The Imperfect Disciple

Are you tired of the “10-steps to being a better Christian” or perhaps the “Share if you like Jesus” social media posts that make you want to unfriend everyone? Everyone is. In The Imperfect Disciple, Jared Wilson, in a snarky yet sobering style reminds us of the liberating truths about the that we often exchange for a lies. This book is for the legalist in all of us. What is a legalist? Cover ArtSomeone who is “seeking to achieve forgiveness from GOD and acceptance by GOD through my obedience to GOD.” {CJ Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life}. This book covers issues with consumer Christianity, what it means to contextualize your faith from looking good but being broken, fear of man, to everyone’s struggle with their faith. The summaries found around the web, describe it well, “The Imperfect Disciple is a discipleship book for people who are a little tired of discipleship books. This one is for the rest of us -- people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are often wondering in church if it's safe to say what they're really thinking. For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual "lifehacks" and fuzzy "fortune cookie" spirituality, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life.”

I listened to this audiobook two times and was amazed of the things I missed the first time around. For instance, chapter two discussed the sermon on the mount, beatitudes, and psychobabble Christian leadership books! As I spend some time in the car with my work, I enjoy having audiobooks that challenge me and remind of the gospel, and this did not disappoint. The narrator of the audio although not the author, made the book interesting and engaging. I found the book to be refreshing, interesting, challenging, inspiring, and enlightening.

It reminded me of how hard I try to be in control, fear others, look elsewhere and try to prove myself. It also felt like I was listening to a younger Steve Brown, in that he was also very pastoral and earthy real with the topics discussed. Jared challenges the way we do discipleship and the way we do “Christianity” and then pokes us with the reminder that it is all about grace. I appreciated his humor and vernacular when describing the Christian culture, and then grounding us in the scripture to remind us that not much is different from the first century church. I found the audio book to be presented in a cohesive, yet down to earth, messy manner. Something that is rare today in the publishing world of ‘every author sounds the same.” Jared successfully saturates this work in biblical truth and gives transparent illustrations from his own life to drive the points home. I highly recommend this book to any other Imperfect Disciples – those of us who struggle to keep our act together.

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Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the christianaudio.com review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Jared C. Wilson works at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where I am currently a graduate student. As one of the few non Baptists there and the only blind person, as well as a woman called to a ministry of preaching and music, it can at times be somewhat difficult to feel fully a part of that community despite wonderful friends and scholarly study. This book makes me so grateful and proud to be a part of MBTS, rather than merely a student passing through its halls only to pass back out when I am finished. The truth spoken in this audiobook goes as deep as the soul itself. It is more friendly, more beautiful, and more real than anything I have read in quite some time. One cannot read or listen to this book and remain unchanged. Certainly I did not. This book is like a mirror to me in so many ways, showing the real me, not a pretty picture. Yet it also shows the unspeakable love that God shows losers such as myself and all of those who call upon His Name. To return to my first point, as a non Baptist, I read this book and do not feel as can so often happen in the seminary environment, singled out or isolated because I am not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Anyone within the Christian faith can and will be shaped and formed by this masterful work.

Listening to this audiobook was such an encouragement to me. I am definitely one "who can't get their act together" but that's ok. Jared reminded me over and over again that there is grace. And grace is Jesus. And because of Jesus there is hope and help in this world and an eternity with Him in the next. If you are needing encouragement, please take some time and listen to this book. You'll be glad you did!

*I received a free audio copy of this work from ChristianAudio.com as part of their reviewers program.

This book is absolutely indispensable for the Christian who never seems to quite fit the mold of a regular disciple. It is especially helpful for those who grew up in the church and somehow missed grace through all the formalism and legalism. The subtitle of this book cuts straight to the heart: Grace for people who can't get their act together. The book is mildly autobiographical. Wilson shares about how he experienced grace through many good and bad times in his life. His story is also mine, and I am willing to bet that we are not alone. As he says in the introduction, this is a book written for normal people. It is less about what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus and more what to expect while being a disciple. With candid personal illustrations and a witty sense of humor, Wilson weaves the grace of God through every nook and cranny of this work. It literally drips with God's grace for imperfect, undeserving, and can't-quite-measure-up people. He reinforces the truth that we are defined not by what we do or fail to do but rather who Jesus says we are. I had the opportunity of hearing Wilson speak about beholding the glory of God, which is represented in chapter 3 of this book. It was powerful then and it is powerful now. Read this book and be encouraged by the grace of God for imperfect people, which includes you and me. I received this audiobook from christianaudio in exchange for an honest review.

I can always tell that an audiobook is having a lasting impact on me when I must pause the book and order a print copy of it because I want to mark significant passages. Mr. Wilson's "Imperfect Disciple" is such a book. Read this book. Your soul will thank you.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love to read Jared Wilson. Why? Wilson writes like somebody you know. He does not just write like somebody you know, he actually writes like somebody you like. Wilson writes like a guy you would have a cup of coffee with, talk about life with, and be honest with. Wilson does not write like a hero. He admits his frailty and weakness. And in that honesty, he lets us see a genuine picture of a real guy wrestling day-to-day with the simple stuff of the faith.

In The Imperfect Disciple, Wilson helps us to look at basic discipleship from a realistic point of view. So many discipleship texts out there are handbooks or workbooks. So many texts out there tell us to apply these few principles, in this order, and we will be disciples. But so many of those books do not work for real people. Wilson tells us, “I tend to think that a lot of the ways the evangelical church teaches discipleship seem designed for people who don't appear to really need it” (13). He goes on to say, “I want to write a discipleship book for normal people, for people like me who know that discipleship means following Jesus—and we know that following Jesus is totally worth it, because Jesus is the end-all, be-all—but we often find that following Jesus takes us to some pretty difficult places” (14). And I think he pulls it off. He actually writes a discipleship book for honest people.

The structure of the Imperfect Disciple is not that of a textbook. Rather, it is a walk through spiritual living in a sensible order. Wilson, through the chapters will call us to see the need to constantly preach the gospel to ourselves, to recognize that rules are not the answer, and to rely on the grace of Christ even as we work. The author challenges believers with a call to deep Bible study and prayer, but he calls us to these things for the joy of the glory of God and not for the purpose of checking items off of an accountability checklist. Wilson will show us the need to participate in genuine, honest, seriously not fake Christian community. He will wrap up the book with chapters pointing us to the fruit of the Spirit, the depth of God’s grace, and hope of how we will be transformed and completed in heaven.

In this book, Wilson does a great job of reminding us that our growth is not something we work on our own. He tells us that we cannot rely on self-help advice to shrug off sin and grow into Christ’s image. Wilson declares, “Do you know why there are a thousand fresh self-help books every year? It's because they don't work. We keep looking for the answer within us, as if we'll find it in the same place as the problems” (28). The author warns, “When we turn the Sermon on the Mount—or any of Jesus's teachings, really—into a handy compendium of pick-me-ups for spiritual go-getters, it proves we don't get it. It proves we don't get the gospel” (51). Again, Wilson says, “Self-help doesn't help. My self is the problem” (148).

Do not, however, confuse the grace offered in this book with a lack of challenge. The chapters on prayer, Bible reading, and Christian community are full of strong calls to take the Christian life seriously. The author calls us to genuine fellowship by declaring, “To abide in Christ necessitates embracing the body of Christ as God's plan for the Christian life. Abiding in Christ can't be experienced as it's designed to be experienced apart from abiding in the community called his very body. And the further good news is that embracing kingdom rhythms becomes easier and more sustainable when it is done alongside others” (128). Wilson also calls on Christians to put to death the false wish dreams of our lives so that we can experience the genuinely better rewards that the Lord has for us. Wilson reminds us of how easy it is for us to allow our own vision to make us miss God’s best, writing, “We all have a vision for how life is supposed to go, what life is supposed to be like—what we want and how we want it and the way we want to feel about it—but then actual life happens, and when our heart is tuned to only find joy in the dream we will never find joy, because we've placed it in a mirage” (183).

Jared Wilson summarizes his purpose behind his book by writing, “I wrote this book for all who are tired of being tired. I wrote this book for all who read the typical discipleship manuals and wonder who they could possibly be written for, the ones that make us feel overly burdened and overly tasked and, because of all that, overly shamed” (230). He wanted to write a discipleship book for normal people, and I think he pulled it off. And I would happily recommend this book to anybody who feels like the typical discipleship manuals only have pain to offer without actual hope or help. No, this book will not relieve you of the responsibility to work toward growth. But this book will challenge you to grow in the gospel and not by your own strength. This book will give you a realistic way to look at growing from day to day. And this book will offer you comfort as you realize that you are not the only one who does not find all the disciplines of the Christian life easy.

*I received a free audio copy of this work from ChristianAudio.com as part of their reviewers program. The quality of the audio book is excellent, as are all the books I have heard from this company.

*I received a free print copy of this book from Baker Books as part of a reviewer’s program in exchange for an honest review.