Then you should make it the Bible
…But…
…if you are going to read two, then I totally, completely, 100% encourage you to read “The Disciple” by Lucy Peppiatt.
Lucy is the Principal of Westminster Theological Centre. She is an incredible woman, and when I grow up, I want to be like her. In my years of being a follower of Jesus, there have been a handful of people who I have met who scare me a bit, but also leave me feeling as though I want to be like them. Lucy is one of them.
Right at the start of our journey of rethinking what it meant to be a Christian and what that looked like worked out in church, was a book by Dallas Willard, called “The Divine Conspiracy”. So many authors, pastors and theologians cite this book as the key moment that changed their direction. Dallas talks about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and places a lot of emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount. It is a fantastic book, but, as an academic once said to me, “it is the hardest book that I have ever read that was worth reading.” It is flipping hard work. Frankly, between you and me, he should have had someone else write it for him.
“The Disciple”, in my humble opinion, is what “The Divine Conspiracy” should have been in the first place. Don’t get me wrong. It is not a rewrite and it does contain a great of unique insights and teaching and it is very easy to read and yet challenging.
This book is not going to shake your world in the way that many books I have recommended recently have. It is not going to shake your worldview or your assumptions. It is not going make your brain hurt with deep theology. It is gentle challenge to walk the way of Jesus. It is practical and attainable. It is thought-provoking and radical in its simplicity. It is about how to be a disciple of Jesus (there may have been a clue in the title) and how to work that out together in community.
Basically, this book makes me want to follow Jesus more closely.
So, I say in all humility, read this book!
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