A Conversation on Gospel-centered Discipleship

Jonathan Dodson, pastor of Austin City Life, is one of many bright young pastors today seeking to apply a gospel-centric worldview to all aspects of church, community, culture, and mission. His new book, Gospel-centered Discipleship (with a foreword by Matt Chandler), has now been published by Crossway in the ReLit line. As Jeff Vanderstelt says, "He goes beyond just answering the question: 'What is gospel-centered?' to help us see how the gospel of grace really works in the details of everyday life. His clarification of the unhealthy divide between evangelism and discipleship will bring about a more holistic approach to gospel-centered discipleship."

You can read chapter 5, "Gospel Power: The Essential Role of the Holy Spirit," online for free (also embedded at the end of this post). This is a great book for group study, and toward that end Jonathan has provided some free discussion questions as well.

A few weeks ago we sat down for a conversation about the book, which you can watch below:

Crossway has provided some timestamps:

0:10 – In an ideal world, if Gospel-Centered Discipleship accomplished exactly what you wanted it to accomplish, how would churches, disciple-makers and disciples look different?

2:31 – What does it mean to be a disciple?

5:08 – So many people are using the term "gospel-centered" that it can seem like a buzz word or a fad. Why did you choose to use this phrase in the title of your book?

7:44 – You talk about not only sharing your faith but also your failures. Looking back at the last ten years of discipling others, how has your disciple-making changed? What are the differences? Where did you drop the ball?

11:35 – How are "Fight Clubs" different from the typical accountability partner or accountability group?

14:50 – JT: "I had a hard time putting the book down, and I hope other people not only pick it up but read it and then apply it."

For more resources related to the book and to the whole idea, check out gospelcentereddiscipleship.com.