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.
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