Discipling

Jesus commands those who follow him to go out and make disciples of others (Matthew 28:19-20). However, we can feel unsure about what it means to disciple others and how we go about it exactly, or even whether we should do it at all. Mark Dever has written 'Discipleship: How to Help Others Follow Jesus' to help us understand biblical discipleship and to encourage us in our obedience to Christ. Firstly, Mark defines discipleship as "deliberately doing spiritual good to someone so that he or she will be more like Christ." With this simple and clear definition in hand, he goes on to lay out the who, what, where, when, why and how of discipling in three parts. At only 128 pages, Mark has made good use of the space afforded him. He writes in a clear and engaging style throughout, and is a faithful guide on biblical discipleship. I appreciated the union of theory and practice as Mark shared examples from his own life and encourages the reader to think about how they are best suited to disciple others. Personally, I felt challenged and encouraged by this book as the importance of discipleship was really opened up to me and I realized how little I have thought about this vital issue! I hope 'Discipling' is widely read among Christians, as I believe anyone who reads it will be equipped and encouraged to help others follow Jesus.