Bill Hull > Quotes

“Discipleship isn’t a program or an event; it’s a way of life. It’s not for a limited time, but for our whole life. Discipleship isn’t for beginners alone; it’s for all believers for every day of their life. Discipleship isn’t just one of the things the church does; it is what the church does.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“The Six-Fold Definition of Being Conformed to Christ's Image
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1. Transformed Mind: Believe What Jesus Believed
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2. Transformed Character: Live the Way Jesus Lived
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3. Transformed Relationships: Love as Jesus Loved
139
4. Transformed Habits: Train as Jesus Trained
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5. Transformed Service: Minister as Jesus Ministered
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6. Transformed Influence: Lead the Way Jesus Led”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“First-century discipleship was expressed as a servant-master relationship (see Matthew 10:24). Once accepted as a disciple, a young man started as a talmidh, or beginner, who sat in the back of the room and could not speak. Then he became a distinguished student, who took an independent line in his approach or questioning. At the next level, he became a disciple-associate, who sat immediately behind the rabbi during prayer time. Finally he achieved the highest level, a disciple of the wise, and was recognized as the intellectual equal of his rabbi.'"
2. Memorizing the teacher's words: Oral tradition provided the basic way of studying. Disciples learned the teacher's words verbatim to pass along to the next person. Often disciples learned as many as
four interpretations of each major passage in the Torah.
3. Learning the teacher's way of ministry: A disciple learned how his teacher kept God's commands, including how he practiced the Sabbath, fasted, prayed, and said blessings in ceremonial situations. He would also learn his rabbi's teaching methods and the many traditions his master followed.
4. Imitating the teacher's life and character: Jesus said that when a disciple is fully taught, he "will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). The highest calling of a disciple was to imitate his teacher. Paul called on Timothy to follow his example (see 2 Timothy 3:10-14), and he didn't hesitate to call on all believers to do the same (see 1 Corinthians 4:14-16; 1 1:1; Philippians 4:9). One story in ancient tradition tells of a rabbinical student so devoted to his teacher that he hid in the teacher's bedchamber to discover the mentor's sexual technique. To be sure, this is a bit extreme, yet it demonstrates the level of commitment required to be a disciple.
5. Raising up their own disciples: When a disciple finished his training, he was expected to reproduce what he'd learned by finding and training his own apprentices. He would start his own school and call it after his name, such as the House of Hillel.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“Does the gospel we preach produce disciples or does it produce consumers of religious goods and services?”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“When Jesus commanded, “Make disciples,” he wasn’t simply referring to converts. He wants followers who follow — people who submit to his teachings and his ways. But because we’ve preached a different gospel, a vast throng of people think they are Christian/saved/born again when they really aren’t! We’ve made the test for salvation doctrinal rather than behavioral, ritualizing it with walking the aisle, praying to receive Christ, or signing a doctrinal statement.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“In the world of togas, sandals, the Parthenon, temples, and little white homes perched on hillsides overlooking the sea, discipleship permeated Greek life-from aristocrats to peasants, from philosophers to tradesmen.
In the first century, the apostle Paul stood on Mars Hill and said, "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.... I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you" (Acts 17:22-23). Paul's speech demonstrates that the Greek philosophers were confused about God. But they were also astute in passing on their confusion as they lived out discipleship and even created some of its language and technique.
The Greek masters' use of mathetes, or disciple: As explored in chapter 1, mathetes is translated "disciple." We can find the concept of disciple-a person following a master-among the great masters of Greece. Plato, Socrates, and Herodotus all used disciple to mean "learner" or "one who is a diligent student." These and other Greek
philosophers generally understood that the disciple's life involved apprenticeship, a relationship of submission, and a life of demanding”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“Rather discipleship occurs when a transformed person radiates Christ to those around her. It happens when people so deeply experience God’s love that they can do nothing other than affect those around them.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“The morality of need. The pastor preaches to minds that believe bigger is better; the more spectacular the more important; the most important thing about life is that it is enjoyed; basic needs are a nice home, two cars, a three-week paid vacation, several weekends away; life has cheated you unless you have a Caribbean cruise, a DVD player, and an iPod. People have a corrupted sense of need. Needs become values, they take on their own morality. The language of need has replaced the language of greed.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“Jesus described a disciple as one who abides in Him, is obedient, bears fruit, glorifies God, has joy, and loves (see John 15:7–17).”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“Eugene Peterson has said, “American culture is stubbornly resistant to the way of Jesus.”5 The culture is strongly individualistic; the church is to be strongly communal. The culture is impatient; the church is to be persevering. The culture is celebrity-ridden; the church is to be a culture of humility. The culture celebrates competence; the church’s first priority is dependence. The way of Jesus, then, is one of community, and submission, service, and patience in that community. Jesus’ way is the road of humility, living in a state of brokenness before God. Jesus’ way is a people anxious to depend on God rather than on competence alone.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“When discipleship takes a place alongside leadership, evangelism, preaching, worship, counseling, support groups, and other programs, it ceases to be what it was meant to be: the heart of what it means to be a Christian.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“When we begin to live for others, we will begin to have the same effect on others as Jesus did.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“Look at the bestselling Christian books, listen to the television evangelist, talk to the average parishioner; the common thread is a preoccupation with felt needs. If the church is going to obey Christ, this must stop.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“We are too easily satisfied with conventional success: bodies, bucks, and buildings. The average Christian resides in the comfort zone of “I pay the pastor to preach, administrate, and counsel. I pay him, he ministers to me. . . . I am the consumer, he is the retailer. . . . I have the needs, he meets them. . . . That’s what I pay for.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“Evangelicals are too easily duped by the latest way to reach people, whether it be the Internet, nifty brochures, or musical extravaganzas. The entire approach puts more responsibility on the leadership to be creative and raise funds than it does on the members of the church to effectively penetrate their worlds for Christ.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“When certain characteristics of growing churches become the “holy grail,” simply because they work, not because they are biblically sound, then pragmatism has become an idol.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“The church best glorifies God by making disciples, simply because fruit-bearing believers glorify God.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“When people unqualified for leadership start making the decisions of spiritual leaders, they will make many bad decisions that will not take the church in the direction God would have it go.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“The Great Cloud of Witnesses
The writer of Hebrews wrote about the active pursuit of a faith that embraces discipleship:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
The writer earlier created a list of heroes of the faith from the Old Testament era (see Hebrews 11:4-38): By faith Abel offered a proper sacrifice. By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Abraham packed up his family and moved. By faith Joseph ran from evil. By faith Moses chose a life of self-denial, confronted Pharaoh, and led the people through the Red Sea. By faith Joshua led the people around Jericho's walls. By faith Gideon showed courage in his obedience even though he was afraid. Samson, David, and Samuel-the world wasn't worthy of them.
These are our great cloud of witnesses; they taught us faith. Notice that with their actions, they showed us what it means to believe. What kind of disciples is the gospel meant to create naturally? The answer is people like these, whose faith embraced following their Lord. Without this kind of faith demonstrated by obedience, can a person really please God (see Hebrews 11:6)?
The lesson here is clear: Faith that doesn't result in action isn't faith, but something less. The apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have
faith but has no deeds? ... In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (James 2:14,17).
Jesus, "the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), taught James about faith. He demonstrated it by obeying in spite of the shame and suffering he faced and endured on the cross.
In fact, Jesus' own words about faith couldn't be clearer:
"Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." (Luke 6:46-49)”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“When you start following Jesus, you begin to prove you believe what he says.”
― Bill Hull, The Discipleship Gospel: What Jesus Preached—We Must Follow

“The lack of good lay leadership—people from the marketplace who are fruit-bearing believers, leaders who are disciples and disciple makers, men and women who model and reproduce themselves in the eager growers within their spheres of influence—debilitates the local church.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“When Jesus delivered the Great Commission, he revealed God’s plan for his church as well as for individual disciples. He charged the church to go to the world, because the world has no reason to go to church. Whether God blesses you with large numbers or small, if you’re making disciples, you’re leading as Christ led and instructed. So set worthy goals, lead by example, and leave the results up to God.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“The chief barrier to effective discipleship is not that people do not have the ability to become spiritually mature, but they lack the passion, perspective, priorities, and perseverance to develop their spiritual lives. Most Christians know that spiritual growth is important, personally beneficial, and expected, but few attend churches that push them to grow or provide the resources necessary to facilitate that growth. Few believers have relationships that hold them accountable for spiritual development. In the end it boils down to personal priorities. For most of us, regardless of our intellectual assent to the importance of Christian growth, our passions lay elsewhere—and our schedule and energy follow those passions. Most believers, it turns out, are satisfied to engage in a process without regard for the product.12”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“So why don’t we automatically place discipleship at the center of every ministry? Perhaps certain words put people off: influence, vision, submission, accountability, vulnerability, confession, study, sacrifice, and discipline.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DISCIPLES
• A disciple abides in Christ through the Word and prayer (John 15:7).
• A disciple bears much fruit (verse 8).
• A disciple responds to God's love with obedience (verses 9-10).
• A disciple possesses joy (verse I I ).
• A disciple loves as Christ loved (verses 12-13).19
PERSONAL COMPETENCIES OF DISCIPLES
• A disciple submits to a teacher who teaches him or her how to follow Jesus.
• A disciple learns Jesus' words.
• A disciple learns Jesus' way of ministry.
• A disciple imitates Jesus' life and character.
• A disciple finds and teaches other disciples for Jesus .20”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“This is the real work of the pastor, and no secular methodologies will help him do it. That calls for the supernatural work of God’s Spirit, to interest people in being disciples, learning how to reproduce and reach the world for Christ.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“The uneducated Christian waits until he feels the prompting of the Spirit before he takes action. The Word-filled believer takes action based upon the facts of God’s commands, regardless of how he feels about it.”
― Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith

“The truth is that we can’t teach in ways that change people unless we hold them accountable. We can pass along information, but we can’t get at their real issues unless we develop relationships of trust, integrity, and challenging requirements with some teeth in them. If a person can’t fail, if there is no risk involved, then it’s not discipleship.”
― Bill Hull, Conversion and Discipleship: You Can't Have One without the Other

“The inclusion of the meaning "adherent" at the time of Christ and the early church made mathetes a convenient term to designate the followers of Jesus, because it didn't emphasize learning or being a pupil but adherence to a great master. So a "disciple" of Jesus, designated by the Greek term mathetes, was a person who adhered to his master, and the master himself determined how the disciple followed' Of course, that leads us to Jesus' call to all who were interested: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).
Five hundred years before Jesus was born, a disciple was one who committed his all to follow a master teacher. The meaning remained the same until the time of Jesus, providing our first major clue about what Jesus meant when he told his disciples to "make disciples.”
― Bill Hull, The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

“As humans, we tend to take the blessings of the gospel—which should lead us to receiving Christ’s love and sharing it with others—and instead hoard them selfishly (even violently!) for ourselves. Doing this distorts the gospel from being others-focused to being self-focused.”
― Bill Hull, The Discipleship Gospel: What Jesus Preached—We Must Follow