To be the radical church, it calls us to do certain things and not to do certain things. It calls us to be apart from the social norm, for what the world wants is different from what God values.
The question for us hence is, are we going to remain the same, or are we going to do something about it?
It calls for a radical sacrifice. In the book of Acts, the early church were filled with love so much so that they put away selfishness, sold their own possessions to help those in need (Acts 4). The way they shared is something that we could hardly imagine in today's society!
Yet they did it, and they were simply following the example of Christ who gave his life for us, a radical sacrifice for the King of Kings to die for Man. He loved us, and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).
There are three levels of giving, the 'I have to', 'I need to' and 'I want to'. Let our giving to God be at a deeper level, a sacrificial life for God. It may mean that we lose some things in the present, it may be tough, but in the context of eternity, our reward is in heaven.
Let us live like Paul who had written 'I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God' (Acts 20:24). Like Esther, who boldly declared as she decided to approach her king, 'If I perish, I perish' (Est 4:16). Even in modern days, we had people like William Hunter and Elizabeth Fry who had given their lives for the Gospel.
We may not be faced with a life and death choice, but what if such a situation where our life is put on a line comes around, what will our choice be? What if revival depends on us? Our prayer, our obedience, our faith, and without us the church would never experience revival. Will we be a people who will stand up for God and say here I am, I am willing to be an agent for Him?
The generation we live in is unfortunately a perverse generation, but the choice is ultimately ours. Instead of conforming, all the more we must choose to stand up for Christ and live out loud!
The radical church begins with our radical sacrifice!
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