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Upending your spiritual apple cart

 Occasionally we come across a circumstance that sort of upends the apple cart of our comfort and self protective mechanisms.   Missions trips can have that effect on us.  When I took my first missions trip to Mexico in the 80's, I was profoundly struck by the economic needs that are so great, and it was humbling to see people working so hard just to scratch out a meager subsistence.  It upset my  paradigm of what I think I deserve and it challenged me to rethink about what it means to live sacrificially. 
Books can have that effect on our lives too.  
One of the books that has had an "upend the apple cart" dynamic on small groups that I have led is the book "Radical", by David Platt.   The cover of the book features the symbol of the American dream, a house, that is turned upside down.  To put it bluntly, this book challenges our American Christianity as too comfortable and pushes the reader to evaluate what it means to live the American dream.  People that have gone through this book with me have been either deeply challenged or perhaps a little bit offended.   The central premise of the book is that too often we have adopted an Americanized Christianity that focuses on catering to ourselves rather than abandoning ourselves to Jesus.  Platt makes the point that in America, we can get too focused on the privileges of the gospel without assigning the obligations of the gospel.

 In the Book of Romans, Paul makes the point that he is owned by Christ and has received the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of Sonship (Ro 8:15).  But privileges also bring obligations.  In the opening, Paul says he is a slave (1:1),  and he is obligated to Greeks and non-Greeks because of the gospel (1:14).  This word 'obligated' is also translated  'opheilétēs'; which means debtor.   As a Christian, I am challenged by the obligations that the gospel affords. Does my money and time and energy reflect a radical abandon to Jesus?  Do I consider myself a slave to Christ, as Bill Bright used to say?  Let me encourage you to give this book a read along with some people you know.  You may not agree with everything that it says, but if you read it with an open heart, likely it will shatter some of your categories as you think about what it means to live for Christ.

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