IMB President Platt Delivered Chapel Message on Selfless Love

Dr. David Platt, president of the International Missions Board, delivered the Oklahoma Baptist University chapel message Wednesday, Nov. 15 in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium. His message continued the chapel series, “Following Jesus: Understanding and Responding to the Call of Christ.”

Platt used Matthew 26: 1-13 to illustrate the importance of love. He challenged listeners to pursue God with all they have and to seek a deeper adoration for Him.

“I want to challenge you, based on this unnamed woman in Matthew 26, to pour out your love, your life, in selfless love for Christ,” he said.

Platt encouraged students to love others through the overflow of their love for Christ. He warned them against missing the point in the fight for social justice.

“What is made clear in Matthew 26 is that true love for others springs from a selfless love for God,” he said.

Platt went on to use the parable of the hidden treasure in Matthew 13: 44 to emphasize the significance of Christ and His value in the believer’s life.

“Hear this, Jesus is someone worth losing everything for,” he said. “He is so much better than the best things this world could ever offer you. He is worthy.”

Though his role is heavily focused on international missions, Platt wanted students to recognize that a life of obedience in missions is a result of one’s love for Christ.

“The last thing I want to do is to call students for a heart to missions, when what is far more important is a heart for Jesus,” he said. “A heart for missions flows from a heart for Jesus.”

Platt’s first love in ministry is making disciples, sharing, showing and teaching God’s Word in everyday life. He has traveled extensively to serve alongside Church leaders throughout the United States and around the world.

As a life-long learner, Platt has earned two undergraduate degrees and three advanced degrees. He earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Georgia and later earned a Master of Divinity, a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Philosophy from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Previously, Platt served at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as the dean of chapel and assistant professor of expository preaching and apologetics. He served as the staff evangelist at Edgewater Baptist Church in New Orleans, and he served eight years as the senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. Platt is also the founder of Radical, a resource ministry dedicated to serving the church and making disciples of all nations.

Platt is the author of several books, which include “Radical,” “Radical Together,” “Follow Me” and “Counter Culture.” He and his wife, Heather, have four children: Caleb, Joshua, Mara-Ruth and Isaiah.