Don't Hold Back: Leaving Behind the American Gospel to Follow Jesus Fully

by David Platt

The problem is not just an American dream that has consumed our lives but an American gospel that has hijacked our hearts.

As we will see, clear evidence shows that Christians and churches in our country are largely ignoring Jesus’s command to make disciples of all nations, to the eternal detriment of billions of people.

If we show kindness, compassion, friendship, honor, love, and hospitality only to those who are like us, then what does that say about us? Isn’t that basically just love for ourselves disguised as love for others?

What if instead of seeing injustice and moving on with our lives as we know them, we made it a practice to fall on our faces and ask God, “What are you calling us to do about this?”

We have witnessed the destruction wrought by justice-ignoring, power-abusing, self-protecting, evil-tolerating churches, church leaders, and Christians in our country. An entire generation is turning to the world in search of justice and kindness because they don’t see these things in the church.

For example, you might say, no, you don’t want a comfortable life in your nation more than the spread of the gospel in all nations. But how much of your time, energy, resources, and attention are you giving to seeing the gospel spread to billions of unreached people? Compare your answer to that question with the amount of time, energy, resources, and attention you’re giving to making your life comfortable.

It’s astonishing how zeal for our nation—and even specific political policies in it—overpowers passion to share the gospel with people God is bringing to us from other nations.

Why are we not talking about unreached people all the time in our lives, families, and churches today? Why are we not praying, giving, going, sending, and sacrificing in every way we can to spread the gospel among all the nations?