David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream is a poignant criticism of the Church in America. It compares our opulent megachurches with Christ’s small-scale ministry of discipleship. It contrasts our world of selfish consumerism with an alternative approach marked by “desperation for the Spirit of God”. The author accuses America of twisting and mutilating the Gospel to conform to its own desires. Platt’s argument is persuasive and convicting, leaving the reader with a strong desire to get back to the basics of Christianity.

In the second half of the book, Platt explores the implications of the unadulterated Gospel. He makes the case that we should be more generous, using our amazing wealth and resources to help others. He also emphasizes the need to follow the Great Commission, getting out of our comfort zones and spreading the Word of God to all corners of the earth. Some might criticize this book for labeling these principles as “radical”. After all, they are really just basic tenets of our faith. However, Platt uses the word “radical” to emphasize the fact that these ideas are in direct opposition to the standards of the American Dream.

For those interested in leading a genuine Christian life, the author presents a year-long program consisting of specific activities. Each activity is meant to tear you away from your comfortable, worldly standard of living and put you on the path to following Christ. The list is remarkably simple, but challenging at the same time. If everyone in Christian America were to try this program, it really might change the world.

Memorable quotes from Radical:

“The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite treasure of knowing and experiencing him.”

“…we have actually turned away from Jesus. We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel he taught… We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel.”

“The message of biblical Christianity is not ‘God loves me, period,’ as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is ‘God loves me so that I might make him – his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness – known among all nations.’ Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is.”