Extreme Faith? Yes

Recently, I was charged with having too extreme of a faith in the Lord. Yes, I have faith, and I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. I'm not afraid to go to the ends of the earth for Him, to preach the Word to a people who have never been able to hear the Good News, or to a place where Christians are persecuted daily for their beliefs. I am not afraid of dying for Him. Why, you ask?

I know there is gain, in death. (Phil. 1:21) We have ETERNAL life, in Him. We are the reason He was crucified. Us, in our sinless, unworthy state, are seen as perfect and holy by God, because of Jesus.
 Yet God DID NOT send His Son out of Love. (Don't get me wrong He does love us, and this is one of the reasons He sent Jesus, but stay with me) God sent His son, to prove His majesty.

As David Platt says "Biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make Him--His ways, His salvation, his glory, and His greatness --known to among all nations.'''

He saves us to prove Himself. How amazing.
So, why aren't there more missionaries proclaiming Christ to the masses?
Because, in America, we make Christianity about us, not about Him. "God loves me!", But if God loves you is the message of Christianity then who is the object of Christianity?
Me.
Therefore we choose what parts of the Gospel are for us, and what parts we will ignore, we choose what church we will attend based on how radical they are, how they present the Gospel. Because God forbid they would actually tell people to live out the gospel message.
No, pastors would never do that.
Not many would, but David Platt is. And that is why I like his book so much.
There are no exceptions when it comes to the gospel, you either believe it or not, you either live it out, or you forsake it's teachings. No grey area, just plain old black and white.
We take the Gospel and decide which parts of it we will accept.
For example, in Luke 9 we read of 3 men, who all wanted to follow Jesus.
To one he says to expect homelessness (v.58), to another He says don't bury your father, there are more important things to do (v.60) and finally to the last man He says don't say goodbye to your family, just come, follow me, don't look back.
Radical? Yes, I think so.
There are many who would say "well missions isn't for everyone."
Well, isn't it? We like the message of the Gospel, a Holy God sending His only Son to die for us, and all we have to do is believe in Him and repent. Yet, we don't like the calling of the Gospel to go teach it to all the nations (Matt. 28:19). We don't like the idea of having to abandon everything for Him. Many won't even consider giving it all up. But what they don't realize is, there is eternal life, and eternal life in Heaven is better than their flat screen TV's, Toyota's, and clothes from the mall.
 God is so much more than anything we could dream up. So why do people manipulate His Word? They want the reward, without the sacrifice.
"For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall
be much required:" (Luke 12:48. God gave us everything. So He expects us to do much (what is required of the Gospel) and go teach it to a world that is hungry for Him. Yet, we are too busy watching American Idol to think about those who are being persecuted in Asia for even saying God's name.
My faith is extreme, but my God is extreme. He requires radical obedience. He is worth everything this world has to offer, and so much more!