Are You Ready to be Radicle or Just Plain Radical?

I sent out an email recently that was titled Discipling College Students. Or at least it was supposed to say that. Unfortunately, auto-correct changed the keyword to Disciplining. Most of the college kids I have mentored probably needed more disciplining, but adding 2 letters really changed the sentiment of the article.

Around the same time, I received an email from UMC Discipleship Ministries asking me if I wanted to be Radicle in 2025. I thought, haha I am not the only victim of a mischievous auto-correct. Until I looked into it and realized that maybe I should consider being radicle myself.

Radicle is “the embryonic root of the plant, which develops into the future root of the plant.” It is the part of a plant seed that develops into the root, or the developing root itself. In human anatomy, it is the rootlike subdivision of a nerve or vein.

Radical, on the other hand, is “related to going to the root or origin; the fundamentals.” We most often think of the definition that connotes “extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms.”

Some of you are aware that my thinking can fly off in wild directions sometimes! But go on a tangent with me for just a moment. What if we combined these two words and their connotations into a mission statement for our disciple making.

I pray that God will make me a radical disciple maker that will grow radicle disciples in the Kingdom of God!

This means that I am committed to return to the fundamentals Jesus gave us to make disciples. Building relationships, sharing the Gospel, and following his teachings are these fundamentals. It also says that I will prayerfully approach challenging the practices or cultures for disciple making that don’t work in the church. 

Jesus is definitely our radical role model. He dove into the heart of the Mosaic Law, turned the tables on how it was interpreted in the Jewish tradition, and elevated it to God’s original intention for his people. His message was love and to love radically and he showed us how.

The desired outcome of sharing Jesus’ Radical Love is to produce new, radicle growth. How do I know this is what Jesus intended? Well, it’s what he taught his disciples in his parables. When Jesus talks of the sower of seeds and the ground where seeds are sown, he is giving us clear instructions that we are to spread the Gospel so the Spirit can create new roots for new growth. 

You can’t have good fruit unless you have good roots. And it starts with the radicle, the first growth of the new roots in the lives of people that encounter the Gospel of Jesus. Won’t you join me in the new year to become a radical disciple maker and open your heart to seeing the radicle growth in the people around you!