I'm a Radical

There, I said it. I'm a radical, and I will proclaim it openly.

The dictionary has a list of definitions for the word, radical". Among them are the normal concepts that we're used to. There is "extreme" and "favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms". Yeah, that's what we're familiar with. In the noun form, the first definition is "a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles; extremist". Yeah, yeah, that's it. Oh, wait ... "follows strong convictions"? Now, that's not quite what we had in mind. Interestingly, the very first (and then repeated on down the line in various ways) definition is "of or going to the root or origin". Synonyms include "basic", "essential", and "original".

The Latin source means "having roots". The original sense of the term meant a return to the roots. In the early 19th century, a group of men formed the Radical Movement seeking political reforms for the government. They were the first real push behind parliamentary representation and formed the basis for what would become the Labour Party in the UK today. Their opponents dismissed them and labeled them "radicals" for their reforms, and since then the concept of any extremist thinking has been labeled "radical" even if it isn't reform.

Me? I'm a Christian radical. I believe that too much theology today has drifted away from any genuine roots in both Scripture and historic Christianity. We find way too much "self-styled Christianity" that urges a feel-good approach both from the "name it and claim it" side as well as the liberal "social gospel" side. Instead of defining Christian theology from its root source of the Bible, too many have defined it by how it makes them feel or how it looks to others. If it appears, for instance, "too judgmental" or "too intolerant", they toss it out without regard to the reason that it's there. That is, if God is judgmental and intolerant about something, then His followers also ought to be.

So I'm a radical. I am in favor of a return to the genuine roots of Christian doctrine. Sometimes that won't feel very nice. Sometimes it may appear offensive, judgmental, intolerant, harsh. Sometimes it will feel ... radical. But I am in favor of a return to the source. The standard dictionary term for this, of course, has become its own pejorative: "fundamentalism". That was a return to the fundamentals ... you know, like the original definition of "radical".

I'm a radical, and I will proclaim it openly. In fact, you ought to be one, too.