By David Burnette

Read below for more on David Platt’s answer to the question, “Why Radical?”

I want to be a part of the accomplishment of the Grebat Commission. That’s the short answer I would give if someone asked me, “Why Radical?” God desires for His gospel to be known and His glory to be praised in all nations. And Christ has commanded us to fulfill this God-exalting purpose among every people group on the planet. How? We make disciples. No matter the sacrifice. We go to them, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything He has commanded. And we keep doing this until the gospel has been proclaimed to all nations. Then the end will come.

For any and every follower of Christ, that’s a purpose worth giving our lives to. We were created for something so much greater, so much deeper, and so much more fulfilling than having a nice job (not that jobs are bad), raising a decent family (not that this is bad, either), and attending a good church (as a pastor, I definitely wouldn’t say that’s a bad idea). But there’s more. There’s so much more. God has given every follower of Christ gifts, skills, passions, resources, and, most importantly, His very presence so that we might be a part of the advancement of His kingdom on earth in anticipation of our King from heaven.

Yet, we are subtly and dangerously tempted to settle for less than this. We have taken the costly and radical command of Christ to go, baptize, and teach all nations, and morphed it into a comfortable call for Christians to come, be baptized, and listen in one location. As a result, if you ask individual Christians today what it means to make disciples, you will likely get jumbled thoughts, ambiguous answers, and probably even some blank stares.

That’s where I was once—and to some extent where I am still. The more I read the Gospels, the more I marvel at the simple genius of how Jesus lived and what Jesus did. With the task of taking the gospel to the world, He walked through the streets and byways of Israel looking for a few men. Don’t misunderstand me—Jesus was anything but casual about His mission. He was initiating a revolution, but His revolution would not revolve around the masses or the multitudes. It would not revolve around acquiring a certain position. Instead, it would revolve around a few chosen people. He would intentionally shun titles, labels, plaudits, and popularity in His plan to turn the course of history upside down. All He wanted was a few men who would think as He did, love as He did, see as He did, teach as He did, and serve as He did. He only needed to revolutionize the hearts of a few, empowering them by His Spirit, so they would impact the world.

Jesus lived, died, and was raised for the glory of God in all nations. Yet during His earthly ministry, Scripture indicates that Christ spent more time with this small group of disciples than with anyone else on the planet. This is astonishing when you really think about it. At the end of the Son of God’s time on earth, He had staked everything on His relationships with twelve men—eleven when you consider Judas’ role. These eleven guys were the small group responsible for carrying on everything Jesus had begun. Before ascending into heaven, He gathered them around Himself and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). After intentionally spending His life on earth with these eleven men, Jesus told them, “Now you go out and do the same with others.” The mega-strategy of Jesus: make disciples.

And God intends for this command to govern every follower of Christ. Every disciple is created, crafted, blessed, and intended by God to be a disciple-maker. No Christian is excluded from this mission (as if we would want to be!). You don’t need to have inordinate skill or unusual abilities to make disciples. You don’t need to be a successful pastor or a charismatic leader to make disciples. You don’t need to be a great communicator or an innovative thinker to make disciples. All you need is Christ, His Word, His Spirit, and His people.

Which brings us back to where we began. Why Radical? I am firmly convinced that Jesus’ charge to make disciples is intended to be at the heart of the local church. I want to pastor a local church that is radically abandoned to this commission, and I want to serve other local bodies of believers who are committed to this command as well. I want to be a part of providing free resources that are biblically faithful, theologically sound, practically beneficial, easily accessible, multi-lingual, and cross-cultural. I hope and pray that these resources will fuel disciple-making relationships through churches around the world. The whole purpose of Radical is to encourage and to equip Christians in the context of local churches to make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples…until every people group has heard the gospel and our all-satisfying, grave-conquering King receives the praise that He is due.

Author: David Burnette

“Why now?” Were the very first words I thought when I heard of the military coup that took place just weeks ago in Mali. This blog is too brief to describe the details and reasons for the coup, but a very broad stroke of the reason would be that soldiers seized power from the President Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22, accusing him of failing to provide the army with enough resources to stop Tuareg rebels in the north. This started a number of events in which we find ourselves disconnected from our friends in T-Village.

This is an e-mail that I received yesterday from the International Mission Board. “For those of you working in Mali, please note that the current situation in Mali has put a halt on short term work. In fact, our personnel were pulled out within the last few days due to the dangerous situation there. They are being cared for in 2-3 locations and being debriefed. It has been a very tense time. One group drove 16 hours cross country to get to safety. Please note that if you are considering or have plans to go to Mali that you should NOT attempt to go there right now. Before planning trip, please talk with your field contact missionary. In fact, it is advised to not even buy tickets for trips at this point. We have no personnel available to assist you on the ground there!”
“Thank you for your heart and all you do. Praying with you that the situation will resolve soon. And especially remembering our Malian brothers and sisters who may endure much simply due to their faith!” IMB

“Why now?” after almost four years of visiting this village, three to four times a year; after building a compound that gathered hundreds of the village people to sing praises to the Lord and hear Bible stories every time we visited them; after dozens in the village are now “walking the Jesus way;” after our “man of peace” became a believer in Jesus Christ; after the many baptisms in the school yard, with many celebrating the significance of what Christ did on the cross for them; after many of us were given new names by the members of T-Village, as a symbol of being adopted into their family.

I can go on and on describing how God has been working in T-Village, of how we were gaining momentum towards accomplishing our ultimate goal to plant a church in the village. Why now?

I may have found the answer to my question. As I was telling a friend all that was happening in T-Village and hearing my report of the military coup, my friend said to me, “And now they are all alone.” Immediately I said to myself, “But they are not alone. They have something they never had before. They have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.” Before we arrived at T-Village four years ago, they were hopeless and helpless, but now (because of God’s grace) they are empowered by the Spirit of God in them. Now they can say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil. 1:13. The word “do” in this verse means more than just accomplishing something, it means I can “endure” all things.

So our prayers for our friends in these days are for them to “endure,” for their faith to sustain them, for them to stand strong in God’s Word! We also pray for a quick solution to the political situation, so that we can go minister to our friends.

So until we meet again, the people of T-Village will be in our prayers and in our hearts.

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

Ray Sanabria

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Phil. 1:21

Maxie Durham said about this verse, “Isn’t that the highest, clearest point to which our faith can take us? When we arrive at that juncture of our spiritual pilgrimage, we will then be able to live joyful, self-giving abandon welcoming every bit of life, and without fear of death.”

This is one of the most popular verses in the Bible and one we should pursue to live out daily. This verse introduces us to Paul’s dilemma. He is trying to decide between his desire to live and his desire to die. He totally understands this decision is not up to him, that God is sovereign and He is the one that will write “The End” in Paul’s story. Still, he is pulled from both sides. One side wants to stay and continue the work the Lord has given him, and be able say “to live is Christ.” The other side is pulling to choose to die and enjoy being in the presence of the Lord for ever, and be able to say “to die is gain.”

When I read this verse, I am reminded of how much we Christians verbalize our desire to go to heaven. It is part of who we are, Why would we not desire to be in heaven and enjoy the blessings that come with it? But, I also noticed this desire is stronger when things are not going well, when I am really sick, when I am stressed out or I find myself in a very difficult situation. It is kind of like the young boy in Sunday School who listened intently while the teacher spoke about the beauties of heaven. She concluded by saying, “Raise your hand if you want to go to heaven.” Every hand shot up immediately, except one. “Why don’t you want to go to heaven, Johnny?” “Well,” he replied, “Mom just baked an apple pie for dinner.”

For this young boy, it’s apple pie that put heaven on hold. What is it for you? Is it the desire for riches, a promotion, finding a wife or husband, or maybe that trip to Hawaii?

I desire to arrive at the place in my life where I would feel like Paul. For Paul, the two options were not really a concern. If he died or he lived, he was good with both. His preoccupation was that whatever path his life took, he would honor the Lord. We read this in Phil. 1:20, “…as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Maybe our conversations should express a desire to “Live like we know where we are going and who we are living for.” (RS)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Gal. 2:20

Ray Sanabria