This was part one of the message I shared for a camp my wife and I ran in the summer of 2022. The theme of the camp was RAD because we wanted to inspire young people to be completely radical for Jesus. Here it is.

The theme of this camp is RAD, short for radical.

Skateboarding, surfing, skateboarding on a surf board: these are all radical things.

What does the word radical actually mean?

Changing with action the very nature of something.

That’s why when someone does something that has not been done before it’s deemed “RAD”

First guy to break the 4 minute mile- Roger Bannister.

In 1954 he did the impossible, ran it in 3:59.4.  No one had done it before.  It was radical.

As of April 2021 1,663 athletes have done that or better.  

Someone had to do it first, Roger had to change with action the way people thought about running.

What does someone who is radical look like? 

A radical departs from tradition,.

They do new things.

They are perceived as unorthodox (doing things wrong or in a funky way.)

I love RADICALS.  

What would any area of life be without someone who comes and challenges the normal?

What would music be like without it?  We’d be listening to nothing but pipe organ!

What would food be like?  We’d be eating mush!

The church was birthed as RADICAL and thrives when God releases RADICALS in the earth.

The love of normal is dangerous.  Complacency is normal for the human, it is death to the Christian.

It’s normal for people to fall into religion.

Religion=rules without relationship.  

Dead, lifeless and worthless.  

Religion leaves us unchallenged, then we live unchanged, and the world ends up unredeemed.

The church is supposed to be the hope of the world, it is a tragedy if she falls into normal religion. 

I’ll tell you something that drives me crazy. I have more respect for radical Muslims who blow themselves up than I do for Christians who ascribe to dead dry religion.

At least the radical Muslim BELIEVES SOMETHING!

He believes it so much it causes him to act violently and give up his own life.

The thing that makes a Christian get RADICAL is belief!

Don’t tell me you have strong belief in God and your life has nothing to show for it.  

YOUR BELIEF WILL BE THE DEFINING FACTOR OF YOUR LIFE: TO BE NORMAL OR RADICAL. 

Today I want to share some things I see about the most RADICAL character in the Bible apart from Jesus- His cousin John the Baptist.

John was the first one to die because His belief in who Jesus really was.

Let me set up the scenario for you.  These stories are spread out amongst the 4 gospels.  See Matthew 3, 11, & 14; Mark 1, & 6, Luke 3, & 7, and John 1, & 3.

John lives as a hermit in the desert.  He cultivates this relationship with God and with scripture unlike anyone that was alive at the time. He lives on eating locusts and wild honey, he wears camel skin clothes, he most likely looks like a serial killer.

John is convinced that God is about to send the Messiah, the one who is going to set everything right.

John knows he has a mission: prepare the way for the Lord!

Suddenly He starts preaching- in the desert, where nobody lives.  There’s no food out there, just desert.

People are drawn and travel to hear John speak.  God had anointed him for that time and his meetings were incredibly powerful.  40,000 people a month would come.

His message was not the feel good message.

His message: REPENT! CHANGE EVERYTHING, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR!!

It had to be God because this isn’t something you say if you want to attract people.

John started baptizing Jews in the Jordan River, which was more symbolic of how they would treat Gentiles.  

Jews thought every non Jew, or Gentile, was inherently unclean and sinful, and treated them with contempt.

When the people responded to John’s baptism it meant they were admitting their guilt. They were having contempt for their own sin and turning their hearts towards God.

John did not care who you were- his message was the fiercest call for people to get right with God.

The most important religious leaders of the day had never been so insulted!  When they came to John’s meetings they were called out in front of everyone.

YOU BROOD OF VIPERS!!  

GOD IS ABOUT TO CUT YOU OFF IF YOU DON’T CHANGE!  

SOMEONE MORE POWERFUL IS COMING, GET READY!

John’s ministry was probably around for less than 2 years.  God had breathed on it and it was historical!

Then Jesus came on the scene.

When Jesus approached John, John was beside himself.  He saw with spiritual eyes who Jesus was.

BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD!

Then Jesus asks John to baptize Him.  John says:

YOU NEED TO BAPTIZE ME!

Jesus convinces John to baptize Him, and forty days after that Jesus begins His ministry.

Overnight John loses his ministry to Jesus.  John doesn’t draw the crazy crowds he was drawing, now everyone is going to Jesus.

John is SO HAPPY about this!  He feels the mission God had him on is complete.  Now Jesus can come and bring His kingdom, John can get his well done from God.  Right?

Wrong.

All the sudden John gets thrown in jail for calling out king Herod for having an affair with his brothers wife.

After rotting in jail for a while John starts to think about his life choices.  Was it all for nothing?

John sends two of his friends to ask Jesus a question.

“Are you who John thought you were, or is there another king coming?”

Jesus replied to their question by having a miracle marathon.  For hours He heals everyone and everything. He cures people of leprosy, crippled people walk, blind people receive sight, CRAZY MIRACLES!  He demonstrates He is the One.

Jesus tells John’s friends- “Go back and tell John what you saw. Don’t be offended because of me.”

Shortly after John’s friends asked Jesus that question King Herod cut Johns head off. 

I bet you anything John was ready to die and had joy till his last breath.  

BECAUSE HE BELIEVED!

HIS BELIEF MADE HIM RADICAL!

This morning and tonight I am going to show you 4 things that John the Baptist BELIEVED that turned him RADICAL.  

Every believer must come to the same place John did if they want to be RADICALLY used by God

God is looking through the earth, searching for those who would be willing to be radicalized.  This weekend He is going to grab ahold of hearts and some are going to get RADICAL!! 

John the Baptist states these 4 beliefs in John 3, near the beginning of Jesus’s ministry.

BELIEF 1- YOU DON’T HAVE TO PROVE ANYTHING.

John 3:27 A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

John said this after the religious leaders he had called vipers came to provoke him to jealousy.  They told John: everyone you had is now going to Jesus.

John’s reply- I only had a ministry because God allowed me to.

CHECKMATE!

When you hold to the belief that God’s will is greater than your circumstance you become unshakeable.

John knew- God had called him and God had used him.  He also knew this season was coming to a close.

To be used by God fully there must be a ceasing from striving beyond what God requires.  

It’s not your effort, it’s Heaven’s effort!

So many burn out in the Christian life because they want to prove to others God’s favor on them, or they strive like it depends on them to accomplish work God isn’t even a part of in the first place.

Striving beyond what God gives you isn’t a mark of love for God; it comes from misunderstanding your own significance.

Most problems I have faced internally in regards to my ministry have to do with this. I WANT SO BADLY TO PROVE GOD IS USING ME!

The normal way to live is in response to how others perceive us.

-If I could get buff, girls would notice me.  

-If I could lose weight, boys would find me attractive. 

-If I could act cool, people would accept me.

These attitudes are all rooted in the fear of man.

Life lived like this is miserable.  

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

John didn’t need or even want anyones approval.  He was so in love with Jesus that the only one’s voice that mattered was His.

John was radical because he believed He didn’t have to prove a thing to you. Do you want to be radical? Believe that about yourself!

When you know who you are and Who’s you are your life changes.  Instead of working for the approval of people you start to live for the approval of God. You can live like you don’t have to prove anything to anyone.

BELIEF 2- JESUS MUST INCREASE!

John was not just okay with losing everything, he counted it his greatest joy & accomplishment!

I’m going to read John 3:29-30 to you, then break it down.  The terms used here are bride, which means the church; and bridegroom, which means Jesus.

-The one who has the bride is the bridegroom.

JESUS IS GETTING HIS PEOPLE.

-The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms voice.

I’M JESUS’ FRIEND, I’M ECSTATIC ABOUT JESUS GETTING WHAT HE CAME FOR!

-Therefore this joy of mine is complete.

EVERYTHING I CAME TO DO HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, I AM COMPLETELY SATISFIED.

-He must increase, but I must decrease.

MORE OF JESUS, LESS OF ME.

The difference between the normal and the radical is the price they are willing to pay.

To gain your life you have to lose it first.

Do you want your joy to be complete like John the Baptist?  Lose your life to Christ!

Radical- my life isn’t about me at all.

Ego-dead. Reputation-dead. Recognition-dead. Comfort-dead.

If you hold onto these things we want in life you’ll never truly be radical. For Jesus to increase you must decrease.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Every believer is going to be on a different path than the other. Not everyone is called to live as a missionary in a third world country.

What is certain though is if you are going to follow Jesus you must die to everything else in the world. Will you be radical and rise to the occasion? What will you do when He asks you for what you hold as precious?

If you let go and lose your life for Jesus you gain Jesus!  

Matthew 13:44- the kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

John’s great joy was Jesus.  So radical.

John saw the treasure he had given his life for AND IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

When John was confronted with the probability of losing everything the belief that JESUS MUST INCREASE showed he was truly radical.

So the first two beliefs that made John radical:

-YOU DON’T HAVE TO PROVE ANYTHING.

-JESUS MUST INCREASE.

Tonight I’ll share the last two beliefs, and we’re going to have a commissioning service for new radicals!

I will share the second part of this message another day, I hope you were encouraged, challenged and blessed in reading it. Jesus really is worth getting radical for!