The Risk of the Radical

In spite of being able to attract countless followers today, he was intolerable to most people during his days. His nonsensical speeches and unpredictable actions were too hard for them to swallow. Inevitably, his radical and revolutionary lifestyle invited people to accuse him of losing sanity and being demon possessed.

Think about his disciples. As they watched their master speak and live in a way that is totally insane and out of this world, would they not be puzzled? When others condemned and criticized their master, would they not feel embarrassed for being seen associated with him? Yet, their eyes were gradually opened as they journey with him, and it was a matter of time that they came to realize that the radical way is the way of the Kingdom. Eventually they too, became radicals of God.

Radical. This word is often used in a negative sense today, being used to describe a person who has deviated from the right path, which is the norm, in his conduct or thinking. When someone is labeled as a radical, it means that he is either weird or abnormal. Yet, Jesus was never comfortable with the norm of his day, should we then be comfortable? Jesus was forever an irritating antithesis to the norm, should we then be a conformist of our day?

Through his exemplary life, Jesus shows us the radical ideal that he wants us to achieve ultimately. Seeing the ideal before us, what then should we do? Should we persevere towards the ideal in spite of the difficulty; or should we give up for we know that it is unattainable in this life? Certainly not! The ideal is our goal. It is our salvation. Without the goal, life becomes meaningless and direction-less.

Therefore, I want to be a radical-incarnate and be radicalized by Jesus day by day. When my friends, including fellow Christians, tell me that my thinking and lifestyle is too radical, I ponder. Yes, being radical is risky, for heretics are radicals too. Yet, rather than taking no risk and live in mediocrity, I will take the risk to learn to live radically, for as much as I may be radically wrong, I may also be radically right too.

I do not want to play safe and merely follow the norm, for Jesus did not come to live a life of safety. To be like Christ is to take risk. To live like Christ is to live radically. Therefore, if someone comes to you and says that you are radical, be glad. Yet, if no one says that to you, beware, for the way of the Kingdom is radical and risky. Perhaps then, you would realize that you are taking a greater risk than me, for you may be treading on a different path after all.

Rather die a radical, than live a mediocre.