10-Week Study & Discussion Guide

Radical

by David Platt·79 discussion questions

Last updated August 16, 2026

Week 1 — FreeRead the Introduction of Radical by David Platt. Key passage: Matthew 13:44–46 (the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price)

Discussion question your group will work through:

1.Platt begins by describing a moment of conviction when he compared the demands of Jesus in the Gospels with the easy, low-cost Christianity common in American churches. When did you first sense — if ever — that something might be missing from the version of Christianity you were raised with or first encountered?

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About This Study Guide

At a glance: this is a 10-week study and discussion guide for Radical by David Platt, with 79 questions organized by reading assignment. Week 1 is free to read, with no card required.

David Platt's Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream is a passionate, uncomfortable, and ultimately liberating call to reconsider what it means to follow Jesus in a culture saturated with comfort, consumerism, and self-advancement. Platt argues that American Christianity has, often without realizing it, reshaped the gospel to fit the values of the American Dream — a gospel of health, wealth, personal happiness, and minimal sacrifice. Drawing on the actual words of Jesus, Platt invites readers to compare what Jesus said discipleship would cost with what we typically ask of ourselves, and then to have the courage to close that gap. The book is not a guilt trip; it is an invitation into something far more exciting and far more costly than the comfortable Christianity many of us have settled for.

This study guide is designed for small groups or individual use over nine weeks — one week per chapter, plus a final Review & Reflection week. The rhythm each week is simple: read the assigned chapter before you meet (or before you sit down alone with this guide), then work through the questions prayerfully and honestly. Some questions are comprehension-based, helping you grasp Platt's argument clearly. Others press you toward personal application — asking you to look at your own life with fresh eyes. And some invite theological reflection, connecting Platt's challenge to the broader story of the gospel. Journaling your responses before discussing them with others will deepen both your honesty and your growth.

By the end of this guide, you will have wrestled seriously with questions most American Christians rarely ask: Am I following the Jesus of the Bible or a Jesus shaped by my culture? What am I actually willing to give up? What would change in my life — my spending, my time, my prayers, my career — if I took the Great Commission as personally as Jesus intended? Platt closes the book with "The Radical Experiment," a one-year challenge he invites every reader to take. Our hope is that this guide prepares your heart to say yes to that experiment, and to mean it.

Introduction — Someone Worth Losing Everything For

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Read the Introduction of Radical by David Platt. Key passage: Matthew 13:44–46 (the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price)

Platt opens the book with a jarring contrast between the Jesus of Scripture and the Jesus many of us have been handed — take this week to sit with the discomfort that contrast creates.

2.He uses the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44–46) to frame the book's thesis: that Jesus is worth losing everything for, and that our lives should reflect that conviction. In your own words, what is the point of those parables, and why do you think Platt chose them as his launching pad?

3.Platt makes a distinction early on between "the Jesus of the Bible" and "the Jesus of the American Dream." What does he mean by that distinction? Where do you see evidence of a culturally reshaped Jesus in the churches or Christian media you are most familiar with?

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10-Week Schedule

Chapter 1 — Someone Worth Losing Everything For

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Read Chapter 1 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Luke 9:23–25; Matthew 10:37–39

1.Platt opens with a vivid account of meeting underground church Christians in Asia — believers who risked imprisonment and death simply for gathering in Jesus's name. How did that contrast affect you as you read it? What emotions did it stir?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 2 — Too Hungry for Words

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Read Chapter 2 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Matthew 28:18–20; Romans 10:14–15

1.Platt opens this chapter with a description of the "lostness" of the world — enormous populations living and dying without any access to the gospel. Before reading this chapter, how often did you think about the roughly two billion people who are considered "unreached"? What, if anything, kept that reality at a distance for you?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 3 — The Magnitude of the Task

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Read Chapter 3 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Revelation 7:9–10; Matthew 24:14

1.Platt opens with the vision of Revelation 7:9 — a countless multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping before the throne. How does reading the Great Commission in light of that final vision change its feel? Does seeing the destination make the journey feel more urgent, more worthwhile, or both?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 4 — The Great Why of God

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Read Chapter 4 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Ezekiel 20; Isaiah 43:6–7; John 17:1–5

1.Platt argues in this chapter that God's ultimate motivation in all of history — including salvation and mission — is His own glory. This is sometimes called "God-centeredness" or "doxological" theology. Before engaging the argument, what is your initial gut reaction to the idea that God does everything primarily for His own glory? Does it feel right, strange, or even off-putting?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 5 — The Multiplying Community

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Read Chapter 5 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Acts 2:42–47; 2 Timothy 2:2

1.Platt opens this chapter by describing the early church in Acts 2 — a community marked by teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer, where everything was shared and people were added daily. How does that picture compare to your experience of local church community? What is missing, and what might account for the gap?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 6 — How Much Is Enough?

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Read Chapter 6 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Luke 12:13–34; 1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19; Matthew 6:19–24

1.Platt opens with the observation that Jesus talked about money more than almost any other subject — and that American Christians are among the wealthiest people in the history of the world. Given both of those facts, why do you think money remains one of the most avoided topics in most churches?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Chapter 7 — There Is No Plan B

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Read Chapter 7 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Acts 1:8; John 20:21; Romans 10:13–15

1.Platt's title for this chapter is bold: "There Is No Plan B." What does he mean by that? How does the weight of that claim — that God has chosen to work exclusively through His people to reach the nations — land on you?

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Chapter 8 — Living When Dying Is Gain

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Read Chapter 8 of Radical by David Platt. Key passages: Philippians 1:21; Matthew 10:28–31; John 12:24–25

1.Platt uses Paul's statement in Philippians 1:21 — "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" — as the hinge of this chapter. In your honest experience, do you believe death is "gain"? What would have to be true about your faith for you to genuinely believe that?

+ 7 more questions in the full guide

Review & Reflection — The Radical Experiment

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Re-read the Conclusion and the description of The Radical Experiment from Radical by David Platt. Review your notes and journal entries from the previous nine weeks

1.Looking back across the entire book, which chapter or idea hit you hardest? What made it land with such force — was it something new you learned, something you already knew but had been avoiding, or something that confirmed a growing conviction?

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About the Radical guide

How many weeks is the Radical study guide?

This study guide covers Radical in 10 weeks, with week-by-week discussion questions, reading references, and closing prayers for each session.

How many discussion questions are included?

The complete guide includes 79 discussion questions across 10 weeks — an average of 8 questions per week, designed for group conversation.

Can I use this guide for a book club?

Yes — the questions are written for group discussion and work well for small groups, book clubs, church studies, and couples reading together.

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