The New York Times bestselling author of Radical challenges Christians to break free from an American gospel that prostitutes Jesus for comfort, power, prosperity, and politics—and fully pursue the true gospel that exalts Jesus above all. Pastor David Platt believes we’ve gotten really good at following a really bad gospel—one that worships American ideas over biblical truth. It’s time for disillusioned, discouraged, and divided Christians, and the next generation, to follow Jesus into a different future.   But we have to make a choice: an American gospel or the biblical gospel. Worldly division or otherworldly unity. Compromise with the idols of our country or commitment to God’s call in our lives. In Don’t Hold Back , Platt encourages followers of Jesus to take necessary risks and find unimaginable reward as we: • Work for—not against—each other, especially when we disagree  • Turn the tide on centuries of racial division in the church • Trust all of God’s Word with conviction while loving everyone around us with compassion • Do justice with kindness, and experience the good life according to God • Play our part in spreading the gospel to all the nations of the world We can experience the full wonder of Jesus and transcendent beauty of his church here and now. But in order to do so, some things need to be different. Starting not in “those people,” but in each one of us. With the gospel in our hearts and God as our prize, let’s press on and don’t hold back. “David’s prophetic voice always challenges me, making me rethink assumptions and overturning my status quo. It’s hard to feel settled with a David Platt book sitting around. David is one of our generation’s most important voices.” —J. D. Greear, pastor of the Summit Church “David Platt never holds back. This book casts a vision of the sort of gospel that cannot be manipulated, marketed, or mobilized but, rather, can shake away all the nonsense and nihilism, leaving us with Jesus. Don’t hold back; read this book.” —Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today   David Platt is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including Radical. He is a pastor in metro Washington, D.C., and founder of Radical Inc., an organization that equips Christians to be on mission from where they live to the ends of the earth. Platt received his master of divinity, master of theology, and doctor of philosophy from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in metro D.C. with his wife and their children. FAMILY REIMAGINED Coming Together Around Our Father’s Table I never could have dreamed how God would make me a father. I have shared in different settings how my wife, Heather, and I struggled with infertility for many painful years. Believing that we couldn’t have children biologically and that we were called to raise a family, we adopted our first son, Caleb, from Kazakhstan. Two weeks after returning home with Caleb and still adjusting to being parents, we found out, to our shock and surprise, that Heather was pregnant. Apparently what happens in Kazakhstan doesn’t stay in Kazakhstan. Within nine months, Joshua was born, and we were a family of four. The dream expanded when, three years later, we adopted our first daughter, Mara, from China. Three months after that adoption, again much to our astonishment, Heather was pregnant again. Our third son, Isaiah, came along soon thereafter, and we became a family of six. Years later, Heather and I were joyfully content until a dinner date one night when the subject of adoption came up in conversation. We hadn’t even planned on talking about adoption that night, but by the time we gave our waiter the check, we were in tears and smiling, believing God was leading us to adopt again. About a year later, we were matched with a child in an orphanage overseas whom we’ve named J.D., and for a number of reasons I won’t go into here, we are still waiting to bring him home. In the meantime, Heather and I were both reading Psalm 127 one day in our alone time with God, and we each sensed God calling us to bring another child, specifically a baby, into our home. So we started another adoption process, and months later we received information about a mom who was soon to give birth to a baby girl and desired to place her with a family for adoption. We were told that this birth mom already had a name picked out for her daughter, which was slightly disappointing because Heather and I had always said that if God gave us another girl, we would love to name her Mercy. But this obviously wasn’t going to keep us from moving forward in this process, so we got to know this birth mom, and do you know what name she had chosen for her child? Mercy. This beautiful baby girl was two days old when she came into our care, and she officially became Mercy Platt as I was finishing writing this book. When I sit down with my family for dinner, I think back to the times when Heather and I begged God for child