The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together

by Jared C. Wilson

Too many discipleship books are written for clean, perfect people who know all the right Sunday school answers. The Imperfect Disciple is for the rest of us--people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are wondering if it's safe to say what they're really thinking.

For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual lifehacks being passed off as true, down-and-dirty discipleship, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life. With incisive wit, warm humor, and moving stories, Jared Wilson shows readers how the gospel works in them and in their lives when

- they can't get their act together
- they think God is giving them the silent treatment
- they think church would be better without all the people
- they're not happy with the person in the mirror
- and much more

Wilson frees readers from the self-doubt and even the misplaced self-confidence they may feel as they walk with Jesus down the often difficult road of life. The result is a faith that weathers storms, lifts burdens, and goes forth to make more imperfect disciples.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Discipleship, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Jared C. Wilson is the Director of Content Strategy for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Managing Editor of For The Church (ftc.co), and Director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including "Gospel Wakefulness," "The Prodigal Church," and, most recently, "The Imperfect Disciple." Wilson blogs regularly at gospeldrivenchurch.com, hosted by The Gospel Coalition and is a frequent speaker at conferences and churches around the world.

Reviews

[Curt Mize · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, quite possibly, may be the best book I've ever read.

[Jordan Shirkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite book by Jared Wilson by a long shot. Lots of raw honesty and grace for people who just can’t seem to get it together, chock full of the gospel reminders we all need.

“There is more security with Christ in the middle of a stormy sea than without Christ in the warm stillness of our bathtub.”

[Heidi Chiavaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best discipleship book I've ever read. Jared Wilson grounds us in the gospel and encourages readers to allow IT to be the transformation in their lives. Highly recommend!

[Lindsey Goetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having recently spent a year in close proximity to a toxic environment obsessed with the eradication of weakness in the name of the gospel, this book was a much needed breath of fresh air for me. Jared Wilson has written a discipleship book for real people that celebrates the real Jesus who doesn't give pep talks to a bunch of winners, but comes to unite himself to the broken, the weak, and the hopeless. So much truth here that my aching heart desperately needed. An invitation to see weaknesses, not as sources of shame, but occasions to glorify God for his glorious strength, to celebrate the Gospel, and to lean harder into Jesus.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Jared Wilson. This one brings us the refreshment of "Gospel Deeps" and a steady reminder of our union with Christ as the anchor and formation of our discipleship. It is a drink of cool water for those in need of relief from the exhaustion of trying to prove themselves and become the "spiritual elite."

Wilson's account of the gospel, how he describes "his," will incite many revelers in the goodness of Jesus and his grace, all the way down and up, for us. Read this over and over again.

The only thing that I missed is the classic Wilson footnotes. But the same candor came across in the text anyway!

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So. Many. Underlines.

[Ezra Faust · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You are a great sinner, yes. But you have a great Savior.”

This book was a gospel slap (in a good way) and hug at the same time! Definitely recommend!

[NinaB · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Imperfect Disciple is a discipleship book that focuses on those who don't have it all together, which is pretty much everyone, in one way or another. I admire Wilson's attempt to address the struggles we all face and reminding us of the wonderful truths that we need to return to when we feel like we've failed as Christians. I particularly liked the part where he reminds the reader the war has already been won by Christ, so why keep living as if we are still at it. Simply cling to Him, keep pursuing what He says in the Scriptures, and all will be well (though not necessarily in the physical/material sense that is popular among the likes of Olsteen and other health and wealth proponents) His illustration of the Japanese soldiers, who continued to fight years after WWII ended, was especially poignant.

This would've been a really good book except for three things:

1) Wilson references T. Coates' book, Between the World and Me (which I read earlier this year; see my review if that helps). Though Coates's view of oppression is valid, the blame for which, however, is racist. He essentially blames all the black community troubles to white people. Wilson's praise of Coates' book gives the impression that he agrees with its assessment of the racism issues in America. I may be reading too much into this, but it just left a bad impression on me.

2) When addressing situations where people feel like God is silent, Wilson excellently reminds the reader that He is not silent, simply because He speaks to us today through the Bible. Wilson skillfully encourages us that the sure Word of God is enough to answer all questions pertaining to life and godliness.

But, unfortunately, Wilson doesn't stop there. He declares he is a non-cessassionist and believes God speaks to us still in other ways. This just negates all his previous exaltations of the sufficiency of Scripture. How are we to encourage those who struggle with not "hearing God" that they could hear Him with full confidence through His word, then add, "but some do hear from Him in other ways"?

3) Wilson writes in an overly dramatic way. This isn't necessarily wrong, just not my preference. Our current culture focuses too much on "feelings" and "being authentic" and it is clearly reflected on this book. He uses his own failures and weaknesses as illustrations, but also exalts himself, though indirectly and perhaps not intentionally, in at least one instance (when he was asked to contribute to a book that JI Packer edited).

Overall, the book is okay. It's perfectly fine and very helpful if you are a discerning believer, but I wouldn't recommend it to a new believer without discussing the concerns I mentioned above.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It had me crying in a few spots for the glorious news it was reminding me of. Hit me in all the spots. I have already and will continue to recommend this book. While not a ground-breaking concept, it helped me “stare at the glory of God until you see it” (Ray Ortlund, quoted in this book) and showed me again the beauty of the gospel.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I need to buy to underline and highlight. Highly recommended for those who need to be encouraged daily about Gods grace to the downcast believer !! I’m going to check out his other books. Listened to the audiobook

[Dwight · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's gospel all the way down.

[Jason Herrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. He especially keys in on the fact that it’s not all about what we do, but what God does. Here’s a few of my favorite quotes:

“The problem is the same every day but the mercies are new, and the disciples of Jesus will plunder them with abandon.”

“The Spirit who empowers our conversion will empower our discipleship.”

“We are not holy bc we work. We work bc we are holy. If we don’t get this order right, we don’t get Christianity right. And we will always struggle with the so-called spiritual disciplines — struggle against them even.”

“A community that is willing to get honest about its sins and its weaknesses and its brokenness finds the abundance of grace it has been longing for.”

[Jamie Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

chapter 7 is super good

But also there are so many one liners that hit home. I would recommend buying this book, finding the lines that stand out to what you are experiencing, and rereading them regularly when you feel these ways.

[Jeremy Hendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I’d love to get into the hands of every member of my church. Maybe the best book hitting on spiritual disciplines that I’ve read.

[Alayah Benavidez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely wonderful for any “baby Christian’s” out there or Christian’s who just don’t resonate with the run of the mill disciple books. It’s a very easy, very relatable while still impactful read that leaves you feeling closer to God as a “friend” than feeling like “maybe I’m not good enough for this whole Christianity thing”

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books I’ve read in a while! Felt so encouraged and convicted throughout the whole book!!

[Emma Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second Read: This book was not as striking the second time I read it, but it was still filled with so many gospel truths. It was refreshing to return to and be reminded that I don't have it all together and never will, but God gives much grace.

First Read: Such a fantastic book that emphasized the importance of realizing we don't have it together and how that opens us up to God working in our lives and community all the more.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how to begin to review this book. My copy is beat up and marked in. It's so good that I'm still processing and thinking it through. I began reading it with a friend, hurried to finish it, then started over and read it through again, finishing the book twice in 5 months. All I'm going to say is this: read it.

[Brandon Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: Revisted this book again and found it even better than the first time.

Loved it. Originally wasn't a fan of how Wilson wrote as if just having a casual yarn with me, but I came around as it made it a very readable book. One of the most encouraging books I've read as someone who wrestles so deeply with my sinfulness.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Imperfect Disciple is a great book that I found reaffirming but challenging, and at times seemed to be written just for me. There were several solid gold moments in this book I have to revisit soon. The writing style was a bit "rambly," which is not necessarily bad in the case of nonfiction Christian books, but title and tagline may be a little misleading the deeper you get into the book. All that aside, I absolutely loved this one.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed and cried. Easy read and very easy to relate to this guy.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you feel like you don't measure up? Do you feel like your life is a disappointment? Does it seem like you just can't get your act together? Do you wonder if your sin is too strong, your repentance too weak, your discipline too sporadic, for God to love you?

Jared writes in his 1 1/8 page hope-giving conclusion, "You are not the sum of your spiritual accomplishments and religious devotion. You are a great sinner, yes. But you have a great Savior."

Jared writes with great warmth - you'll feel like you're sitting down over a cup of coffee with a guy who gets you - and as you consider all your well-rehearsed self-condemnation, he blows you away with the Gospel of a God who receives sinners. No, not just receives - loves sinners. His candor about his own life and the acceptance of God will not fail to encourage you.

If you are tempted to despair - if discouragement has hold of your heart - grab this book and let the fresh, sweet-fragranced breeze of the Gospel blow in your soul and awaken hope in an all-sufficient Savior.

[Brandi Breezee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson does a great job exposing us all as pharisees including those who glory in their imperfections. You want to be Christlike, then behold Christ. “What people revere, they will resemble, either for their ruin or restoration” (G.K. Beale). He puts all the focus on the gospel while sharing intimate personal experiences in which most are not pretty, but they are raw and real. Imperfect disciple, “There is more security with Christ in the middle of a stormy sea than without Christ in the warm stillness of our bathtub.” Imperfect disciple, “What is discipleship, then, but following Jesus not on some religious quest to become bigger, better, or faster, but to become more trusting of his mercy toward our total inability to become those things?”

Giving this a 4 because I didn’t love the chapter on “lurv.”

[Bradley Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone who is looking for real talk on discipleship. It's not a "how-to" manual that loads you up with more endless spiritual chores. It's a chapter by chapter reminder of who you can look to and who you are free to follow. Wilson does such a wonderful job crafting this book in a way that you can almost feel grace leaping from the page. If I have one book on "discipleship" to encourage people to read (this year, at least), it's this one.

[Ted Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"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. What is discipleship, then, but following Jesus not on some religious quest to become bigger, better, or faster but to become more trusting of his mercy toward our total inability to become those things?"

A solid book by @jaredc. I enjoyed his imagery, humor, and honesty. A gifted writer.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Thankful for this resource to meet the average struggling believer right where he/she is. I'm already handing out some extra copies I bought.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I needed to read this week! The reminder that all is grace upon grace is a message I can't seem to hear enough.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t have it all together. I certainly don’t have it all together. What would Jesus want to do with us? Jared Wilson has good news: Jesus isn’t looking for the perfect follower. He’s looking for the messed up, the sinful, the failure. Jesus is looking for you and me: The Imperfect Disciple.
Wilson wants us to remember that the gospel isn’t something we accept and move on from. It’s something we need every day. “This is how I like to think about discipleship, then—not just following Jesus, but refollowing Jesus every day. We go off track so easily.”

Wilson takes us to the Beatitudes. He says, “Think of every category of person spoken to in the Beatitudes: The spiritually impoverished. The emotionally devastated. The psychologically weak. The culturally oppressed. The inwardly pure. The relationally calm. The physically abused. The personally accused… In his work and in his words, Jesus is making promises to the beaten, the torn, the broken, the depressed, the desperate, the poor, the orphan, the abandoned, the cheated, the betrayed, the accused, the left-behind. He is, believe it or not, promising to fix it all.” Jesus purposes to use the rag tag to form his upside-down kingdom.

Wilson says that one of the gifts God gives us is to introduce us into a bigger world. He invites us in, gives us a glimpse so that our jaws can drop and we can be impressed by how great our God and Savior is. The enemy doesn’t want us to be exposed to this big and glorious vision. He wants us stuck in our rooms with nothing to see but our navals. “What we behold,” Wilson claims, “we in some way become.” And so, “stare at the glory of God until you see it.”

There is nothing more glorious about the glory of God than the accomplished work of Christ. The world tells us that we are to be our best selves. We can find fulfillment in our selves. “Many of our prayers may look like this: My self on earth, Awesome is my name. My success come and my will be done. Give me lots of things I want (but think I need). Don’t even think about debt (unless it’s someone else’s). Don’t worry about giving in to temptation, because you deserve it. Deliver me from guilt anyway. For this life is mine, and the world revolves around me. Amen.”

What can shake us from our stupor? Scripture gives us a sense of discomfort with this world, “The more we dwell in Scripture, developing a greater taste and feel for it, the less sweet and less comforting the things of the world will taste and feel.”

Wilson points us also to the work of the community. “We need one another.” Wilson says, “‘Jesus’s atoning work reconciles us to God but it also reconciles us to each other. Or, rather, it should. The gospel creates the culture of reconciliation, which the New Testament calls the church.’”

Community sounds great until it requires something of us. And yet the very thing it requires is what moves us toward Christlikeness. Wilson promises that, “The doctrine of grace when administered with a spirit of grace gradually becomes a culture of grace.”

The encouragement that transformation can happen is rooted to the fact that we as Christians abide in Christ and are filled with the Spirit of God. This Spirit makes us look more like Jesus. The invitation here isn’t to strive, but to rest. Wilson says, that, “the more we rest in our salvation, in the security of our position in him for all eternity, the more gentle we will become. He is gentle with us. And his gentleness is conferred to us, transferred to us as we find him gentle in the face of our own stubbornness and failure to get our act together.” In other words, the more we try to will ourselves to perfection, the more we will fail. God rejoices in our weakness. God uses our weakness. “Our weakness is no hindrance to God. In fact, he seems to prefer it! If only because the less of us there is, the more of him shines through, and the more glory he gets.”

Wilson concludes, “You are a great sinner, yes. But you have a great Savior. Child of God, you are a child of God. And he will never, ever, ever leave you or forsake you.”

The Imperfect Disciples is a balanced, gospel-focused, Christ-glorifying book. Wilson is encouraging and takes us back to the simple means of grace for us sinners: the Word and Christ’s community, especially.

One very minor quibble I would have was Wilson’s pot shot at modern worship (an unimportant argument in the scheme of his book), where he compares modern worship to hymns as “the difference between the romantic ruminations scrawled in a preteen girl’s diary and the decades-long marriage etched upon the hearts of a tired-but-God-dependent husband and wife.” You can see my response to that line of thinking in this post: “In Defense of Modern Worship”: https://www.thebeehive.live/blog/in-d...).

Pick up Jared Wilson’s The Imperfect Disciple. As a fellow sinner in need of grace, you’re sure to be encouraged.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Imperfect Disciple has been sitting in my library for some time, and it is the first book I have ever owned (and now read) by Jared Wilson. When I finally got to reading it recently I found myself asking “why on earth did I wait so long to read this?”

The book is written conversationally, making it highly accessible, and yet there are so many brilliant turns of phrase it feels masterful! This relatively informal style doesn’t distract, it helps you settle in, it connects you to the message - and goodness knows it is a message we all need to hear.

There is at least a little irony in the subtitle ‘Grace for people who can’t get their act together’, because in some sense this applies to all of us on this side of heaven as we are still being sanctified by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Having said that, while it is sure to have broad application, it feels personal and pastoral and I am thankful for the way it reminded me of the need to really behold God, not just to behave like a believer, of the need to remember that all of our discipline and discipleship is not ultimately about us; it is about following, relating to and loving Jesus who loves us perfectly despite our inability to follow him perfectly. It reminds us that true Christian community is both a blessing and a beacon to a customer-driven, individualised world. It reminds us that God’s grace really is all sufficient, and it reminds us that Jesus is the point of heaven, he’s the goal, he’s the prize. Though we are imperfect followers, a fact of which I didn’t really need a great deal of reminding, I am thankful for the way in which Jared has so humbly pointed me to the fact that my Saviour, the One I follow, is perfect - and though it seems cliche, the way He sees me is as a dearly loved child of God, not as a damaged (imperfect) disciple.

Read this book, I trust you will benefit from it greatly!

[Dora Uthayakumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. A good friend recommended this book to me because it was funny and awkward (which is basically me summed up in two words). This book is not for those who are happy living the I’m-a-Christian-and-look-how-great-I’m-doing sort of life. It’s for those who love Jesus but are ready to admit they’re weak, those who are willing to confess that the walk with Jesus isn’t always filled with unicorns and rainbows (is it ever??). I will treasure this book for a long time, I’m thinking of making it one of those books you read every year or something like that – just because I am weak and need to be reminded of God’s love and grace, which Wilson does wonderfully. He addresses important issues such as bearing the fruit of the Spirit, being part of church but again and again reminds us that this is messy and probably uninstagrammable and thankfully that God gives us the help and strength to do this. My favourite chapter was the one called Will The Real Me Please Stand Up, firstly because it reminded me of Eminem, but mainly because I could resonate with a lot of what Jared was discussing. I am ever so grateful for his honesty, for the grace he shows towards himself and people like me, and by that allowing me to see that being a disciple is really not about having this shiny-clean-polished life but rather realising as we mature in our journey that we are pretty messy people, the worst kind yet thankfully Jesus is the type of friend, brother and husband, who picks you up, encourages you and loves you unconditionally. Even though you do not bring anything to the relationship, he’s the kind of husband who is ready to lay down his life for you- because that is just who He is. Thank you for writing this, thank you for your ministry and being an encouragement to people like me who feel like they’re losing.