http://www.globalniissiology.org/english/archive/augsburger_dissident_d...
Dissident Discipleship
By David Augsburger
Ph.D.,
at Fuller Theological Seminary, author
of Caring Enough
to Confront and
Hate-work: Working through the Pain and Pleasure of Hate
Brazos Press,
2006, 256 pages
800-877-2665 or 800-398-3111
http://www.brazospress.com
In Dissident
Discipleship, David Augsburger discerns two dominant
strains of spirituality in the modern church. The first is focused on
self-growth and self-enlightenment, and the second is focused alm
Augsburger
points out that this robust form of Christian spirituality has implications
that extend well beyond the walls of the church. An active love of God and
neighbor, one that is deeply Christian, provides unique and needed answers to contemporary
issues such as loneliness and world poverty while helping believers
better balance this-worldly and other-worldly horizons. Dissident Discipleship
will be a valuable resource to pastors, students, counselors, and all
Christians interested in spiritual formation.
Endorsements
"Augsburger has done a
great service to the church by marking out clearly the dimensions of a wholistic spirituality that embraces the desire for
personal transformation and couples it with the longing to know God, but
then takes the next step by declaring that it must also be radically committed
to the other. Dissident Discipleship is theologically astute, rich, and
nuanced. I suspect that it will
soon become the standard reference on spirituality for those who are committed
to the missional church or the emergent church. I hope that it will serve to
expand and enrich the understanding of
discipleship and spirituality for all of us. Dissident Discipleship is one of
those rare books that moves us into new territory by
giving us a bigger, richer vision of God's complex relationship with this world and with us."—Richard
V. Peace, Fuller Theological Seminary
"If you thought
'spirituality' was mostly vague fluff and feathers, get this book. Building
upon his cruciform Anabaptist tradition, David Augsburger
gives us a substantial, faithful look at lives formed by Christ."—William H. Willimon, coauthor of Resident Aliens: Life in the
Christian Colony
"With Dissident
Discipleship, David Augsburger provides a wonderful
gift to the twenty-first-century American church: no flabby, empty
'spirituality,' but a practiced, concrete spirituality that reflects his own deeply personal and communal experience ofthe gospel. This is a gem."—Lee Camp, author of Mere
Discipleship
"In a graceful and creative
style, Augsburger takes us to the heart of the
gospel. He offers a delightful and compelling call to discipleship in an age of
cheap grace."—Donald B. Kraybill, author of The
"Spirituality, worship, evangelism, service, and
discipleship have become shibboleths in our religious vocabulary, but how are
they related to each other in our everyday Christian experience? With his unusual ability to
flesh out the inner essential meanings of our religious vocabulary, David Augsburger, both a pastoral counselor and theologian,
depicts a 'tripolar' concept of spiritual discipleship
that relates to God, our fellow humans, and the world. The great strength of
his work is its encompassing definition of discipleship that includes worship,
witness, and service; attitude, belief, and behavior;
piety, personal values, and ethical response."—C. Norman Kraus, author of
Jesus Christ Our Lord: Christology from a Disciple's Perspective
"This ringing call to faithful discipleship
forces the contemporary church to make a hard choice: either obedience or
apostasy."—Ron Sider, author of The Scandal of
the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are
Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?
"Because David Augsburger
teaches and practices pastoral care, he writes of our spiritual growth with
intimate knowledge. Because he knows Anabaptist spirituality firsthand, he
writes of triple-threat spirituality with
at-home comfort. Because he does what he writes, he speaks with true
credibility of the holistic spirituality that we need. I find real depth and
wisdom in his wonderful stories, humor, and attachment to the way
of Jesus. I especially like his chapter on Gelassenheit
as surrender with stubbornness, serenity with tenacity, patience with
endurance. I love his concluding each chapter
with a meditation from the Ausbund."—Glen Harold
Stassen, author of Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in
Contemporary Context
"David Augsburger has brought together a rich blend of wisdom from
his Christian faith, biblical scholarship, academic acumen, pastoral
counseling/psychological expertise, and
pastoral/spiritual experiences to empower readers to navigate into a deeper
understanding and practice of spirituality. He develops a tripolar
spirituality that connects God/Jesus Christ, others, and self in a unifying manner of participatory action that
is subversive in terms of transforming common spiritualities into more
authentic witness revealed in everyday sharing and serving others through
communities and
as individuals. His Dissident Discipleship builds a compelling case for
communities to manifest authentic spirituality through participation and
action. Through his poignant stories, illustrations, and discussion he holds hands with academicians, pastors,
professionals, and laity in a most intriguing manner that challenges readers to
move together through communities to transform authentic spirituality into dissident
discipleship."—Sandra R. Brown, retired director of the
"Augsburger's
tripolar approach provides a much-needed theological
framework for developing robust spirituality that enhances our commitment and
experience of the gospel—to love God and neighbor as self. This is an
excellent expression of spirituality from an Anabaptist
perspective."—Marcus Smucker, Associated
Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Reviews
"Augsburger
explores what spirituality looks like when it imitates Jesus and is directed
outward in service to the world, instead of inward on the self. This is not the
usual all-about-me-spirituality book; nor does it focus solely on community to the
exclusion of the individual, but it balances the needs of people and
communities as they try to imitate the ways of Jesus. In clear and accessible language, Augsburger recommends and explores eight practices.... Each
chapter begins with several stories and ends with meditations that make what
might otherwise be strictly theoretical into practices readers can imagine
emulating. Those who are tired of the same old spirituality books will find
surprises.... Augsburger has written a book that is
challenging but still pastoral; it is realistic and honest about the cost of true discipleship even as
it encourages readers to embrace that path."—Publishers Weekly
"[An] important work....
This book is an essential read. It challenges all Christians/persons to
consider their faith in the context of community. In so doing we can no longer
look into the face of the other
without beholding God; we can no longer continue to ignore the poverty and the
hatred that surround us."—Roy Barsness, Prism
"Augsburger
describes with passion and thoughtfulness eight practices that characterize the
life of a disciple of Jesus.... In all the chapters on the practices, Augsburger begins with excellent quotes and then flesh-and-blood illustrations of the
practices.... Augsburger intersperses insightful
comments from his extensive experience in the field of pastoral counseling....
[This book] is inspirational, thoughtful, meaty, accessible and responsible. Mature
Christians involved in the church, academy and the marketplace will find this
book thought-provoking and convicting. However, we would miss the point of the book if it was
only read by individuals. This is a book that demands to be read with a group.
Faculty members, church small groups, church staff, parachurch
boards and Christian
business
groups will want to read selections from this book and discuss them together.
Faculty should assign this book in social work, pre-med, New Testament,
Gospels, ethics, political science, and education classes and devise ways to facilitate
thoughtful interaction with it.... Even freshman undergraduates could digest
this material.... This book is practical, thoughtful and challenging." —Andrew
D. Rowell, Christian Scholar's Review
"With its precise
description of what embodied spirituality looks like, Dissident Discipleship
calls clergy and laity alike to self-examination. One cannot escape from this
book without feeling convicted about affluence,
privilege, participation in unjust systems, failure to love the enemy, or any
of a host of other compromisers of Christian witness. Those engaged in social
ministries may find the lexicon
associated with tripolar spirituality valuable in
putting words to the grace they receive, and in discerning—and perhaps even
repenting of—the inner motives for the service they render.... Augsburger
gifts his readers with a 'radical alternative' that confronts and challenges,
as well as affirms and instructs those who seek to deepen and balance their
spiritual lives."—Sherry A. Johnson, Congregations