Book Review – Five Traits of a Christ-Follower

Publisher Description

What distinguishes a follower of Jesus? The contributors to Five Traits of a Christ Follower—each with a long history of knowing Jesus and making him known—see five “core competencies” as critical to authentic discipleship; growing in relationship with God, knowing and living from the Scriptures, engaging those who don’t know Christ, living in community with other believers, and equipping others to follow Christ. Spend a month with a master class of disciple-makers, and find yourself growing in your capacity, and your enthusiasm, for following Christ. Foreword by Jerry Bridges. Contributors from The Navigators and friends include Jen Hatmaker, Len Sweet, Jane Kirkpatrick, and others.

Book Review

A lot has been said in recent months about the fruit of those who claim to follow Christ. What is it that distinguishes those who claim to follow Christ from those who do not? This is the question that Five Traits of a Christ-Follower explores. This little book (just 72 pages and fits in your pocket) is edited by Doug Nuenke , includes a Forward written by Jerry Bridges, and includes contributions by men and women who have thought a lot about this question.

Nuenke suggests that authentic followers of Jesus will display, to certain (but increasing) degrees the fruit of walking with Jesus, knowing and living scripture, participating in community, engaging with those who don' know Christ, and reproducing spiritual generations. The book is organized with an introduction, five parts which dig deeper into the five traits, and a conclusions.

I found that this book had a gospel centered perspective. Rather than simply telling the reader to try harder, or merely repeating the commands, the authors responsibly presented the commands in scripture to conform to the traits of a Christ-Follower, and then firmly rooted them in the gospel indicatives of scripture. For instance, in the chapter on becoming like Jesus in out attitude, Mark Kimmel grounds our motivation not in the command, but in the fact that Christ himself was a servant and we become like him via our close connection (theologically: union with Christ).

There is enough in this small booklet to challenge and encourage everyone. I was encouraged in Trait 3 on Participating in Community. Likewise, I was challenged in Trait 4, Engaging with Those who Do Not Know Christ. It would be easy to overlook this book due to its size and think that it doesn't have enough to offer; but the truth is that the structure of the book, with its short "devotional" style essays and challenging application questions lends itself to being a useful resource. I love that it is small enough to fit in my pocket so I can haul it around with me and read throughout the day. This is a book worth buying and reading several times through.