Radical or Just Real?

Today, I was listening to podcasts as I mowed.  I had downloaded the David Platt podcast where he first introduced the idea of living Radical Christianity to his church.  As I listened to what he had to say and as he taught on scripture I am more than familiar with, it got me thinking about what Radical Christianity is.  I pondered all that David had to say as I mowed and wondered if it is possible to live a Christianity that is anything other than Radical.

There was absolutely nothing boring or plain about Jesus.  Everything that Jesus had to say was controversial in His time.  People in His time either loved or hated Him.  There were very few people who had luke warm feelings about Jesus and if they did he gave them the opportunity to choose love or hate.  Jesus never minced words.  Jesus said things like, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one may enter the Father except through me,"  "The foxes have holes, the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head,"  'Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God,"  " No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God,"  If anyone comes to me and does not hate his mother and father, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."

I don't know about you but these words of Jesus are heavy to me.  I know this blog isn't necessarily uplifting but I believe that understanding Jesus and dealing with these difficult words from Him is essential to being a authentic Christian.  If there is anything I do understand about Jesus, it is that He will have nothing before Him.  Our lives have to reflect our love for Jesus.  He has to be our first and only love.

Without Jesus as our first and only love, we cannot possibly understand how to love anyone else.  Without Jesus as our only hope, we cannot possibly be satisfied in this life.  Where does Jesus rate in your heart today?  Is he first, last,  or somewhere lost in the middle of every other priority in your life?  I know that our world is more complicated today than back when Jesus was alive but I truly believe Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  What do you think?

Blessings,

Greg