Book review: Radical

I had high hopes for this book. Platt is the pastor of a SBC mega-church in Birmingham, AL. Reviews I had read his book shortly after its publication implied that this book was a clarion call to a consumption oriented Americanized Christian culture, akin to Luther nailing his theses to the door at Wittenberg.

I can't blame Platt for my disappointment. Rather than a call to devotional sacrifice and a reorienting of one's entire life, it seemed like the author suddenly found some previously overlooked pages in the Gospels. I was struck by the author's incredulity that Jesus actually had things to say about the poor and how disciples should react to them. Interspersed with exegesis of these new found passages were anecdotes about Platt's many mission trips overseas. All well and good but i have to reject any notion that we rich believers need to go rescue poor believers. It might be the other way around.

As well, the idea of devotional sacrifice seemed dumbed down. The relevant image from the author was the removal of pew cushions from their sanctuary.

I expected more and perhaps that says more about my own needs than the author's. He wrote what he wrote. Perhaps what was left unwritten needs another author to voice it.