Disciple Making in a Culture of Power, Comfort, and Fear

by Matthew Dickerson

Speaking in and to a culture that worships power and comfort while cultivating fear as a manipulative tool, Matthew Dickerson offers a transformative alternative: authentic discipleship and disciple making. What does it mean to live as disciples of Christ, what would it look like to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and how can we be open to that transformation? How can a follower of Christ live as salt and light in the midst of a power-hungry fear-mongering society? And how can we both teach and model that disciple life as we obey Christ’s command to make disciples? In the tradition of spiritual theology and formation, Disciple Making in a Culture of Power, Comfort, and Fear draws deeply from Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy—viewed as a reflection on Jesus’ great disciple-making commission—as well as on Dickerson’s own experiences in disciple-making ministry on college campuses and his local church. Dickerson’s writing is deeply informed by Scriptures, by the works of such important Christian thinkers, theologians, and writers as Eugene Peterson, John Stott, and Richard Foster, and also by the literature of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien whose works he has been teaching and writing about for more than thirty years.

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2020

About the author

Matthew Dickerson (PhD, Cornell University) is a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, a writer, the former director of the New England Young Writers’ Conference at Bread Loaf and the current co-director of the Northern Pen Young Writers' Conference. His previous works include fantasy novels The Gifted and The Betrayed; works about fantasy including From Homer to Harry Potter along with Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C. S. Lewis, A Hobbit Journey, and Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R .R. Tolkien; some medieval historic romance including The Rood and the Torc; and even philosophy of mind and computation The Mind and the Machine: What it Means to be Human and Why it Matters.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it mean to live as disciples of Christ? Why is discipleship important today? In Disciple Making in a Culture of Power, Comfort, and Fear, Matthew T. Dickerson explains and shows what it means to teach and model Biblical discipleship.

Expository, Theological, and Deeply Personal
By examining Paul’s second epistle to Timothy, Dickerson provides the main points for his book: (1) Christian disciple making is rooted in the word of God, (2) Christian disciple making is relational, and (3) Christian disciple making takes place in the context of Christian fellowship and the Christian church. It is clear that Dickerson places a high priority on God’s Word. His book is expository and theological, but also deeply personal. He says that the very purpose of disciple making can be said to be the word of God. In fact, the gospel is both the means and the end of disciple making.

Dickerson is a gifted writer, and he helps the truths of God’s Word come forth through his words. For instance, he writes: “The Bible is the clarifying lens through which we should see the world; the story of the incarnation -- the life of Jesus, the Word made flesh -- is the lens through which we should see and understand the whole of Scripture; and the resurrection is the lens through which we should see and understand the gospel.”

A Hard and Holy Work
I was most moved by Ch. 4: Disciple Making and Christian Community. In our world of individualism, autonomy, and self-sufficiency, Dickerson pushes back against it all. The making of disciples is not merely a matter of passing on teaching, doctrine, or theology, but a passing on a life, of modeling Christ-likeness. He shows us that the church is a body, a building, a family, and a nation. I am challenged to see disciple making as a community endeavor.

I was most interested in the three metaphors used for disciple making in 2 Timothy 2:3-7. Dickerson helped me see new connections between the soldier, athlete, and farmer. He emphasizes that a worldview deeply rooted in the Gospel and the Word of God is important in the battle against sin and temptation. The fear of man connects with the pride of life, and alongside it comes the pursuit of worldly power. Dickerson champions spiritual disciplines, and I am reminded that disciple making is a hard and holy work.

The Call of Every Christian
The book concludes with a call to intentionality in our disciple making. We are reminded that disciple making is God’s work, but we have the privilege of participating in it with the people God brings to our path. I am thankful for Dicker’s clear, creative, and thoroughly Biblical book. The call to go and make disciples is not just for overseas missionaries. It is not only for the exceptionally gifted. It is the call of every Christian, and it is a beautiful way to see how the Gospel changes our lives.

I received a media copy of Disciple Making in a Culture of Power, Comfort, and Fear and this is my honest review.