The “Radical” Christian Life

Image Source: Untitled by Thorsten Trotzenberg; CC 2.0

I find I often build a false dichotomy between the desire to do something magnificent for God and what is actually true of the radical Christian life. I tend to picture this radical nature to be much like the heroes we see in the biblical witness and the history of the church. I want to be known as a Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Whitfield, Spurgeon, or Lloyd-Jones. Maybe not in every capacity – but I recognize the sphere of influence these men were granted and the faithfulness with which they attended it with. They did big things for the glory of God.

My challenge here is not anything to do with stopping the desire to do big things, but in recognizing each mundane day we live is fulfilling this desire. The radical Christian life is not this romanticized notion I tend to gravitate towards, but the faithfulness of the ordinary man and woman seeking to honor the Lord in the midst of a futile and fallen world as they live for the day to come – knowing this passing age is incapable of delivering what it promises.

Oddly enough, the writers of scripture don’t seem to care much for the fulfillment of our personal desires. Instead, they simply call one to faithfulness to God in:

• Preaching the gospel and training disciples.
• Mortifying sin and the deeds of the flesh and then putting on the deeds of the Spirit.
• Loving your wife/submitting to your husband.
• Submitting to one’s elders & governing authorities.
• No longer stealing – but working in order to give to the needy.
• Caring for the widow and the orphan.
• Seeking unity of the brethren in purity of doctrine, love, and service to one another.
• Having put aside falsehood – to then put on the truth.
• Exposing evil deeds and false teachers by earnestly contending for the faith.
• Forgiving others as Christ has forgiven you.
• Confronting sin and disciplining professing, yet unrepentant Christians.

The point being: living a radical Christian life isn’t the idealized excitement this world looks for. It is the ordinary, unexciting, yet difficult work, which conforms us to the image of Christ. Radical Christian living is the simple day-to-day faithfulness outlined in scripture with anticipation toward the hope of the resurrection and fulfillment of all of God’s promises. It is done for the purpose of bringing God glory in all we do – and if done as a product of faith, it is pleasing in His sight.

What develops as radical then is not feigned jubilant feelings in being a housewife who cares for screaming toddlers, poopy diapers, and a dirty house all day. It is not giving the appearance of elation when going to a dead-end job, day after day, where you are unappreciated, marginalized, and often overlooked. It is the simple faithfulness to these tasks, which are seemingly futile because you wake up, rinse, and repeat after another restless night of sleep. It is ok to have a rough day, but this too can be radical if we frame our thoughts to recall the truth of scripture in these moments rather than willfully entertaining discontentment or bitterness.

The Christian life becomes radical though when it refuses to believe the lie that mundane tasks are not acts of worship. It is radical when it directly contradicts the desires and values of this age, as it places primacy upon God’s values, foregoing immediate gratification for an imperishable reward delayed for the whole of our earthly lives. It is radical when we take contentment in not fulfilling every desire, but instead, immersing wholly within living the cruciform life – and developing a heart of thankfulness for the unremarkable.

When you move about your day, doing the same thing you did yesterday, for the purpose of glorifying God and delighting in Him, you are doing something radically different from the majority of this world. Couple this with the bullet points above (among others) and you find there is nothing more radical you can do in this fleeting age, which views these things as folly.