Over-sized mansions, super-sized French fries, and sport utility vehicles. These are the marks of contemporary America, and we’re proud of them. After all, these are the tangible products of the “American dream,” a concept that promotes ingenuity and hard work as the means to financial abundance. We are a people who believe in certain unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of opulence. Wouldn’t questioning the validity of such things be, well, un-American?
Actually, a new generation of American faithful is questioning whether such things are inconsistent with the Christian Gospel. The way of Jesus, they say, is focused on others rather than self, on generosity not wealth. While the American dream exalts personal promotion, the Christian Gospel emphasizes downward mobility. We become the greatest when we become the least.
Proponents of this paradigm highlight Jesus’ teaching that it is nearly impossible for the rich to enter God’s kingdom (Mark 10:25), and that a poor person is in a better position to receive the Gospel (Luke 6:24-25). Jesus did, after all, make clear that God and money are at odds, and we much choose which we’ll serve (Matthew 6:24). Such may be a shocking revelation for some American Christians trying to clinch both.
A prominent voice leading this charge is David Platt, a Southern Baptist minister who became “the youngest megachurch pastor in America” at age 26. His new job bred in him uneasiness in light of what he sees as the New Testament message, and inspired his New York Times bestselling book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.
Jesus, he says, was a “mini-church pastor” who made following him difficult. He turned people away with exhortations to eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:53) and hate your family (Luke 14:26). Christ was laser-focused on the poor and oppressed, and often had harsh words for the wealthy. Christians who think like Platt emphasize Jesus’ exhortation to the rich, young ruler to give up his wealth and follow him (Matthew 19:16-22). As they see it, Jesus doesn’t just upset the rich, young ruler; it upset rich Americans.
But that leaves cultural observers with a significant question: Will this “radical” Christianity have any real effect on the American Church?
Christina said:
I think God's purposes will be accomplished with or without us.
But, if we don't engage in a relationship with Christ we will miss out on the radical movement of His love and the Kingdom of God that is here now.
Posted: September 17, 2010