So what is the difference between someone who willfully indulges in sexual pleasures while ignoring the Bible on moral purity and someone who willfully indulges in the selfish pursuit of more and more material possessions while ignoring the Bible on caring for the poor? The difference is that one involves a social taboo in the church and the other involves the social norm in the church. ~Radical, pg 111
Radical. Weird. Over the top. Extreme.
Those are all words that people close to us have used to describe the changes in our family lifestyle over the last six months.
I have to admit that the opinion of others, particularly my family, matters to me. It hurts my heart that they don’t understand the level of radical obedience we are prayerfully subscribing to.
It scares me that we have just begun traveling this Biblical road and have already found it to be isolating and persecuted.
Which is probably why God has me reading Radical {for the third time in six months} right now and sharing my thoughts about it.
Which is probably why statements like “if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all” {Radical pg 111} spur me on to continue on this journey with my Jesus.
I look back on posts from quite some time ago and gratitude overwhelms me. I have been on this path for longer than I realized. Reading Radical {in May 2010} did not change my life.
Jesus changed my life.
Jesus changed my heart.
I have known about God since childhood, I came to know Christ as my Redeemer in 1998. But, my heart was not broken, surrendered, laid-out-bare-upon-the-altar until September 2008. Since then I have been seeking Him, pursuing Him and being willing to be misunderstood in the process. {and failing miserably along the way}
This is really the core issue of it all. Do we trust Him? Do we trust Jesus when he tells us to give radically for the sake of the poor? Do we trust Him when we begin using the resources he has given us to provide for others? Do we trust him to know what is best for our lives, our families, and our financial futures?~ Radical, 124
My small group friends know that recently I have been struggling with making any type of unnecessary purchase. For example, I love to decorate for the seasons, holidays..you name it, I decorate for it. Yet, here it is the end of October and I have not decorated for fall. Not because I don’t have a desire to but because I have been paralyzed by the heaviness of need around me.
I feel guilty about the time it would take from helping someone to get the decorations out and put them up.
I feel guilty about the amount of money I could use to help someone that I would instead spend on golden mums and assorted size pumpkins and gourds. 
A friend reminded me of the difference between condemnation and conviction and then Platt’s words echoed in my mind “Christ will change our desires, and we will long to sacrifice our resources for the glory of his name among them” Radical 127. Another wise friend reminded me that ministry to my family is equally important and to ask them if decorating for the seasons is important to them. {and I am glad I asked because to my sentimental son it is important and therefore the decorations came out of the bins and up on the door}. But, I still haven’t bought any mums.
Mums and fall wreaths are not bad. What would be bad is if I blindly pursued my life and my desires while not having my heart and eyes opened to needs around me. “The war against materialism in our hearts is exactly that: a war” Radical 136.
The struggle between things of eternal value and things of material value is being fought in my heart. It is tough. I don’t have the answers. Which is good in a way because it sends me back to the Word to find them.
This post is linked to Radical Read-Along at Marla’s blog.
