Book Review: Going Deep by Gordon MacDonald

Jesus commands us to make disciples, followers of him. Often we lead others to Christ, then abandon them to figure out how to follow him on their own. There are many influences and distractions in this world where the knowledge of tomorrow is the antiquity of today. They compete for our loyalty and desire to know God. How, then, are we to go and make disciples, those who strive to attain depth in their relationship with God?

Author, Gordon MacDonald, wrote of the changes taking place in how we do church in his book, Who Stole My Church? We can change the music, utilize a more visual approach, change from being formal to casual in appearance, even change the name of the church to be more inviting and receptive. We can bring unchurched people in and lead them to Christ. How do we then move them from finding Christ to becoming strong, stable, mature disciples of him?

Gordon MacDonald deals with this question in his book, Going Deep, Becoming a Person of Influence. He picks up the story of the fictional congregation in New England from "Who Stole My Church?" He dives into the lives of several new characters as the book introduces, develops, and implements the concept of cultivating deep people.

Gordon MacDonald writes in an engaging, entertaining, very readable, yet highly thought-provoking style and this book is no exception. He takes you through the twists and turns, the successes and the seeming failures of growing deep, mature followers of Jesus Christ. He opens the story with an off-the-wall question, "What is your elevator story?" There is twenty million dollars riding on your answer. You have an elevator ride of thirty floors to answer...

While not a "how-to" book on making disciples, Going Deep, Becoming a Person of Influence gives some excellent visionary concepts to developing disciples of Christ. One concept kept coming at me time and time again throughout the book: relationships. We must allow ourselves to develop deep relationships with those we desire to disciple and pour ourselves into their lives. Those desiring to grow deeper in Christ must be willing to develop deep relationships with those who can mentor them.

Going Deep, Becoming a Person of Influence, though a fictional work, deals head-on with developing true and mature followers of Jesus Christ who are capable of reproducing true and mature followers of Jesus Christ. The book is thought-provoking and inspiring. A vision is cast before the reader and developed to maturity presenting concepts which can be tailored and implemented in nearly any church body. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in discipleship.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.