A Radical Love Letter

I just finished reading David Platt's "Radical Together" and the book is intense! I underlined every other word. The book is challenging and will really get you thinking about some things. Platt does a good job of incorporating real life stories to back up his theory/idea for how ministry should be done and one that really sparked my attention was a story about a man named Adoniram Judson. Judson was a missionary and fell in love with a girl named Ann. This was the letter Judson wrote to Ann's father before he asked her to marry him:
         
       "I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all of this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?"


This is what I wrote in my book after that::

My mouth dropped after reading this letter. Judson didn't sugar coat what marriage was going to be like, but he did make it crystal clear on what sharing the gospel would mean for him and his future wife. I look at this as a love letter. The thing is, it's a not a love letter expressing his feelings for Ann, it's one that's expressing his love for Christ.


 Ann's father approved and in the end, living the missionary life cost Ann her life. I wish I had more to say about reading this, but the letter seems to speak for itself. How radical are we willing to be? As radical as Adoniram Judson?