The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation

by Alan Andrews (Editor), Dallas Willard, Keith Meyer

For six years, spiritual formation leaders such as Dallas Willard, Bruce Demarest, and Bill Hull came together with other colleagues to create a collection of wisdom and honest personal revelation in the areas of discipleship and spiritual formation. The result is The Kingdom Life, a book that offers a fresh approach to the spiritual disciplines through a three-pronged focus on transformation, community, and outreach. Connect in a unique way with God and His kingdom by understanding how He sees grace and doctrine, brokenness and obedience, outreach and justice.Includes seven highly practical “process” chapters as well as three theological chapters on the Trinity, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit.

Genres: Christian, Discipleship, Christian Living, Theology, Christianity, Religion

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2010

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a book that, in my opinion, had one over-arching point. The idea of spiritual formation. It talks about spirital formation in different contexts. Not only personally, but in communities of faith, such as churches. The authors of this book really go to argue that churches today are not doing enough to get people to live as Christians. It's the idea that churches have people baptized and to believe to save their souls, but it's more of a quick fix until they meet God. This book argues that the church needs to do more, to basically practice what's being preached to them, and getting them to apply the teachings of the Gospel to their life.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the idea they bring out of resurrection life. As a training pastor, I will say that this reminds me of the book of Romans, Ch 6, where the Apostle Paul outlines the idea of being dead to sin through faith in Jesus Christ, but alive in Christ through our faith. Hence the idea that through our faith, we not only share in His crucifixion, but also share in his resurrection. In the Bible, Paul argues that you should sin no more. The author doesn't talk about this necessary, but it creates a eschatological tension of the already, but not yet. Ressurrection life refers to living every day for God, living to the best of Human ability without sin, and to life for the next world and the rapture as if it had already happened/we are already in Heaven.

I want to reiterate that I really, really enjoyed this book. It makes a really good point about the church, and improvements that it can make. 5 stars.

[Jeff Noble · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is an important one. Each chapter is a needed read for leaders and churches wanting to truly embrace discipleship and the intentional spiritual formation of Christians.

It’s a collective work, the result of an”think tank.” Unfortunately, while a few chapters read very well, the bulk of the book is dry and requires lots of coffee and focus to read through. One shouldn’t make a book of such import so ploddingly boring with dry, academic writing. To that extent, it disappointed.

My other issue is that the book really didn’t offer conclusions on each segment of spiritual formation. It was “this is really important..” but it doesn’t offer a many practical thoughts on implementing. Nor does it describe churches or ministries that have organized around the principles.

The last three chapters, I had to use toothpicks to hold open my eyelids.

#snoozealert

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The central shortcoming of the work is its failure to communicate clearly. There are many good ideas throughout the work, but the division of process and theological elements is difficult to follow and in trying to be both practical and theological in nature, it misses both marks. What is presented is a loose association of good ideas with no clear objective to the work. It is also peppered with theologically liberal ideas, affirming women as pastors and communicating that white males have little to contribute to spirituality. It saddens me that Dallas Willard's name is affixed to the work.

[Kayla Hollatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by multiple authors, the book compiles reflections, stories, and many scriptural references to make up each chapter. While the thesis was focused on spiritual formation, the book got repetitive in certain sections, likely because of its multi-contributor format. As such, I enjoyed some chapters more than others. I may not have been the intended audience for this as I'm not a pastor, but I still found some great passages to refer back to. I'm glad I took my time with it.

[David Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would probably not be your first choice for an easy read on a cold winter's eve, but it is definitely worth reading, especially for church leaders. It is a call to stay focused on the mission--making disciples.

It is sound theologically and practical in practice.

Bottom line, a good book to keep close by as a continuing go-to for direction and inspiration.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of new concepts for me, but a good overview all in one place. A few of the chapters could be standalone resources to introduce people to certain topics (e.g. Theology of suffering, or political theology)

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some important truths within it related to spiritual formation. However, it was so dry, overly wordy, and disorganized that it made it extremely difficult to read all of the way through.

[Kyle holtzhower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend

This collection of essays are mostly great with a few of the chapters getting a bit muddy, as far as wordy and not clearly coherent.

The chapters by Willard, Thrall, Demerest and a few others are worth the read.

[Serena Ortengren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Loved this book so much. Should not just be read by Pastors and theology students. Spiritual formation is widely misunderstood and not pursued the way it should be by all believers this helps explain so much and gives a lot to think and pray about.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informative, and convicting. It made me cry several times. There are some parts that I disagree with, but on the whole it was good.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent chapters, some good not great chapters. Overall good read and helpful to think about.

[Игорь Федорович]

One of the best book for spiritual formation.

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Cuál es el propósito de la vida cristiana? ¿Cómo podemos vivir mejor? En este libro encontramos cómo.

[Paul, · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, uneven read. There were nuggets of gold in this book, but they were buried in a lot of dross.

[Morgan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super insightful read hearing from a variety of authors on spiritual formation! For new or seasoned followers of Jesus, highly recommend.

[Chockletter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I enjoyed reading from all the different contributors.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapters, each written by a different authors, were hit or miss, but I appreciate the kingdom framework for spiritual formation.

[Stephen Boutry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my top 3 books of the year

[Werner Fourie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with really good insights into spiritual formation. I highly recommend it!

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

2022: Spiritual formation, huh?

2018: As stated in previous reviews, my fiancé is studying to be a pastor, so as the future spouse of a pastor, I figured I should be reading some, if not all, of his required books. Unfortunately, this one is a heck of a miss. For example, on page 8 in the forward by Dr. Rich Warren of Saddleback Church, he talks about Christ-like maturity. He says going to a church should make you grow from "come and see" to "come and die as Jesus did." I do NOT want to ever go to this man's church. I understand that he was talking about churches and pastors not doing enough, but there should've been a rephrasing of that sentence before this book ever came to print.

The introduction was the driest thing I have ever read in my entire life. It took (according to my updates) from the end of February until the 24th of April to finish reading it because I felt no joy at the thought of continuing with this book. Hence, finally finishing it two months later.

There were questions throughout this book that were clearly aimed for a minister or faith formator. One that stuck out to me as rather odd was at the end of the intro. “What barriers have you experienced in your desire to see spiritual formation communities coming into existence?” This question is included so early on in the book that I found myself wondering the following: How could I possibly have a desire to see spiritual formation communities springing up left and right when I hadn’t even started chapter one yet? When I don’t even know what the book all says? What barriers could I possibly face when I don’t even have that desire to make this happen?? This question was incredibly premature and should have been placed after the epilogue as a “if you do feel it” type question.

Christianity seems to be searching for ways to make itself “new” nowadays. I'm not wanting to bash another religion, but I walk away from this book feeling insulted, actually. I've read some Christian books with an open mind before. The epilogue listed numerous groups of people, but conveniently left out the lgbt, so I conclude that the Kingdom Life and this form of Spiritual Formation is only for those whom are capable of being attracted to the opposite sex and not being attracted to the same sex. I give this one star and suggest that every copy be used to start a campfire on your next camping trip. Any religious movement that excludes or makes lgbt people feel unwelcome is not of God.

2022:
In a way, I don't know why I bothered picking this up again. I saw that I still had this in my 'never finished' shelf (since deleted) and since I finished a ghost quartet this year that I started in 2012, making the book say it took 10 years to read it, I thought, "why not?!" It'll say it took a little over 3-1/2 years to finish this one. Sometimes..., I wonder why I decide to torture myself, LoL. Both of these books are not being placed in my 'favorites' shelf. Even though in 2018, I'd read till pg 232 before skim-reading the rest, I just started chapter 8 over.

It is one thing to support proper discipleship and worship of God, but to speak positively about a Christian movement that condemns/hates/excludes the lgbt community would be morally, spiritually, religiously, and scripturally reprehensible.

My notes:
May 14th, 2018:
Pg 231, 69.58%: "Unfortunately, this book is not going to get a good review from me."

EDIT (7/30/2020): I have added this book to my created-folder "never finished" because I skim-read the last bit of this book and I only count books I've actually completely read on my read folder.

EDIT (3/5/2022): Date started was February 25th, 2018 and the original date "finished" was May 14th, 2018.

March 8, 2022 – page 233
70.18% "This, once again, is quickly becoming dull."

March 12, 2022 – Finished Reading

EDIT (8/4/2022) I have purposely shortened this review becaubreasons. Idk if it makes more or less sense, but I felt it was for the best.

[Timothy L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out in this book really enjoying it. Yes, it is a compilation and not all the authors have as wide an experience, or as good of writing skills... Up until half way through the book I was impressed. This book deals with the Kingdom of God (KOG).

Dallas Willard to be sure has an interesting perspective: that the KOG is a now-reality as well as an eventuality. Willard perhaps has more content written touching the KOG than almost any modern writer. His view is deeply rooted in spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation, where truth becomes a living dynamic in a person.

As I wont to do with any book I marked this one heavily, early on. But as I got to the second have, my admiration grew cold. What Willard, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and Bill Hull started out with Spiritual Formation and a now-reality kingdom over and against a purely conversionist gospel were all that is left to do after we passively believe is die and be with Jesus; changed to the liberal, multiculturist, racist worried, humanist ideals. Whats worse is that then we have to delve into why all this stuff supports trinitarian theology and other religious philosophies...

By the time I got to page 164, I begun to peruse rather than read.

I don't think Willard is a waterboy for liberal thinking and ideals. I don't know the exact story of why he was involved with the book or the project behind it.

There is precious little teaching about the kingdom of God that doesn't play into the false dichotomy that exists around its common understanding. Either one is asked to believe that KOG is in the hereafter or it is about making the unregenerate world a better place. Willard's teaching I have always felt did not play into this dichotomy. But yet in this book, he will be seen as accepting the liberal view

I had high hopes for this book but by the end was more than ready to set it down. I would not recommend it. I am questioning whether to even quote it in some of my work for fear people would get the wrong idea about what I am trying to say.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book three times. While one story in it was thought-provoking and challenging about how I recieved love, I cannot recomend this book nor its focus. It is evangelical through and through. The quintessential philosophical, scientific approach to theology and cognitive dissonance toward the Bible perpetuates toxic and distract ideations that continue to remove the original, historical contexts of scripture.
The book is highly disorganized, oddly academic, and abhorrently dry. Aside from the above story, much of the book floated above any grounding it might have had. Instead, the jargon and rhetoric confounded itself into a mess of mystical conjecture, highfalutin pondering and outright errancy. The "theology" is dangerous and has hardly any grounding in scripture or covenantal relationship. Philosophy is mixed with doctrine and flavored with American culture and Voi la: Christianese.
Like everything else Spiritual Formation, the book is overly focused on the activities than the goal of "discipleship." Which seems to circumvent Philippians 3, not to mention most of what Jesus outlines, in the discipleship aspects of scripture (a Jewish book)

[Derek Winterburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historically this is a fascinating book. It represents a sympathetic dialogue with Dallas Willard, and a worked out attempt to put into practice in a number of contexts his thought. John Ortberg and Garry Black are the anointed second generation of Willardians; this book represents a wider reception of his teaching.

As I understand the process; Willard rescued this group from confusion and division by offering first a framework for their theological reflections on Spiritual Formation, then personal counsel and finally the opening chapter to this collaborative book.

The earlier part of the book is better, and the best parts when the authors are connecting the theory with practice. (The chapter on the Trinity is particularly dry, and the section on the Spirit ends up with a very prosaic conclusion).

There is little in this book that you cannot read pick up in Willard directly (although he is not an easy read) or via John Ortberg. But as evidence of how his thought is being taken a wider range of churches, this is an important record.

[Garland Vance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book on "spiritual formation" that I have read in some time. I loved that it was based on the kingdom of God. I think that it balanced both theological and practical dimensions of spiritual formation.

However, I found the arrangement of the book strange: it dealt with practical issues in the first few chapters and then laid a theological framework. This seemed backwards to me. Each chapter was written by a different author, and I found that most of the chapters could have been several pages shorter.

If you are interested in growing spiritually and want a good place to begin, I would recommend this book.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent collaboration of Christian minds around the ideas of discipleship and spiritual formation. The group of authors met twice a year for 5 years with the goal of coming away with clear ideas on these topics. They came to a set of guiding principles and a different contributor provided a chapter on each guiding principles.

Some chapters impacted me more than others, but they were all insightful. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the topic!

[Brian Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love about this book is that it will challenge your thoughts of the difference between discipleship and what it means to be spiritually formed. Reading this book will cause the reader to look at the overall aspects of life as a believer and how to engage God and humanity in living out a Kingdom Life.

I believe that this book is for anyone who desires to seek further than surface Christianity living.

[David Hardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book lots of good stuff, but felt like a lot of the essays could be summed up by saying read dallas willard

[Mark Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing.

[Eric Molicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very helpful theological constructions related to discipleship. At other times though, was a bit of a snoozer.

[Craig Prather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was somewhat inspiring but most of the guidelines in these essay's are repeated in several other theological texts. I enjoyed the second and last chapters the most.