Goodreads Review: Radical

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*4.5 stars*


Absolutely great book! Totally woke me and challenged me to rethink why I did things. This is a book that challenges Christians to be disciples of Jesus, not just people who want to be part of a cultural club.


What kept me from giving it 5 stars?


*Spoiler Alert*


When I first read this book, It changed my life in so many positive ways. God definitely used it to wake me to my laziness and my desire for a comfortable christian life.


The only negative thing I see in this book, is that it has the potential to make someone (like me) feel as though Christianity calls for a Holy lifestyle (meaning radical abandonment of everything not "Christian").


Before I knew it, I quit television, gaming, movies, Facebook, laughing, etc. anything that was part of culture and not part of God's culture.


I wanted to be set apart. But in doing so, I put myself in a position where I could no longer relate to world around me, even the Christian world; I was pretty much a monk for a few months. But I was failing at giving up my life to God in these areas. And I was failing at being able to connect to the lost through a relatable lifestyle.


I've read the sequel to this book, "Radical Together." In it, Platt uses an illustration to describe what he fears would happen to certain types of people who would read "Radical." This certain type of person would fear failing as a Christian, and struggle with guilt, because they aren't "giving up" enough things for God. Platt warns, again in his second book, that this was not what he wanted at all to communicate. He then makes the effort to say that we aren't saved by works, we're saved by Grace.


It took me a while to remember that.



HOWEVER,


Please oh please don't skip this read simply because of a couple things that affected me.


There is so much more positive in this book than there is negative.


I still believe every person who calls themselves a Christian should read this book.


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