The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ [Paperback]

This is Bill Hull's opus! Hull, who has spent his entire life discipling disciplers, and is a life-long learner, has composed a comprehensive manual on holistic discipleship. Readers will fine a biblical theology, spiritual theology, historical theology, and practical theology of discipleship. Written in a lucid style and well-organized, this can become a classic volume to return to again and again.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians.

There is a great emphasis in many evangelical churches on trusting in Christ for salvation but little emphasis on following Jesus. There is much more emphasis in many of the most influential churches on life management and maximizing our success. But Jesus clearly said that those who know Jesus follow Jesus (John 10:27). When we read the Scriptures we clearly see that those who are called Christians are those who follow Jesus, not simply those who make a "decision for Christ." Of course, the Bible says we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yet, when one is a Christian, there will be change in one's life as a result of knowing Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). However, honest Christians will acknowledge that we don't always know where or how to begin with following Jesus.

Enter Bill Hull's excellent work The Complete Book of Discipleship. Hull gives us the biblical basis and historical background for the life of discipleship in the church. Hull discusses the work of discipleship for the individual and in small groups. He highlights how pastors and churches can recapture a passion for discipleship that goes beyond programs to reaching people.

There were two especially helpful parts of the book for me. First, I was reminded of my favorite quote from Bill Hull, "Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning." This line always reminds me of the fact that God has given means which he expects me to put to use in my life as a disciple, never out of a desire to earn His favor, but simply as a consequence of His work in my life. The other part of the book that was so helpful to me and I would recommend to everyone, is chapter 12 "The Future of Discipleship: Living the Jesus Way."

I appreciate Hull's writings and this book is one of his best. Highly recommended.

Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship, On Being and Making Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2006)

Any time a book has `The Complete Book of...' anything in its title, my first instinct is to find holes in the `completeness' of the material. The burden of proof on an author such as Mr. Hull is especially difficult when the subject has a 2000 year history, with such lustrous authorities as Basil the Great, Anthony the Great, St. Benedict, St. Francis, Ignatius of Loyola, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. My overall reaction is that while the book doesn't have much to say about the first 1900 years of Christianity, or the whole matter of Catholic monasticism in general, the book does do a credible job of covering the subject for 21st century Protestants, especially those who may have been inspired by the life of Herr Bonhoeffer. If I were to fault the book on any one major point, it would be the lack of a comprehensive Bibliography, especially one aimed at covering those first 1900 years. This is an excellent second book on Discipleship, after reading Bonhoeffer's 'The Cost of Discipleship'.

If one reads about church attendance in pre-Revolutionary War New England, you may be surprised at the laxness of church membership in the 1720's, which lead to a multi-tiered policy of admission to the church's sacraments. Pastors, even powerful, well-known pastors, would let you in to communion and baptize your babies on very weak criteria for membership. But for the full-fledged member, the expectations are very high. Today, the expectations among the clergy for dedicated members seems to have dropped to nothing, and all emphasis is put on both encouraging drawing in and holding new members and on Missional projects. Both are worthy Christian activities, but it still means strong `discipleship', along with `spiritual formation' disciplines seem to have diminished to insignificance for adults in small to middle-sized churches. Thus, one of the strengths of this book is to include thoughts about both discipleship and spiritual formation, although the emphasis is certainly on the former.

Another casualty of `casual' church and denominational affiliations, at least among Protestants, may be the fact that we have lost sight of the theological grounds of `good behavior' by Protestants. The Reformation discarded the entire Catholic notion, common in the 15th--16th century, that one can pay off sin by a wide variety of sacramental means such as confession and non-sacramental means such as the purchase of indulgences and by acts of charity. Of course, one can also insure ones path to heaven by avoiding sin. But Luther and Calvin and all the other reformers endorsed the doctrine of sola fide, or justification by faith alone. But that opened up the can of worms over the motives for behaving oneself. The Protestant answer is that by achieving grace, through faith and the will of God, one is imbued by a love of the Christ Jesus, and wish to emulate him, follow him, be like him, as much as humanly possible. Ironically, this is exactly what the Catholic monastic orders do so well, and what the modern Protestants do not so much.

Discipleship is basically the disciple of being a Protestant disciple of Jesus, as much as that is practical in the modern world and the modern church. There is a 40 page history of discipleship, divided neatly between Catholic and Protestant exemplars (Some of the facts in this history are a bit loose. For pre-Reformation figures, go to good scholarly sources). It is no accident that 25% of this history is spent covering the teachings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the closest thing Protestantism has in the 20th century to a saint. Based on my earlier theological sketch, Bonhoeffer hits the nail on the head when he says `Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ'. For a Protestant, our lives should be all about emulating Christ in both thought and action. Bonhoeffer says `An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace...render discipleship superfluous...and are essentially inimical to ...following Christ.' One may go so far as to paraphrase Bonhoeffer by saying that Christianity without discipleship is not Christianity.

At the heart of Hull's presentation is a six-fold definition of `being conformed to Christ's image. This is a far simpler job, but with similarities to, Jonathan Edwards markers of those who are among the elect, since it relies only on behavioral markers. The signs are transformed mind, character, relationships, habits, service, and influence.

The last marker is especially important, because it highlights the fact that good discipleship works best in small groups, where discipleship leaders can foster the growth of discipleship in others. It should be no surprise that spiritual formation also works best in small groups, and this book is all about doing both. But it is also about being Missional, about going out into the world and demonstrating the kind of life which monks live in the safety of their cloisters.

The Missional aspect of life is not done simply because it's a good thing to do. It is a matter of survival. If a group's activities become too ingrown, if they never venture outside the church, they will simply wither and die out.

A gut impression I get from a lot of books on spirituality and Christianity in general is that there is a lot of wind, but little substance. While this may not be a complete diet, this book does offer concrete nourishment for Protestant discipleship.