Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Review of Choose The Life by Bill Hull

Synopsis


I felt this book fleshed out the solution to the problem presented in The American Church In Crisis – that we have over-evangelized too lightly. Or, as Hull says, “the trouble with our evangelism is that we have made it so easy to enter the Christian life that we miss the repentance, commitment, and regeneration that provide the power to live the Christian life.” (24) The result of this are Christians “who accepted Christ based on a faith that is little more than intellectual assent.” (24)

The solution, then, is an accurate communication of the Gospel message that results in an acceptance of Jesus as both Savior and Lord. This means not merely agreeing with this message, as nearly all who would call themselves Christians would, but surrendering one’s life to this message. Or, put another way, growing in obedience to Jesus as Lord. Hull presents a model of discipleship to foster such growth. He says, “the solution is discipleship, which can be summarized as believing what Jesus believed, living the way Jesus lived, loving the way Jesus loved, ministering the way Jesus ministered, and leading the way he led.” (18) Hull would argue that this can only be done in a community of believers, and that this spiritual transformation is made possible by practicing the spiritual disciplines.


Personal Reflection

While I did not connect with everything that Hull said, what he shared in this book has been of great help to me as my model of discipleship continues to evolve and grow. I, too, have been troubled and frustrated by what I have seen and experienced with discipleship that did not seem to result in any measure of spiritual transformation. His description of intellectual assent without obedience was a huge “ah ha!” moment for me. I have grown up with the emphasis always being placed on making sure we are believing the right things while almost conceding that spiritual formation, beyond the extent of what results from believing the right things, is not going to happen in this life.

One of the biggest contributions of this book for me was fleshing out the confusion concerning faith by works versus obedience to Jesus. Having a proper understanding of this not only removed perhaps the tallest hurdle for my own spiritual transformation, but I think also aids in properly teaching this in a community setting. I believe that a commitment to practicing the spiritual disciplines will aid in emptying me of the things of this world so that I can be filled by the Spirit, and therefore will enable a model of discipleship for me that reproduces and changes lives.


Ministry Application

I believe that Hull has a crucial message for the church today in the point that he makes about following Christ. Following Christ needs to be more than just changing how we think, but also changing how we live our lives. We need to clearly communicate that the Gospel means surrendering to Jesus as Lord, that we are called to be obedient to Him. Anything less means “we keep spreading a weakened, nonreproductive gospel.” (30)

Hull suggests that many times we have set the bar too low, that we do not call the church to the full surrender that God calls us to. I do believe that the church will reawaken to an authentic Gospel message – that pursuing Christ-likeness through obedience to Jesus together will result in new energy and life in the church. We have to stop settling for less, and we have to stop selling our congregations short.

The relationships and environments of grace that Hull speaks of in chapter 7 are crucial if we are to establish a model of discipleship that changes lives and restores the health of the church. We have to be able to trust each other and be real with each other, and agree with Hull that this is best fostered in the accountability found in authentic discipleship. This lays the foundation for the spiritual transformation that the spiritual disciplines help facilitate. And here too I believe we need to be purposeful in how we disciple – I agree with Hull that practicing the spiritual disciplines needs the encouragement and accountability that a community provides.

The key revelation for me has been that discipleship that does not change lives is not going to reproduce. If our model of discipleship does not result in spiritual transformation, then there is not going to be anything to cause us to go out and disciple others. If it hasn’t done anything for us, then what do we have to share with others? The solution is not to abandon the intellectual aspect of discipleship, but that we must add to this model that is already in place. We need to focus on what Jesus taught, and focus on what obedience to His teaching looks like in our lives. And then beyond that, we need to encourage each other to walk in this obedience, and to hold one another to these higher standers that Jesus has called us to. We need to teach that on our own we have no hope in this, but by emptying ourselves of the things of this world and being filled by the Spirit we can become more like Christ day by day. We also need to teach that we have great tools available to us in the spiritual disciplines that can aid us in this pursuit. Then we will see authentic Christians excited about what God is doing in their lives, sharing this Gospel message with those they come in contact with, and taking on disciples of their own.

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