Radical Together - The good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Author David Platt struggles with church budgets and gets nauseated with all the vision talk. This is my kind of author. It's my kind of book. Except for the bad and the ugly.
The Good:
With its excellent content, engaging writing style, wonderfully short length, and in-your-face application, this is a good book. It made me crave a radical church – and realize the main thing holding it back is me.
David writes about doing church where we ask ourselves, "Is this the best way to make disciples?" He wants to pour every decision, every dollar spent through that grid. Maybe the best way to make disciples, he thinks, isn't with convenient parking spots and greeters with lattes. Maybe we should "put the wonders of God's glory, holiness, wrath, justice, kindness, jealousy, grace and character on display." And "show people the most biblical, holistic, clear, and captivating vision of God that we possibly can and then trust Him to take care of the seeking." Hmmm.
The Bad:
This book is downright convicting. David gives real-life examples. One was of a couple evaluating if they really needed a larger house. Instead they used their house savings to adopt children with Down syndrome. Others sold themselves into slavery in order to witness to slaves. And I was proud of my Jesus belt-buckle. What this book is talking about is radical. If you don't like conviction, this book is bad.
The Ugly:
Those who read this book will want to use it. In order to use it, we need to know what scriptures are being quoted. But some irrational editor decided to use endnotes instead of references in the text. Say what? I'm not lazy; I just want close parking when I order my latte and sit down to read Radical Together with the references IN THE TEXT. Endnotes are ugly.
For church leaders this book is a must read. It will change the way we do church – it's already changed me. But David, if you want another star, give us references in the text next time.
And now for some links:
You can watch a short video of it here
You can order this book online at CBD or Amazon.
I received this book free from Multnomah Books for review. If they had offered me a Ferrari I might have lied. But they didn't. Therefore the opinions I have expressed are my own. Check out more reviews at DanielCooley.com
