David Platt is the pastor of McLean Bible Church. He became a prominent figure in Evangelicalism due to his emphasis on international missions and his popular book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. Last year, David Platt stepped down as senior pastor of MBC, giving Mike Kelsey the reins of the church.
This has led to speculation that David Platt would leave McLean (in which he would have to provide ample notice) which has not come to fruition. Moreover, there is a documentary on exposing David Platt premiering on October 20, in which Platt’s activity both draws attention away from and towards.
David Platt is active on social media propagating a campaign, largely rehashing the ideas expressed in Radical. Platt writes:
If we actually believe the Bible, we’ll leave behind this brand of Christianity we’ve created that’s content to essentially ignore over 3 billion in the world who’ve never heard the gospel. So the question is: do we actually believe the Bible?
David Platt is on a missions trip presumably in southeast Asia, a fact people outside his church would not know on social media if not for his numerous touristy videos.
What Platt is doing is not wrong. It is lawful and profitable for Christians to visit churches overseas. However, when David Platt writes a book on how everyone is called to be an international missionary, it reeks of manipulation and invites charges of hypocrisy.
Perhaps I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t believe going on a mission trip makes you a missionary. David Platt, listening to his videos, is visiting a network of churches in these countries, something he writes about in Radical. This isn’t wrong, but doing this doesn’t make Platt a missionary.
I’ve done mission trips, though not for some time. My church believes in supporting indigenous missionaries with whom they have relationships, a practice I have agreed is best. And then there is a robust effort to reach a downtrodden local community. That said, despite my participation, I’m not a missionary.
David Platt cheapened the term missionary to mean someone who can afford to visit church networks of believers in far away lands. Nevertheless, there is a difference between someone who knows when they are going home and someone who has made their home in a new land to spread the gospel. Moreover, there is also a difference between a pastor who is wealthy and career pays for mission trips and someone who has to sacrifice earnings for the sake of the spreading the gospel. Taking Platt out of the equation, both of these things are good
Meanwhile, believers are getting lectured by his borderline vainglorious social media posts about how you too must be an overseas missionary. But what might have worked in 2010 is increasingly being seen through in 2024. As David Platt is increasingly exposed, it would not be surprising if he leans into his Radical teaching even harder.