Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship

Name: Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship
Author: N.T. Wright

by N.T. Wright

What it's about

Following Jesus explores the practical reality of Christian discipleship by rooting it in the historical and human life of Jesus. It challenges readers to move past comfortable, self-invented versions of faith to engage with the demanding, world-changing mission of the actual person described in the Gospels.

Key ideas

The Real Jesus: Authentic discipleship requires looking at the historical Jesus who challenges our comfort rather than a self-made image that makes few demands.
Balanced Practice: A healthy faith requires both the intellectual engagement of sermons and the spiritual nourishment of sacraments to prevent a shriveled or misdirected life.
Active Service: The natural outcome of observing Jesus is a desire to work for the betterment of the world rather than retreating from it.
Sympathetic Leadership: Jesus serves as the unique human representative who provides direct access to God while leading his people through their own trials.

You'll love this book if...

You want a faith that connects deep theological study with active, daily service in the world.
You are tired of "lite" versions of Christianity and want a clearer understanding of what it means to actually follow the historical Jesus.
You appreciate a writer who challenges common modern assumptions about church life and personal devotion.

Best for

Serious believers who want to ground their daily actions in a more robust and historically anchored understanding of the Gospels.

Books with the same vibe

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Simply Christian by N.T. Wright
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

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Key Insights & Memorable Quotes

The most popular highlights from Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship, saved by readers on Screvi.

A church without sermons will soon have a shrivelled mind, then a wayward heart, next an unquiet soul, and finally misdirected strength. A church without sacraments will find its strength cut off, its soul undernourished, its heart prey to conflicting emotions, and its mind engaged in increasingly irrelevant intellectual games.

The longer you look at Jesus, the more you will want to serve him in his world. That is, of course, if it’s the real Jesus you’re looking at. Plenty of people in the church and outside it have made up a ‘Jesus’ for themselves, and have found that this invented character makes few real demands on them. He makes them feel happy from time to time, but doesn’t challenge them, doesn’t suggest they get up and do something about the plight of the world. Which is, of course, what the real Jesus had an uncomfortable habit of doing.

They named supernatural culprits, and traced their actions to enmities in heaven. Artemis was hostile to Pan, Earth to Apollo, virgin Athena to loving Aphrodite.... Because the gods were `present' and manifest, it was necessary to ask them about [things] which might concern them. Otherwise, they might be `unpropitious'.... The old compound of awe and intimacy was still alive. (Pagans and Christians, Penguin, 1988, pp. 236-37)

Jesus, the Son of God, the truly human one, is leading his people to their promised land, and is available for all people and for all time as the totally sympathetic one, the priest through whom they can come to God. Following Jesus is the only way to go.