GodMoon.com - Discipline Disciplines of a Godly Man

Disciplines of a Godly Man review:1 stars (Much too superficial for me. ) - [...]

R. Kent Hughes provides us with another entry into the already very crowded market for Christian books that are a mile wide and an inch deep. He covers a tremendous variety of topics in an incredibly superficial fashion. The book reads more like a PowerPoint presentation with occasional witty anecdotes from the presenter.

My disappointment with this book set in with the reading of the second chapter entitled "Purity." Now there's a topic that an entire book can be written on, but the author gives us a mere eleven pages, using the famous example of King David and his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba to present us with a five-point sermon on what David did wrong. He begins the chapter with the usual rant about how the church is no different from the world in regards to sexual sin (true enough). He then tells us about what David did wrong, and to conclude we get seven subdisciplines to practice in order to keep pure: "accountability", "prayer", "memorization" (of scripture), "mind" (don't look at pornography), "hedges" (keep away from women), "reality" (you are a sexual being), "divine awareness" (practicing the presence of God). Each of these subdisciplines gets a short explanation, never exceeding 300 words in length, and "reality", the shortest of the seven, is explained in mere 52 words. Brevity can be a wonderful thing, but there are times when it can come off sounding rather superficial.

The problem is that all these subdisciplines will not work if a person has emotional and personal issues that need to be overcome first. Any man can partake of these seven practices and still fall into temptation with the greatest of ease, as long as there exists issues in the heart that have never been fully dealt with. Instead of dealing with the deeper issues regarding sexual sin, we get pat answers to apply to a wounded psyche, which is like applying band-aids to someone who is suffering from internal bleeding. It's not always pride that causes a man to fall.

Another problem is the loose fashion in which Hughes uses the term "discipline." For me discipline is a nearly synomous term with training, and in the Christian walk, there are just a few key disicplines that bring the greatest benefit. But Hughes brings up many, many "disciplines" that just aren't true disciplines. "Mind" and "reality" from the purity chapter are just two examples, and even purity itself. Purity in the Christian sense is the abscense of sin, but not doing something isn't exactly what I would call a discpline.

Another mistake is the egalitarian nature in which Hughes presents all his various discplines. No prioritization or hierarchy is given, he presents them in such a way that they all seem equally important. But those who are succesfully living the Christian life only practice a few key displines, some of which are more practical than spiritual, like time management and goal setting. In my own study of spiritual discplines, I've found there are three areas that are the most crucial: personal devotions, self-examination and spiritual direction. While Hughes has some things to say concerning devotions, there isn't much, if anything concerning the other two.

Hughes also discusses the discipline of "church." A very interesting topic, and one where he tells us that the church is "the grandest institution that the world has ever known." But this statement demonstrates that Hughes has bought into the lie that the church is an "institution." So are prisons and mental hospitals. The church was not founded to be a grand institution, but to be a life transforming force on this earth. The fact that we have institutionalized the church to the point of irrelevance is why Christianity is becoming a passing fad in so much of the Western world.

As it is with the church so should it be with Christian books: they to need to help be agents of change and transformation, not just a list of do's and don'ts. Sadly Hughes' book is more along the lines of a moral dictionary. Such a book might be helpful for a brand new believer who wants a type of encyclopedia of all the different aspects of Christian culture, but there isn't much meat there for more advanced believers to chew on. But even a new believer might be quickly overwhelmed with all the various disciplines that Hughes brings forth.

If you are looking for a book that will act as agent of transformation, I highly recommend any of the books John Eldredge has written, especially "Wild at Heart." and "Waking the Dead." One of the best books about true inner transformation is John and Paula Sanford's "The Transformation of Inner Man." And for a book about discipline as a means of transformation, I highly recommend Foster's classic "Celebration of Discipline." And of course the best book of all in regards to transformation is any good translation of the Holy Bible.

Personally, I really like Pastor Hughes and think very highly of him. I even agree with most of the points he makes in his book, but this is not one of his better efforts, to put it mildly. So upon returning this book, I purchased a different one that Hughes can rightly be proud of: The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Hughes served as a member of the ESV Translation Oversight Committee.

"Superficiality is the curse of our age" - Richard Foster5 stars (Praise the Lord for pastors like Kent Hughes) - Haleluijah! What an outstanding book. I plead all my Christian brothers to get this one. You won't regret it. This book is priceless.
5 stars (Forget Wild at Heart! Buy this book instead.) - Forget Wild at Heart! Buy this book instead. It calls for radical discipline as the means of pursuing godliness in every area of life. With a good blend of biblical teaching, true-life stories, and practical advice, Hughes leads men to embrace the spiritual sweat necessary in following Christ. I like this book so much that I'm currently leading the men in our church through this study. It's one of (if not the) best books for men on the Christian market today.