On the Bookshelf

One of my recent reads: 

Trent's reading it right now.   We often read in tandem.  (Well....we sometimes read in tandem.   Trent doesn't read as much fiction as I do, and I don't read as many books from the 16th century as he does.   But once a month or so, we'll synchronize our literary selections.)

I hesitate to "review" a book in a way, because I think that anyone who puts in the screen time and the sitting-on-your-behind-for-hours time to write a book deserves a prize.  Who am I to critique him?  I can barely keep up with my email.  (Down to 709 messages in my inbox right now.)

But a few thoughts: 

1.  David Platt was the keynote speaker at one of our conferences last year; he is a gifted speaker.

 His three conference messages were pretty much a summation of the book (or vice versa -- not sure which came first).  All that to say that the book is  very readable.  Almost like listening to the three talks. 

2.  The concept of the book, "Taking Your Faith Back from the American Dream," is encouraging.  Platt just bluntly points out that the emporer's not wearing any clothes --

that much of 'Christianity' in America is rooted in materialism and achievement, and that not many people are doing anything about it. 

3.  It did strike me that the book should just be called Biblical, but I think Platt points that out as well.  While what he's saying is important, it's not new.  He exhorts Christians to read the Bible, know God, and lay down their lives for others.  He's saying that Christians should actually live like Christians.  It's not rocket surgery.

4.  Platt takes to task a very particular audience -- a culture that is very affluent, traditionally Christian, and moral, but which does not know much about Christ or the Bible. 

This subculture he's addressing seems to be older, and may be particular to the South.   I am curious about how those outside of the South have received the book. 

 I do know that even though I live in the South, I've never quite been a part of the culture with which he often seems at odds (not by my design -- just by birth and marriage).   Most of the Christian groups/churches I've been a part of were always the "break-away" kind of radical groups themselves.  Most of the affluent, materialistic, "establishment" type groups I've been a part of never really claimed to be Christian. 

5.  Although I've never been a member of a "mega-church" with a "multi-million dollar campus" (that plays the "foil" to the Radical dream),

 I totally relate with Platt on the pressure to "succeed" in ministry.   This is America.  Bigger is always better.  Results are important.  If a pastor or leader is not getting "results," then he/she is not a good fit, is otherwise gifted, or is just not "sharp" enough.  

  After 12 years of vocational ministry, I recognize easily the temptation to work in a way that gets more people in the door than in a way (which may be slower) that truly honors the Lord and cares about people.  So, Amen to all of that, Brother Platt.

6.  A pithy little section heading that was helpful to me was: "What Can We Spare?" or "What Will It Take?"  Obviously, the former question is one that most often guides our giving and personal sacrifice.  Platt challenges us, instead, to live, give, and sacrifice based on the latter question, "What will it take to see the

entire world reached for Christ?"

7.  As with almost anything, it would be easy to misunderstand this book and make it another "To Do." 

As in, "Maybe I'll really find true contentment in Christ if I sell my house and all my belongings and move to the Middle East as an undercover missionary."  And that may be entirely true, if you have an intimate walk with the Lord and that is what He is asking of you. 

    However (and Platt alludes to this somewhat), "rescuing our faith from the American Dream" is not just as another good work.  And just doing something radical is not going to be a magic bullet for our spiritual lives.  Knowing the Lord and obeyng Him is pretty radical in itself.  It's just that not many people are actually doing that -- and an entire culture of "surface Christianity" has resulted from merely aligning ourselves with the Christian camp without really counting the cost.

Overall Recommendation: Encouraging.  Quick read.  Primary audience is church "insiders" who are young in their faith or church leaders who have "lost [their] first love."