecting” of the saints and the “building up” of the body of Christ.   The word “perfecting” is a rare medical term also translated as “mending.”  The building up of the church comes from the healthy mending of each member.  Later in the same chapter (v. 16), the Apostle suggests that only as every member “supplies” what they are designed to give, can the body of Christ build itself up in love and grow into the “full measure of the stature of Christ.”

What are you building through your words, and through the way you treat others? Are you building them up or tearing them down?  Do your words build healthy relationship or do they contribute to broken relationships?

Amazed and Humbled

At first, I didn’t recognize the teenage boy standing in front of the registration table at Camp Bethel Medical Clinic, just outside of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Scores of people came to the clinic that morning, and we were very busy trying to register them so they could be treated. “What’s your name?” I asked the young boy standing in front of me. “Brian, Brian Josue,” he said. “And, how old are you?” was my second question as I worked through completing the form in Spanish. “Sixteen,” he answered. “Why have you come to the clinic this morning?” I asked. “I had surgery on my heart last month, and I’d like a doctor to look at it.”

Suddenly, all the dots connected in my mind, and to say the least, I was overwhelmed. This wasn’t just another patient. I remembered, ten years ago, when a medical team I was on, stopped to look at a six-year-old boy standing beside the road going up to Camp Bethel. I recalled the slim figure of this little boy, much smaller than the other children. He was lethargic, and didn’t run and jump like the other children around him. I remembered it like it was yesterday, putting my hand on his chest, and actually feeling the swishing of the blood moving back and forth from one side of his heart to the other. His congenital heart defect should have been repaired soon after birth, but he wasn’t born in a hospital, and his family lived in abject poverty. We all thought there was no hope he’d ever get the surgery he so desperately needed.

Other memories came flooding back. I remember the team’s commitment to do everything possible to get this little guy back to the United States for his surgery. I recall the physician on our team telling us if Brian didn’t get the surgery, he would not live past his fifteenth birthday. I remember the months and months of prayers, and the futileattempts to get paperwork signed, doctor’s permissions, visas and such. Nothing worked. Then, after two years of unsuccessfulattempts to get this child to the United States to have his surgery, he and his mother suddenly disappeared. They moved to a different part of Honduras, and we lost contact with them. I often wondered what happened to him, and indeed, if he was still alive.

Now, ten years later, that same little boy stood before me. Through joyful tears, I asked him how he got the surgery. He couldn’t tell me exactly how it came about, but a medical team from the United States came to Honduras last month and repaired his heart defect. He came by the clinic that day to thank us for our prayers. He and his mother had moved from Tegucigalpa to a place near the U.S. military base where someone from the hospital near the base discovered Brian, and took an interest in his condition.

Although he didn’t know the details of how and who, what he did know was many people had prayed for him, and God has answered those prayers. He knew ten years ago his grandmother and other relatives were not followers of Jesus. He knew growing up that a lot of badthings took place in the house where five to ten families lived. He knew some of his uncles and cousins were still in prison because of the things that had happened then. And, most importantly, he knew Christ had transformed his family. He came to the clinic that day to say thank you, and to give God the praise for what He had done.

He couldn’t explain why, but he knows God spared his life – something even more difficult for him to understand when he thinks about his nine year-old cousin, Christian, who is dying of cancer in the same house.

As I reflect on how God answers prayer, I am amazed, and humbled. I’m amazed at how God uses different people, from different places, at different times, to fulfill His sovereign purpose. I’m humbled that God in His sovereignty would allow us to participate in bringing about physical and spiritual healing to one single family, and one single person in a world filled with so many hurting and suffering people.

Yes, it’s just one boy, and one family in one small, country, Honduras. In some ways it seems like so little in the face of such overwhelming need around the globe. But, that’s how the world is transformed, one person at a time.

Jesus was always there for the least of society. Can we do less?

Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” The King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

Matthew 25:37-40 (NASB)

How’s The Soil Where You Live?

It happened again this year. The scorching summer heat effectively killed all the grass in my yard, leaving me to mow the remaining weeds. Regardless of how much I pay for grass seed, or what fertilizer I use, the lush green lawn I start out with in the spring, ends up as a patch of weeds and clover with very little grass by mid August. The problem isn’t the twenty-plus days of over-90 degree-heat, or the near-drought level of rainfall.

The problem is the soil. Jesus told a parable about a man sowing seed, and how the seed fell in four different types of soil: hard soil by the roadside, shallow, rocky soil, weed-contaminated soil, and good, fertile soil. Although it is known as the parable of the sower, in reality, it is a parable about soil. The soil represents the human heart, the place where God’s Word is sown daily. The yield of the crop is directly related to the condition of the soil. (Mark 4:1-20)

Parables are literary word pictures. They relate profound truths through common objects or stories. The focus of this parable is the condition of the soil where God’s Word falls. Some hearts, like the soil by the roadside, are hardened and unreceptive. When our hearts are hardened, Word of God doesn’t penetrate, and is swept away before it has a chance to produce fruit.

When our hearts are like the shallow, rocky soil, they may appear to produce good fruit, but the lack of strong roots makes them vulnerable to the blistering heat of persecution, and to the raging winds of tribulation, and the fruit does not last.

The most troublesome soil is the soil contaminated with weeds. You can’t see the weeds, but they are present. And, just like the weeds in my front yard, they don’t show up until it’s too late to stop them. According to this parable, they choke out what the seeds produce, and render the soil sterile and useless.

Then, there is the good soil. In the good soil, all things that are of God grow and flourish, because they are grounded in the Word of God, and fed daily by the Holy Spirit. Good soil is to be cherished.

This parable does not draw a line between unbelievers and believers. Actually, anyone of us could have one or more of these bad-soil conditions in our hearts at the same time. A lack of faith can make our heart hard just as it did the first followers of Jesus. (Mark 6:52 & 8:17). A lack of depth in our walk with God can make our hearts fickle and flighty, and our temporary joy turns to disappointing failure at the first sight of trouble or opposition. There may be a lot of emotion, but little depth. And emotion alone cannot withstand the storms of life. While a hardened heart, like soil by the roadside, is difficult to penetrate, and rocky soil is difficult to recognize, weed-contaminated soil is the most difficult to deal with. As Jesus described it, this soil is filled with the deception of riches, our love and desire for things for things, and the worries of life. (Mark 4:19) These “weeds” choke out God’s Word and render our lives sterile. Jesus had harsh words for fruitless branches. He said, “A branch that does not bear fruit is taken away . . . cut off and thrown into the fire.” (John 15:1-11) It is only in the good soil that we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But, good soil doesn’t come easily.

Do you ever wonder why we don’t see more fruitfulness in our churches? Could it be the condition of the soil . . . our hearts? Are our hearts are hardened, our commitments shallow, and our lives are full of weeds that choke out God’s Word? Bad soil can show up anywhere, at anytime! So, how’s the soil where you and I live today?

If our soil is bad, what we do about it? Here are a couple of remedies from God’s word:

• For hard soil, God says, “Break up your fallow ground . . .” (Jeremiah 4:3)
• For shallow soil, the Psalmist cried, “Search me, O God, and know my heart . . .” (Psalms 139:23)
• For contaminated soil, King David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart O God . . .” (Psalms 51:10)
• But when there is good soil, we can “hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred fold.” (Mark 4:20)

The condition of our heart (soil) is God’s biggest concern, and changing our heart is His greatest joy!

Comfort or Character?

Some time ago, I heard someone say, “God is more interested in our character than our comfort.” This past week, on a mission trip to Honduras, that truth became a reality to me.

Having been to Honduras a number of times, I was used to cold showers, roosters crowing at 4 am, and creeping creatures like spiders and scorpions. However, even with my past experience, this week was one of the most uncomfortable weeks I have ever spent anywhere.

Everyone in our group was plagued daily by tiny, little insects. You couldn’t see them, and you didn’t even know they’d bit you until your skin began to itch. No one, not even the locals, knew what they were. Their bite wasn’t poisonous, and we weren’t in any danger of getting sick, but the itching drove us crazy! Nothing we did seemed to deter them. If fact, I think they loved the insect repellant as much as they loved our fair complexions!

A couple of days into the trip, as we were treating over 100 patients a day in the medical clinic, itching like crazy, and bone tired, I remembered the statement about comfort and character. I didn’t go to Honduras to be comfortable, and God never promised I would be comfortable serving Him. In fact, He told those who wanted to follow Him to expect to be treated the same way He was treated. Then He added, “Unless you take up your cross and die daily, you cannot be My disciples.”

When I thought about what Jesus went through on the cross, my itching body and my tired feet didn’t seem so important. They really weren’t much at all-just minor inconveniences—- in comparison to all the suffering Jesus did for me. God had used those little critters to teach me an important lesson.

Most, if not all, of the 97 people in our group were experiencing the same insect attacks, but, to my surprise, the young people weren’t complaining!   When they returned to the camp each night after a day of missions, I heard testimony after testimony about what God had done that day. Then I realized again, it wasn’t about comfort, but about character . . . about what God was doing to shape their lives for their future in His Kingdom.

It is so easy to focus on whether or not we are comfortable, and complain when we’re not. That’s exactly what the enemy wants – to get us so attuned to our own comfort that we forget about our character, and the character of others. I’m glad God is always focused on the condition of my heart, gets me out of my comfort zone, and does whatever it takes to shape my character into the person He designed me to be.

One of the teenagers said it best in a poem she wrote toward the end of the week:

Not Forgotten

Little eyes staring
Little feet, no shoes
Hands, so dirty
Clothes so worn

Bumpy roads
not paved
houses, no doors
that have dirt floors

Joy when given hugs
Eyes excited to play
Full of energy
Ready to be lead

Prayers going out
People being saved
Holding heads high
Humbly committing to the Lord

Not proud,
Not boastful
ready to change
Thanks God, Thanks God, that’s why I came.

Victoria Bilton,  Deep Impact, Honduras-2011

How is your character shaping up today? 

Larry Doyle

Director of Missions

Piedmont Baptist Association 

Missional Small Groups (book review)

This book is the product of the author’s quest and passion to find a way to do small group beyond the usual, “huddle and cuddle” Bible studies or self-help groups. His twenty-plus years of searching for effective ways to do small groups led him to the principles and practices found in this book.  The author, M. Scott Boren, takes a totally different angle from the normal books that talk about strategies, technical skills and knowledge about the dynamics of small groups.  What you find here is an attempt to reframe the entire discussion of small group experience.

His book is divided in to two parts.  Part one lays the foundation for becoming missional, and what that looks like within the context of a small group.  The author begins by identifying the life rhythms of small group life – rhythms that tells a story unique to each group.  According to the author, all small groups play rhythms that tell one or more of the following stories

• The story of personal improvement
• The story of life-style adjustment
• The story of relational re-vision
• The story of missional re-creation

The goal of the small group leader is to guide the group make the kind of “music” that makes a difference in the world.  In other words, to “learn the musical rhythms that line up with what it means to be the people of God.”  These rhythms often conflict and run counter to those played by our culture and in this way, create both a challenge and a barrier for the small group.

The second part of the book contains the “meat” or what the author believes it means to be missional as a small group.  Essentially, he answers these two questions. What’s the difference between the normal small group and the mission small group?  What does it look like to live out our faith in a missional small group?

The author identifies three life-rhythms present in missional groups:  1) missional communion, 2) missional relating, and 3) missional engagement.   The remainder of the book is devoted to explaining these rhythms and identifying the principles and practices that create and enhance these rhythms in the small group.  When a group is able to play all three rhythms, the group is able to join God in His mission in the world – becoming truly missional at heart.  It is no longer about the individual, or even the group, but about what God is doing in our world.

In my opinion, this section is worth the price of the book.  In one sense of the word, these are practical spiritual disciplines for missional groups.   This is not a book about structures or curriculums, and it isn’t a book that will help you answer the question, “How can I make my small group grow?”  But it is a book that will help you reframe your thinking about what small groups are, and how they connect, or fail to connect with real life, and most importantly how they do or do not reflect the missional heart of God.

This is a “must read” for leaders who are involved in small groups, and for pastors and staff who are interested in starting small groups in their churches.   

Reviewed by:

Larry Doyle
Director of Missions
Piedmont Baptist Association

The Value of Being in His Hands

The potential value of an object changes dramatically when placed in the hands of the right person.

A football in my hand is worth about $45. That same football in the hand of Tom Brady is worth about 72 million, according to his contract with the New England Patriots. A tennis racquet in my hand is worth about $200.   A tennis racquet in the hand of Pete Sampras was worth a little over $43 million dollars (total career prize winnings).

Five loaves and two fish in our hands is enough for a couple of fish sandwiches, but in the hands of Jesus, it is a banquet for more than five thousand people.

With a few nails in my hand, I might be able to build a birdhouse. A few nails in Jesus’ hand brought about redemption and salvation for the entire world.

The potential value of things such as a football, a tennis racquet, five loaves of bread and a couple of fish, or a few nails depend upon the person who holds them in their hand.

 

The same is true when it comes to our lives. Jesus said each one of His sheep is securely placed in His hands, and in the hands of His Father.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

John 10:27-30 (NASB)

This truth not only tells us we are safe, but also reminds us of the great potential in each one of our lives because we are in the Father’s hands. What can be accomplished through your life and mine changes dramatically when our lives are in His hands.

If you’ve watched any TV at all, you can probably finish this slogan from a well-known insurance company, “You’re in good hands with . . .” They are also known as the good hands company.

The reality is, the only hands that are truly good are God’s hands!

As followers of Christ, we are securely placed in the Father’s hands, and because we are in His hands, our lives have unlimited potential. Paul was so certain of this, he confidently declared, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).

Are we aware of our potential and of our value by simply being in God’s hands?

Turning the Church Inside Out

Recently, I read the story in Acts 17 about Paul and Silas preaching the Gospel in the city of Thessalonica. Their preaching resulted in a number of people coming to faith, and becoming followers of Jesus. Also, a number of religious people in the same city were so offended they gathered a mob and attacked the home where Paul and Silas were staying. After dragging some of the believers before the elders of the city, they made this declaration, “These who turn the world upside down are come here also.” (Acts 17:6)

I’ve often thought about this statement and wondered why our churches don’t have this kind of impact. I dare say, few churches today can be accused of “turning the world upside down.”

I am convinced we’ll never turn our world upside down until we turn the church inside out! The fatal flaw of most churches today is our inward focus. What happens on the inside of our organizations and buildings dominates our time, and eats up our resources. Most church conflicts (fights) are not about ministry and missions, but about personal preferences and control. The sad truth is the average church in America spends 85% or more of their budget on staff and buildings.

Turning a church inside out however, is not easy. It isn’t just a matter of reprioritizing resources and budgets. It is more than just doing more missional things in the community. Although values and priorities are important, nothing will change until we have a seismic shift in our understanding of what it means to be church.

The single greatest barrier to becoming an inside-out church is our model or paradigm of church – that is, how we see ourselves. As one of my seminary professors said many years ago, “The greatest challenge facing the church today is not that we are unable to meet our budget, or that attendance is down, but that we do not know who we are, or what we are to become as the people of God.” (Findley Edge – The Greening of the Church, 1972). As someone else said, “The church is suffering from an identity crisis.”

Since Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, the primary paradigm of church has been the model of people gathering in structures designed for worship and fellowship. Since then, most of the energy and resources of the church have been spent inside organizations and structures. This “gathered paradigm” of church continues to define how we do church today. Gathering to fellowship and worship is necessary, not to mention biblical. However, our gathering is not our reason for existence!

Simply put, there are two ways to view the church. We can view the church as a group of people who gather on a regular basis for worship and fellowship, and occasionally scatter to do good things in the world, or we see the church as a group of people scattered to impact and transform the world that also gathers for worship and fellowship. In one view, the priority is gathering and in the other it’s scattering. One looks more like an institution, and the other a movement.

Gathering and scattering are both necessary, but it is the way we scatter that gives meaning and purpose to the reason we gather! Not vice-versa. In other words, what happens inside our gatherings must never take priority over what happens outside our gatherings. Salt looks good in the salt shaker, but it only fulfills its purpose when it leaves the safety of the shaker. And, keeping the salt shaker filled is not the ultimate goal.

This missional identity of the church is explored in detail in Alan Hirsch’s book, The Forgotten Ways. He says, “We have become so numbed by the opiate of institutional religion that we have simple lost contact with the memory of what we can, and ought, to be.”

The key to turning the world upside down is turning the church inside out, and that will never happen until we see the church as missional. It is not that the church has a mission, but that the mission (Missio Dei) has a church. Our very existence is about being on mission in a world where God is reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Cor. 5: 19)

What are we doing to turn our churches inside out?

Keeping Focused on the Essentials

The Eastman Kodak Company dominated the photography market for over 100 years.  No company commercialized the camera and its associated products as successfully as Kodak.  Some of Kodak’s landmark products include the Brownie camera introduced in 1900, Kodachrome color film, hand-held movie cameras, and the easy-load instamatic camera.

Today, Kodak is only a shadow of its former self, largely due to shifting its focus away from photography to other interests.  In the late 1980s, Kodak began expanding into pharmaceuticals, memory chips, healthcare products, document management, and a host of other non-photography related fields.  During this time of diversification, photography began its transition from a film-based industry to a digital one.

But because Kodak had lost its focus, it failed to recognize the seismic shifts occurring in the photography world. It didn’t take long before Kodak, who had been a leader in their field for over a century, found themselves chasing several competitors who had aggressively embraced the digital era. Within a few short years, Kodak was unable to catch up, and unable to recapture its magic.  Kodak’s stock price today is about 97% below its peak of the mid-1990s.  Kodak is all but a relic of the past because it lost its focus. Other things, not all bad, distracted Kodak from its main purpose.

I wonder if the church isn’t suffering from the same mistakes Kodak made – failure to focus on the essentials.  Pick up any book on church growth or church planting, and you will find a list of things the church or the church planter should do to start or grow a successful church.

Many of these books are filled with great ideas based on wise leadership and organizational concepts, but at the same time, they often miss what the Bible tells churches to focus on.  Many of the books lead its readers to conclude the church should be devoted to well-planned events, solid mission statements, catchy core values, innovative media, or relevant music.  Nothing is inherently wrong with any of those things, but they are just not where the Bible instructs the church to focus.

It took Luke only a few short words to summarize what the first church was centered on: “and they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42).

We see four things the first church made a priority. The first church was devoted to the Gospel–the teaching of the apostles.  They were devoted to living together in fellowship that was a direct result of their mutual fellowship with Christ.  They were devoted to practicing Christ-ordained, cross-centered worship, including the Lord’s Supper.  They were devoted to private and corporate prayer.

We do not see the first church establishing business meetings, writing vision statements, starting special programs, doing community events, or trying to be relevant to the culture.  None of these things are bad, as long as they are peripheral and not central.  These things can become distractions if they become the church’s focus.

Like Kodak’s fateful diversification, the church’s failure to devote themselves to the four things the apostles and the first church devoted themselves to, can distract us from our Acts 1:8 mission to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

God does not need the church in America with all its innovations. God needs simple churches focused on His Word. Churches are springing up all around the globe, many under severe persecution. These churches are not distracted by programs and man-made philosophies, but are following the footsteps of the early church.  These churches may not boast huge buildings and multimillion-dollar budgets.  They may not make Outreach Magazine’s list of “most innovative churches,” and they may not have satellite campuses broadcasting their pastor to tens of thousands.  But what they do have is an Acts 2:42 focus, and that’s all they need.  These are the churches God will use to truly change the world.

By

Steve Doyle, pastor

Harbins Community Baptist Church

Dacula, GA

Extreme!

The word “extreme” came to mind when I was searching for a way to describe what I experienced this past week in Honduras.

Usually, the first thing I think about when I hear the word “extreme” is extreme sports.  I imagine skydiving, mountain climbing, or ridding the rapids somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Honestly, I’m not a fan of extreme sports. In fact, I think you have to be extremely crazy to do those things!  Some people, however, live for adrenaline filled thrills and heart-stopping challenges!

Generally speaking, the word extreme is used to describe something beyond the ordinary or common place. We use it in reference to an extraordinary activity or experience, such as something extremely dangerous, extremely satisfying or extremely courageous.

I’ve never thought about obeying and loving Jesus as something extreme.  That is, until this past week.  In fact, I would classify last week as one of the most extreme weeks I’ve ever experienced.  Along with twelve other men I was privileged to participate in a mission trip to Honduras.  Although the purpose of the trip was to construct a building that will serve as a medical clinic for families in a poor community, God used this experience to show me what extreme love and obedience really looks like.

In the middle of extreme poverty – poverty unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else in the world – we saw humble, faithful men and women ministering to their communities in the face of unbelievable challenges and life-threatening opposition.  We saw extreme courage in pastors serving in areas where their lives are in constant danger.  We worked with people this week who’s trust in God reveals, what I can only call, extreme obedience to God’s call on their lives, and extreme love for their fellow man.  Most of all, we saw extreme faith and absolute dependence on God.  Totally extreme!

Seeing this level of commitment and dedication, I had to face the fact that, most of the time, my faith is less than what it could be.  Although I desire to be extreme in my commitment, and my love for God and others, I fall short – far short!

Our experiences this week also reminded me of something else extreme: God’s faithfulness!   He is always “extreme” in His love, His presence and most of all, His amazing grace!  His love for us is unconditional and eternal.  His presence is extremely important because without Him, we can do nothing, and with Him we can do anything.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philippians 3:13

Extreme faith!  Extreme love!  When you think about it, the word “extreme” is the best (and most biblical) description of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  God was extreme in the way He loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to die on Calvary.  And, Jesus’ obedience to His Father’s will was so extreme He willingly gave His life for us, taking the horror and humiliation of the cross we rightfully deserve.

In light of what I’ve experienced I must ask myself these questions.  Can the word “extreme” describe my life in Christ?  Am I as extremely in love with Him as He is with me?  And, how extreme is my love for others?

What about you?  How extreme is your commitment to follow Jesus?   Remember what Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”  (Mark 8:34)  When you think about it, that’s pretty extreme!

Radical Together

If you liked the book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt, you’ll love his most recent work, Radical Together:  Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God.  Dr. David Platt is the senior pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama.  Throughout the book, he draws on the experiences and challenges he encountered guiding a traditional “program-focused” church to become a mission/community-focused congregation of radical followers of Jesus. Using the Word of God as the primary guide for both theology and methodology, he led his church to ask this question, “Does this plan/program best align with the purpose and plan of God for His people?” It impressive to see how this simple question radically transformed his congregation.

In this book, Radical Together, the author revisits some of the issues he introduced in his earlier work, Radical.  One of these issues deals with the basic elements of church growth.  Today, most church growth practices focus on three elements: an excellent performance at a comfortable place led by outstanding professionals.   The author suggests there is one serious problem.  It leaves out the most important “p” – the people of God!  God’s plan is His people!  We certainly need to gather with God’s people for worship, but growing His Church is found in one simple command, “Make disciples.”  You cannot make disciples without equipping God’s people to take His Word and His Gospel into His world.  As, the author says, “Performance has nothing to do with it.  People have everything to do with it.”

The “radical” principles suggested in this book are practical, straightforward, and in a very real sense, downright simple.  What Dr. Platt led his church to do, and what he suggests for his readers, is to focus on the mission Jesus gave to His Church, to make disciples, and evaluate everything in light of accomplishing that mission.

This may seem radical, but it is not radically new!  It’s actually a very ancient plan!  It is what Alan Hirsch describes in his book, The Forgotten Ways, as the “apostolic genius.”  It is making disciples through personal relationships.  In short, it is about people leading other people to know and follow Jesus.

There is a disturbingly honest paragraph in this book where the author reveals his own struggle with the amount of resources his church dedicates to the Sunday worship services as opposed to how much is given to impacting the world.  I’ve decided to close this review by quoting this paragraph. Remember, these words come from a pastor whose church recently cut 83% of its worship budget in order to free up resources for urgent needs around the world.

“I am haunted by this question on Sundays as I stand in a nice auditorium with a quality sound system and large video screens on the wall, all designed to spotlight select people on stage.  It’s not that everything in this scene is necessarily wrong, but I do wonder what in this scene is biblically best and practically healthy for the people of God.  I have more questions than I have answers on this issue, and I am grateful for leaders in our worship ministry who are willing to ask the questions with me.”  (p. 60)

I urge you to get the book, read it, and use the study guides for each chapter to lead your congregation or leadership team in a study of how to be “RADICAL TOGETHER.”

Reviewed by Larry Doyle