Warning: I use the word "radical" a lot in this post. I meant to.
At the time I'm writing this blog post, I've been asked to lead a few men through a short-term Bible study titled "Radical". By the time you see this blog post, I'm probably already through it. At this moment, though, I don't know anything about it other than the title. I'll begin looking at the course materials in the next few days.
The course title, though, has already stirred my heart. Radical. What a title! It's a topic I've given considerable thought to over the years, mostly because I've glimpsed how I fell short in that regard. Radical. That's the kind of Christian life I want to lead, yet looking back, it's clear that I've talked about it much more than I've actually done it.
Without yet knowing the details of the course, my initial thoughts run to one concept: being a radical follower of Jesus means holding nothing back from Him. Nothing. Not my little pockets of pride, selfishness, and self-aggrandizement that -- when I recognize them -- I know are ugly and not at all good. Those things are proof that I'm still falling short of the character of Christ that He's trying to establish in me. That makes them sin, the kind that oozes out in unwanted and unrealized ways, sort of like oil that drips from an old car, leaving an ugly stain even after it's been wiped up. Like the oil drip, that sinfulness sometimes comes out when I least realize it's there. What's worse, others may see it as plain as day while I'm totally oblivious. That makes it a blind-spot oil spot, but that's a rhyming topic for another day.
So let me get back to this topic. Radical. Being an all-out, nothing held back follower of Jesus. What would that look like? There's a term I've heard used in American football to describe a radical, sold-out football player. Someone will say, "He plays like a man with his hair on fire." Think about being a "hair on fire" disciple of Jesus. Not literally, of course, and not in a human, fallen, foolish way, but as a metaphor describing a sold-out, God-pleasing way.
The way I see it, a radical follower of Jesus has settled in the heart that nothing will be held back from Him. Not money, not career, not fame, not loyalty and faithfulness, not sweat and hard labor, not any part of any relationship, not "spare" time, not anything, including the next breath and next heartbeat. Not even the secrets of a private thought-life and the hidden pockets of self that reside so deeply in the human heart.
Nothing is mine, I settled that part long ago. It's all His for Him to do with, pour out, ignore, scrape, scrub, scour, or dispose of as He sees fit. Those are big words, but unfortunately not completely true words in my case and probably not in yours. I wish I could say with total clarity that day-in, day-out, I'm holding nothing back. Unfortunately, "Nothing is mine, I settled that part long ago" is more of a statement of who I want to be rather than who I'm convinced I am.
As incomplete as we are in that regard, I recognize that, for us, it must go even deeper than that. A radical follower of Jesus has settled that life in the here and now is fully in Jesus' hands, that however things turn out here -- whether good, bad, or indifferent -- the only thing that really matters is that the God of the Universe (and so much more beyond this Universe!) has His way with His creation and gets the reward from His creation for which He so deeply longs.
And that brings me, at long last, to the point of this blog post. When I first began considering what the "Radical" men's study might cover, the Holy Spirit surprised me, speaking to my heart that the right outcome of this life is far more about Him being radical than it is about me being radical.
After all, He is far more radical than I could ever be. He is totally sold out to the cause of fixing this creation and everything in it. He is radical with or without my permission or acquiescence. His agenda includes getting me to be radical. I don't have to stir Him up. He deeply wants me to join Him in the radical intensity of His heart, to reflect His radical nature and His radical agenda, to fellowship with Him in His radical-ness, and to walk out His radical work in me.
It's easy to say, "Lord, get radical with my wife, my kids, my job, my health, this country, these politicians, my neighbors, my Pastor, the next generation, my savings. Lord, work radically through me as I help grow the Kingdom of God."
It's harder to say, "Lord, get radical with my hidden places, my blind spots and not-so-blind spots, my thought life and my character flaws, anything in and about me that is out of line with what You have in mind. Lord, get radical with rearranging my personal furniture. Throw it all away if you want and start over. Whatever, Lord Jesus, get radical in and through and around me."
So here's my fresh conclusion about being radical. A radical follower of Jesus is someone who
is radical about letting God be as radical as He wants. A radical follower of Jesus understands that a life rightly lived is far more about God being radical than it is about you or me being radical, though we still must be radical.
He's going to fix this creation, all of it, with or without my cooperation, with or without me joining Him in His radical approach. He'll be radical in spite of you and me if He has to, but that's not what He really wants.
At the time I'm writing this blog post, I've been asked to lead a few men through a short-term Bible study titled "Radical". By the time you see this blog post, I'm probably already through it. At this moment, though, I don't know anything about it other than the title. I'll begin looking at the course materials in the next few days.
The course title, though, has already stirred my heart. Radical. What a title! It's a topic I've given considerable thought to over the years, mostly because I've glimpsed how I fell short in that regard. Radical. That's the kind of Christian life I want to lead, yet looking back, it's clear that I've talked about it much more than I've actually done it.
Without yet knowing the details of the course, my initial thoughts run to one concept: being a radical follower of Jesus means holding nothing back from Him. Nothing. Not my little pockets of pride, selfishness, and self-aggrandizement that -- when I recognize them -- I know are ugly and not at all good. Those things are proof that I'm still falling short of the character of Christ that He's trying to establish in me. That makes them sin, the kind that oozes out in unwanted and unrealized ways, sort of like oil that drips from an old car, leaving an ugly stain even after it's been wiped up. Like the oil drip, that sinfulness sometimes comes out when I least realize it's there. What's worse, others may see it as plain as day while I'm totally oblivious. That makes it a blind-spot oil spot, but that's a rhyming topic for another day.
So let me get back to this topic. Radical. Being an all-out, nothing held back follower of Jesus. What would that look like? There's a term I've heard used in American football to describe a radical, sold-out football player. Someone will say, "He plays like a man with his hair on fire." Think about being a "hair on fire" disciple of Jesus. Not literally, of course, and not in a human, fallen, foolish way, but as a metaphor describing a sold-out, God-pleasing way.
The way I see it, a radical follower of Jesus has settled in the heart that nothing will be held back from Him. Not money, not career, not fame, not loyalty and faithfulness, not sweat and hard labor, not any part of any relationship, not "spare" time, not anything, including the next breath and next heartbeat. Not even the secrets of a private thought-life and the hidden pockets of self that reside so deeply in the human heart.
Nothing is mine, I settled that part long ago. It's all His for Him to do with, pour out, ignore, scrape, scrub, scour, or dispose of as He sees fit. Those are big words, but unfortunately not completely true words in my case and probably not in yours. I wish I could say with total clarity that day-in, day-out, I'm holding nothing back. Unfortunately, "Nothing is mine, I settled that part long ago" is more of a statement of who I want to be rather than who I'm convinced I am.
As incomplete as we are in that regard, I recognize that, for us, it must go even deeper than that. A radical follower of Jesus has settled that life in the here and now is fully in Jesus' hands, that however things turn out here -- whether good, bad, or indifferent -- the only thing that really matters is that the God of the Universe (and so much more beyond this Universe!) has His way with His creation and gets the reward from His creation for which He so deeply longs.
And that brings me, at long last, to the point of this blog post. When I first began considering what the "Radical" men's study might cover, the Holy Spirit surprised me, speaking to my heart that the right outcome of this life is far more about Him being radical than it is about me being radical.
After all, He is far more radical than I could ever be. He is totally sold out to the cause of fixing this creation and everything in it. He is radical with or without my permission or acquiescence. His agenda includes getting me to be radical. I don't have to stir Him up. He deeply wants me to join Him in the radical intensity of His heart, to reflect His radical nature and His radical agenda, to fellowship with Him in His radical-ness, and to walk out His radical work in me.
It's easy to say, "Lord, get radical with my wife, my kids, my job, my health, this country, these politicians, my neighbors, my Pastor, the next generation, my savings. Lord, work radically through me as I help grow the Kingdom of God."
It's harder to say, "Lord, get radical with my hidden places, my blind spots and not-so-blind spots, my thought life and my character flaws, anything in and about me that is out of line with what You have in mind. Lord, get radical with rearranging my personal furniture. Throw it all away if you want and start over. Whatever, Lord Jesus, get radical in and through and around me."
So here's my fresh conclusion about being radical. A radical follower of Jesus is someone who
is radical about letting God be as radical as He wants. A radical follower of Jesus understands that a life rightly lived is far more about God being radical than it is about you or me being radical, though we still must be radical.
- You becoming radical is a major milestone in His radical heart's radical agenda.
- You being radical lets you actively participate in His radical agenda.
He's going to fix this creation, all of it, with or without my cooperation, with or without me joining Him in His radical approach. He'll be radical in spite of you and me if He has to, but that's not what He really wants.
Lord, I may or may not be ready for Your next step, but I'm willing to be made ready. Be as radical in me as deep and as fast you can. Grow me so that You can express your radical-ness with ever fewer restraints and limitations on my part. I know that it's Your process, so, as an act of my will, I give you the go-ahead, even if some parts of me tremble at the thought. Prepare me for Your next radical step, then take it, Lord Jesus. I am Yours. Amen.
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