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Sunday, January 28, 2024

Are You a Radical?

By Ron Bartanen
 
    Are you a radical? We hear that word a lot on the news lately.  It is usually applied to parents who speak out for their children at school board meetings when they object to their children being subjected to indoctrination into perverse sexual lifestyles or other liberal political views.  We hear it also being applied to those concerned about the slaughter of babies in their mothers’ wombs.  To be accused of radicalism is demeaning, some even accusing such “radicals” as being “potential terrorists.”  Such are even accused of being a threat to democracy and need to be censored on social media and silenced.  It seems the more radical a godless society becomes in one direction, the more radical their opponents appear.
    Should such “radicals” hide their face in shame?  Should we keep our convictions to ourselves lest we be branded as “extremists”—a synonym for some “radicals”? Should we no longer be seen praying near an abortion facility? Should parents let government schools seek to transgender their children, normalizing sexual perversion?  Should we agree with those who claim the government knows better than parents as to how to raise and train their children?
    In answer to these questions, we need to see the meaning of the word “radical.”  The word is derived from the Latin word latinus, meaning, having roots.  Radishes bear their name from the fact that they are a root-vegetable.  With that understanding, we are better able to use the word correctly.  Our roots are our ideologies, whether good or bad.  Our nation was founded by radicals.  Radicals started the Revolutionary War as they warred against England’s tyranny.  Slavery was abolished in our country as a few radicals were willing to stand up in defense of liberty for all, regardless of the pigment of one’s skin.  Two world wars were fought by nations defending their radical concepts—liberty vs. tyranny.  We are now seeing two radicalisms in conflict in the Mideast with the news of Iranian Hamas slaughtering innocents in Jerusalem.  One side has roots in the Muslim Koran, that calls for the killing of Jews, while the state of Israel is rooted in a radical ideology of equal rights for all.
    In the Old Testament Israel had adopted the idolatry of their pagan neighbors, abandoning their relationship with God.  To them, the prophets that God called were the radicals as they called the nation back to God.  As the early godliness of the nation weakened in a depraved environment, the idolatrous and depraved counterculture was strengthened.  Reality reversed into deception.  What was good was esteemed to be evil, and what was once recognized as evil was seen as good (Isaiah 5:20).
    Where are our roots?  Our roots are wherever our ideologies abide.  Are our roots so deeply planted in this world that we are comfortable with the world’s standards?  Is tolerance chosen over resistance to evil in our culture? Is our voice silenced from speaking the truth lest we “offend” someone? After all, we don’t want to be tagged as another radical right-winger—do we?  Tell that to the apostles, who were forbidden by authorities to cease speaking in the name of Jesus, who bravely responded, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). To fear the forces of evil at work in our society is to empower them.  As Christians, we are called upon by scripture to be “bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:2), remembering that Jesus is “the lion of the tribe of Judah”.  As New Testament believers, disciples and apostolic messengers of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), let us look to them as examples for our loyalty to the root of our lives—Jesus Christ and His word.  In other words, dare to be a radical.  Wear the title as a badge of honor.  

- Ronald Bartanen is a retired minister who for many years served the Lord's church in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. After the passing of his beloved wife, Doris, Ron has relocated from Illinois to Florida where he is near family. He may be contacted at: ron33dor@yahoo.com



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