ABOUT THE DISCIPLE DILEMMA

With candid insight that is as unapologetic as it is refreshing, The Disciple Dilemma locates the Western church in a place of spiritual anemia.... Allen doesn't pave an easy road of sanitized solutions or cookie-cutter fixes, but instead calls us to seek out the wilder, messier, costlier road that Christ Himself journeyed on His mission to make disciples... I encourage Christians to summon the audacity to do something about it.

Get ready for a few jolts as Allen shows us how the historical Church, corporate America and today’s Christian culture struggle with the discipleship mandate. You might find yourself laughing, recoiling or pushing back, but I am quite sure it will change the way you think about your role in the quest to recover Christ’s discipling for us all.

The Disciple Dilemma is a must read for those who desire to comprehend the tie between true leadership and discipleship grounded in the Lordship of Christ. It effectively sets before the reader the dilemma faced by Christians today: whether to follow the shallow ‘easy-believism’ of our Modern Western church and business traditions, or to comprehend and take on the costly service of following Christ in sound leadership and discipleship.

If discipleship could be likened to the operating software for followers of Christ, then The Disciple Dilemma is making the case that some of our software has been hacked! The Disciple Dilemma brings to light peculiar symptoms infesting the contemporary Christian community generally, and disciples specifically. But it doesn’t stop there. Dennis caught my interest when he began to connect ancient history, corporate practices and church traditions to our present-day challenges. The Disciple Dilemma urges Christian leaders to reformat discipleship back to Version 1.0, Christ’s way. This is a vital read for leaders!

My life’s work is discipleship, on the mission fields of Southeastern Europe, the U.S. and Latin America. The Disciple Dilemma aims at the world of disciples and missions. If you lead or disciple one, two or a thousand people you need to read this book. You may not agree with everything written, but you will feel like Allen has been looking over your shoulder, as the book takes you through the things that hamper disciples, and what we, as leaders, need to do to regain the fuller way of Christ in making disciples. Read the book!

The Disciple Dilemma makes the audacious claim that since the second century the Christian community has been attempting to clone, instead of make disciples. What’s the problem with that? Just as biological embryo cloning is fraught with high failure rates and subtle, life-threatening risks, discipleship cloning, which is another way to say mass-producing disciples, is not Jesus’ way, and a low yield endeavor. Bluntly, cloning is not working well for the disciples nor Jesus’ Church. Leaders, ranging from Pastors to teachers to personal disciplers need to read The Disciple Dilemma!

Why are millennials leaving the church in droves? Why do pastors and staff members work themselves to exhaustion while most church members warm the pews? Why do believers war with one another instead of pulling together? Why has society stopped listening to the concerns of Christians? Using humor and incisive insight, Allen presents an historic case for rethinking the way we do discipling. I recommend The Disciple Dilemma for any leaders who wonder what’s going on in the ranks of disciples.

One of the greatest challenges for me serving as a senior executive has always been people. Specifically, finding, recruiting, motivating and retaining great people to do what they are called to do. As a leader in the Christian community, you’re facing that same problem, serving and coaching your people in discipleship. Allen takes us on a challenging walk through Biblical, corporate and church history to show us the divergence of Western discipling from Christ’s way of doing things. If you are a leader in Christian community, and I am not only speaking to Pastors, the responsibility is on you to get discipleship with your people fully aligned with Christ’s ways. This book is a strategic and Biblical workout that Christian leadership needs to consider with all our hearts, minds and strength.”

The Disciple Dilemma is making the case that leaders in all vocations and roles serving Christ must understand and tackle the dilemma we now face. If we are to restore committed and surrendered disciples to go into the watching world, we must understand these issues. If you lead one or more people in work, ministry or family this book is useful for you. Be ready for intrigue, provocation, perhaps even laughter, but above all be ready to be changed.

Where was this book when I began my pastoral ministry? Discipleship is something we pastors assume we are very familiar with, but are we actually on mission making disciples as Jesus has called us? Are we forging reproductive disciples or just multiplying ‘Christianized’ spectators? Dennis Allen challenges us to understand discipling properly and engage it effectively. We would like a simple three or four point guide, but Allen tells us we must do a lot more thinking through what is needed biblically. We can’t simply copy what others are doing. You may not like everything Allen says, but I believe his book will help you be a better disciple maker.

A must-read for leaders in every facet of Christian community. As a leader and global missionary with Campus Outreach I am convinced that being a disciple and making disciples are our calling, regardless of gender, vocation, age or location. And I believe discipleship is under siege today in many Christian communities. The Disciple Dilemma raises haunting questions as it forces us to hold our traditions of discipleship up to the looking glass of Jesus’ model of discipleship. Whether you lead one or thousands, this book is a candid, clever and thought-provoking wake-up call to the disciple-making dilemma that sits before us!