Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Foreword by Matt Chandler) (eBook)

Revised and Expanded

Jonathan K. Dodson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
192 Seiten
Crossway (Verlag)
978-1-4335-7410-8 (ISBN)

Infos

A Gospel-Rich, Reproducible Model for Making Disciples as Jesus Intended Biblical discipleship emphasizes encouragement, repentance, and spiritual growth-essential parts of the Christian life. However, well-meaning believers often struggle to follow Jesus, unaware their views are too legalistic, licentious, or individualistic. How can churches and Christians develop a healthy, successful path to disciple-making? In this second edition of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, Jonathan Dodson presents an effective, Spirit-led model for sanctification. Reminding readers that real discipleship is imperfect yet transformational, Dodson encourages Christians to engage more authentically with others as they grow in faith. Drawing from his own failures and successes while following Jesus, Dodson defines discipleship, describes the heart of a disciple, and gives practical guidance for mentor and peer-based discipleship as Jesus intended. - Revised and Expanded: Includes three new chapters and new illustrations - Applicable: Shows how discipleship can be practical and gospel-centered - Theological: Addresses the Holy Spirit's involvement in discipleship - Foreword by Matt Chandler: Author of The Explicit Gospel

Jonathan K. Dodson is theologian-in-residence at Citizens Church in Plano, Texas. He is the founder of GCDiscipleship.com and the author of a number of books, including The Unbelievable Gospel; Here in Spirit; Our Good Crisis; and Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

Textauszug

Preface

When I wrote this book a decade ago, gospel-centeredness was just gathering steam in the United States. Tim Keller’s influential white papers on the nature of the gospel and gospel change had been watering the soil of attentive evangelicals for some time. His books were starting to shoot out, as were new gospel-centered churches and church planting movements. I was fortunate to be a part of all this. I emerged as a writer in a constellation of gospel-centered influences. You will find them in the footnotes.

What Is Gospel-Centered?

In using this clunky word, gospel-centered, I am referring to a way of following Jesus that makes his person and work central in everything. The gospel is as big as the cosmos and as small as you and me. It renews all things, even us. This book focuses on us—on how the good news of Jesus Christ not only earns us a place with him for eternity but how eternal life works here and now (John 17:3). To be gospel-centered is not only to believe the gospel for salvation but to continually return to it for transformation. But it means even more than that. It means so cherishing union with Christ that, like a devoted spouse, he rubs off on us in every way.

There are various entry points into this life-changing discovery. Some enter through the portal of adoption. Laboring for the approval of others, they find it incredibly liberating to discover the unwavering, free approval of our heavenly Father. Others enter through justification. For those of us trying to prove ourselves to God, others, or ourselves, justification points us to Jesus, who proves us worthy of acceptance before a holy God. Others come through what many consider to be the centerpiece of the gospel, union with Christ, which brings us into an intimate, mystical relationship with Jesus. My entry point into this gospel deluge was through a deeper grasp of adoption.

I was seized by God’s grace at age seven. One summer afternoon, I stepped out on the back porch with my dad and asked him how I could know God. As he explained the gospel, I was floored that the God of the universe took interest in me. What did I, a seven-year-old boy in an East Texas town, have to offer him? I realized the gospel was not mainly about what I could offer God, but what he was offering me—through faith in Jesus I could become his son. The gospel of adoption overwhelmed me. When I was baptized, I took the microphone to declare to the church the joy of my salvation. I’ve often wondered why I came to faith through the gospel of adoption. Why was that gospel reality so compelling to me? Looking back, it’s likely because I had such an attentive, loving father. If my earthly father could love me like that, what would it be like to join my heavenly Father’s family?

Yet, even with that benefit, I’m still working out the answer to that question! I’m often disinterested in using my time to love others, a sure sign I’m loving myself more than enjoying God’s sacrificial love for me. Other times I catch myself evaluating the week to see if I’ve ministered enough to earn an easy weekend, an indication I’m trying to earn God’s unmerited love. I’ve wandered the wasteland of religion and chased pleasures of the world to find that neither really satisfies. Yet despite my sins, the desire to follow Jesus has not withered; it has grown alongside the desire to help other disciples.

Professional versus Amateur Discipleship

In college, I bought into a professional model of making disciples. I’d gather with several guys at five or six o’ clock in the morning (in college!) for Bible study and prayer. I walked them through Romans (like I really grasped its theology of grace at that time in my life). I was the pro; they were the amateurs. I was the guru; they were the novices. I stood at the top of the stairs; my acolytes sat at my feet. I descended the stairs, dispensing exegetical insights and spiritual best practices, only to return to the privacy of my room. I put the best foot forward but hid the ugly one. This created a comfortable buffer from those I mentored, but it also increased the distance between my true self and Jesus Christ. I really belonged on the floor, beside my fellow disciples, at the feet of Jesus.

Although I didn’t comprehend it, I was motivated by good works not deep grace. I was attempting to earn God’s favor by gaining the favor of my disciples. The more disciples I made, the better I felt. “Discipleship” became a way to leverage others for worth. “Disciple” was more verb than noun, an activity more than an identity. My spiritual center of gravity subtly shifted from Jesus and his work to me and my work. It’s not that I wasn’t making disciples; people gobbled up my platitudes and piety. The problem was the kind of disciples I made, disciples who could share their faith but not their failures. People who orbited around me not Christ. To be sure, my motivation was a mixture of genuine love for God and lust for praise. But the way out was not through gaining more attention. Escape came through a deeper grasp of the gospel, through repenting of sin and believing in my Father’s full and freeing approval in Christ.

Jesus-Centered Discipleship

Fortunately, the gospel is big enough to handle my failures, and Jesus is gracious enough to redeem me and my distortions of following him. In fact, the gospel of grace is so big and strong, it has reshaped my understanding of discipleship. As I continued to “disciple” and read the Bible, I was struck by the fact that the disciples of Jesus were always attached to other disciples. They lived in authentic community. They confessed their sins and struggles alongside their successes—questioning their Savior and casting out demons. They continually came back to Jesus as their Master and eventually as their Redeemer. As the disciples grew in maturity, they did not grow beyond their need for him. They returned to him for forgiveness, wisdom, compassion, and him. As they began to multiply, the communities they formed did not graduate from the gospel. Instead, churches formed around their common need for Jesus, tutored by his grace. As a result, the communities that formed preached Jesus not only to those outside the church but also to those within the church.1 Reflecting on this, I began to realize that Jesus is not merely the start and standard for salvation, but the beginning, middle, and end of salvation. He is salvation—not just when I was seven, but every second of every day. In the gospel, Jesus gives us himself, his redemptive benefits, and the church to share those benefits with. As it turns out, the gospel is for disciples, not just for “sinners”; it saves and transforms us in relationship, not merely as individuals who go it alone.

It slowly became apparent to me that the gospel of Christ was where I was meant to find my identity, not in impressing God or others with my discipling skill. Refusing to share my failures with others was a refusal to allow the gospel of Christ to accomplish its full redemption in me. God was leading me into a kind of discipleship with the gospel at the center—a constant, gracious repetition of repentance and faith in Jesus, who is sufficient for my failures and strong for my successes. The wonderful news of the gospel is that Jesus frees us from trying to impress God or others because he has impressed God on our behalf. We can tell people our sins because our identity doesn’t hang on what they think of us. We can be imperfect Christians because we cling to a perfect Christ. In this kind of discipleship, the church huddles around Jesus, not a professional.

Gospel-centered discipleship is not about how we perform but who we are—imperfect people, clinging to a perfect Christ, being perfected by the Spirit. I no longer stand at the top of the stairs but sit in the living room, where I can share my faith and my failures, my obedience and disobedience, my sins and successes. As we give and receive the gospel, we don’t linger in imperfection, unbelief, disobedience, and failure. We fight. We have to contend for belief in this gospel. Otherwise, we will slide back into using or neglecting Jesus. We need relationships so shaped by the gospel that we exhort and encourage one another to trust Jesus every single day. We need gospel-centered discipleship.

New Stuff in This Book

I chose to revise and expand Gospel-Centered Discipleship for several reasons. First, with the passage of time certain things become clearer. When I was younger, I was eager to get the gospel out and into peoples’ lives. As I aged, that eagerness collided with the gritty, long-haul work of pastoring souls, which helped me see the importance of getting the good news not just out but down, into peoples’ lives. In my youth, I had a shorter view of people—get them into the kingdom. Over the years, I’ve learned to take the long view—get more of the kingdom into them. I’ve also learned to disciple people with an eye toward not only who they are presently, but also on whom they will become in...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.3.2022
• Vorwort: Matt Chandler
• Verlagsort: Wheaton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Pastoraltheologie
• Schlagworte: Bible • biblical principles • Christ • christian living • Church • Discipleship • disciplines • Faith Based • God • godliness • Godly Living • Gospel • Jesus • Kingdom • live out • new believer • Religion • Small group books • spiritual growth • walk Lord
• ISBN-10: 1-4335-7410-1 / 1433574101
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-7410-8 / 9781433574108