Jesus was a Radical

Being a little radical can be a good thing. Look at Jesus. He was about as radical as they come, relative to the society in which he lived. He rebuilt religion completely, integrating only the most basic tenets, and almost none of the received interpretations. To me, this is one of His most important teachings: always do what you believe is right, regardless of what those around you are doing. This is the essence of radical moderatism - not pushing a radical agenda just to try something different, but rather to do away with something that is broken in order to rebuild it properly.

"No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse." (Mark 2:21 - KJV)

However, it's also very difficult to be truly radical in this way. Jesus did not have any money, he did not live in a home during most of his ministry. He had to do this to be able to be completely free of the social obligations that come from owning property and earning a living. I have met few people that dedicated to anything.

In the end Jesus was killed precisely because he was a radical. That was, of course, part of the Plan. However, it shows how difficult it is to be truly radical. If you ever start to become remotely successful, you become a threat. Sometimes only an act of God can truly fix a broken system.

Fortunately, I believe in miracles.