Reviews
TRANSFORMING DISCIPLESHIP:
Making Disciples a Few at a Time
by Greg Ogden (InterVarsity Press 2003)
“The church today in North America is 3,000 miles wide and an inch deep.”
This paraphrase of a quote from Charles Colson about the state of the church in the USA should make us pause and think. Even with the explosion of a Christian subculture, with more Christian books, magazines, resources, seminars, radio and TV broadcasts than ever before in history, the influence of authentically biblical Christianity on Western culture seems to be growing less and less noticeable. Why is that? How did we get here? What created this discipleship deficit? If so many people say they believe in Jesus, why doesn’t it make a difference in the way they live?
It’s amazing how often the issue of life-changing discipleship becomes a key point in the churches we coach, both the healthy, growing ones, and the ones experiencing struggles. That’s why Greg Ogden’s book is becoming one of our most heartily recommended resources. It provides a powerful look at today’s reality, then calls us to rethink the way we fulfill that too often overlooked portion of Jesus’ Great Commission: to “make disciples.”
Transforming Discipleship actually springs from observing the impact of his original companion work, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ. Written as a curriculum designed to teach the basics of the Christian faith, he used the tool in settings that ranged from one-on-one mentoring to small group classes of twelve or more. As he observed results of the study over time, Ogden witnessed a dynamic, life-transforming impact when it was used in groups of three, or triads. This led him to see more clearly how Jesus invested his life into just a few people, preparing them to embrace his message and his mission as their own. As a result, this small group of “disciples” turned the world on its ear.
Maps are not useful unless you know where you are already. The author paints a clear picture of today’s deficit between believing and living, and offers compelling explanations along the way. He guides us back to the method of building “self initiating, reproducing, fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ” by using the empowering model Jesus lived out and the parenting methods Paul employed. The book describes not only how Jesus and Paul were able to turn the world upside down by investing their time, their energy, and their hearts into a few people, it offers us strategic principles for carrying on that disciple making task in our local church bodies in the 21st century. The radical message of “new life in Christ” and the heart-transforming power of the Gospel still need to be transferred from one life to the next in ways that truly make a difference.
Rather than creating “just another program” in the church, we can start by capturing a new vision for disciple making, and follow the biblical example of investing our lives in relationship with others who seek to follow Jesus fully. Any church serious about seeing their discipleship methods become truly life transforming will benefit greatly from Greg Ogden’s insights and putting the principles into action. Transformed lives will lead to transformed congregations, which will ultimately show the world what the kingdom of God ought to look like.