Book Brief - Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
David Platt
Multnomah Books (May 4, 2010)

What if the “pray this prayer, sign this card, bow your head, and repeat after me” gospel was not the type of devotion Jesus was looking for?

What if our image of Jesus that “loves us just the way we are” is not the Jesus of the Bible?

What if our image of the “God who hates the sin and loves the sinner” is not a full picture of the God we should worship?

What if our sales pitch of “accepting Jesus” distorts the infinitely glorious Son of God who doesn’t need our acceptance?

What if the only “proper response to the revelation of God in the gospel” is an abandonment of everything else to experience Him alone?

What if God is asking us to give up – completely – the American Dream and become so radically dependent on Him it is readily apparent to all that our greatest desire is God?

What if this total, desperate devotion is the true, normal discipleship described in the Bible?

What if “radical” was normal?

This new book by David Platt addresses all these “what-if’s” with a direct answer from Scripture and a lovingly confrontational response from the heart. Radical looks at how we have “twisted” the gospel of Jesus Christ to fit into our comfortable American Dream.

Any more description would minimize the total impact of this short book. Russell Moore puts it best in his endorsement:

“Sometimes people will commend a book by saying, ‘You won’t want to put it down’. I can’t say that about this book. You’ll want to put it down, many times…you’ll find yourself uncomfortably targeted by the Holy Spirit. You’ll see just how acclimated you are to the American dream. But you’ll find here another Way; one you know to be true, because you’ve heard it before in the words of the Lord Jesus, perhaps most forcefully in the simple call ‘Follow me’.”

Take the time to read this book.

Read the first chapter here.

There is also a smaller, shorter version called The Radical Question available for free to anyone who requests it. No strings attached, no shipping. They are also offering the same version for free download. (download available through May 9th, 2010)

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Rating: Hardback