I'm Reading a Great Book

Radical by David Platt

I am about half-way through. 

Here are a few excerpts I found interesting.....

I received a Christian news publication in the mail.  The front cover had two headlines side by side.  .....On the left one headline read, "First Baptist Church Celebrates New $23 Million building."  .....On the right was a much smaller article.  The headline for it read, "Baptist Relief helps Sudanese Refugees."  .... "Baptists have raised $5,000 to send to refugees in western Sudan."  Five thousand dollars.  That is not enough to get a plane into Sudan, much less one drop of water to people who need it."  Twenty-three million dollars for an elaborate sanctuary and five thousand dollars for hundreds of thousands of starving men, women, and children, most of whom were dying apart from faith in Christ...........

......So we rationalize these passages away.  "Jesus wouldn't really tell us not to bury our father or say good-bye to our family.  Jesus didn't literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor.  What Jesus really meant was...."
     And this is where we need to pause.  Because we are starting to redefine Christianity.  We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.
A nice, middle-class, American Jesus.  A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. 


Just a little food for thought.  (I'm Baptist, by the way - so don't think I am judging anyone.  Just quoting the book.)  Have a great weekend!