Radical, Dude!

People who call themselves “Christians” really need to be more radical.

That which we call “the local church” needs to be radical too, encouraging and nurturing those who desire to become “radical Christians.”

Fact is, God has been calling me to be radical, dude!

The images from the 60’s and 70’s are still relatively clear in my memory. I still see radical students and professors disrupting universities with rallies, sit-in’s, and various other activities. Demonstrations, fires, and angry people with long hair are in the mix. These images of what “decent” people probably considered lawless and revolutionary activities have been called “radical.”

Radical sports have caught the attention and imagination of young people more recently. Anything involving a young person flying and flipping through the air with some piece of recreational equipment would be considered “radical.”

When a diseased or infected part of the anatomy must be removed by physicians, the procedure might be called “radical.”

All in all, “radical” doesn’t sound particularly positive or healthy . . . so how could a nice, decent guy like me endorse “radical” religion?

I’m not the first to use “radical” and “church” in the same sentence. Recently I read of a pastor who was using radical strategies and events to reach more people. The article described young people riding motor scooters through the aisles inside a place of worship during a Sunday gathering. The same article mentioned the pastor’s recent bungee jump from a considerable height! These and thousands of other activities planned by churches across the country are described as “radical” . . . I’ll just call them “crazy!”

The popular connotation assigned to the term “radical” is “extreme,” “WAY out of the box,” and beyond mere innovation.

I am not promoting bungee jumping Christians or motor scooters in the sanctuary. I have something far more exciting in mind, something extreme in its own way.

If you research the roots of the word “radical” and you’ll find that it is related to the word “radish.” The radish is not one of my favorite roots . . . I prefer carrots! But, the word “radical” and “radish” both share the same root meaning. “Root” is the root of “radical”. Both “radish” and “radical” come from an old Latin word, radix. The first definition of “radical” offered by Merriam-Webster.com is “of, relating to, or proceeding from a root.”
In fact, the popular connotations are in fact radical departures from the word’s true and original meaning!

So what is “radical” Christianity? What is the really “radical” church?

To be continued . . .