The WMU vision statement says that WMU challenges Christian believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God.  From believing that women had a role in the Great Commission, finding ways to support missionaries when women had little income of their own, to dreaming global sized dreams, WMU has been radical.  WMU has never been satisfied with groups that are self-focused.  Always our purpose has been on finding ways to share the gospel and minister to people in need.

Yet, even with these noble goals, there are times that we become self-satisfied, content with projects that are not difficult. Content with sending items but not going in person.  Sometimes our prayer times are routine rather than truly crying out to God for the salvation of the lost, for unreached people groups, and for our missionaries.  And in far too many churches, we have become apathetic about teaching Great Commission values to our children.  The decline in missions education for preschoolers, children, and youth points to something that is less than radical.

Radical – Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt is a must read.  I purchased it over the weekend and could not put it down.  David verbalized the longings of my heart for a radical faith.  I am weary of business as usual – in my church, in WMU, in my own personal walk of faith.  David has captured in his short book what abandonment to Jesus looks like. 

Many in WMU are already living the radical faith David describes.  I see it in ministries that change lives and in the way I hear some women pray when I am with them.  But I also hear from WMU folks that are discouraged, wanting WMU to be the vibrant, radical avenue for Great Commission living that they long for.

I recommend Radical for personal reflection and even for group study.  After challenging his readers as to what radical looks like, David offers a one-year life experiment with four challenges.  The interesting thing about these challenges is that they are exactly in keeping with what WMU has always taught – study God’s Word, pray, give, go, and be a part of a multiplying congregation.  But sometimes we need to hear it again from another perspective. 

Radical by David Platt, copyright 2010, Multnomah Books.  Available at LifeWay.