The evangelical church has become weak, flabby, and too dependent on artificial means that can only simulate real spiritual power (18).

Thus writes Bill Hull in the introduction of The Disciple-Making Pastor. This book, originally published in 1988 and bolstered with additional reflections in 2007 argues that to be a pastor is to be a disciple-maker. If we get this straight, real power will presumably return to the church.

The core idea of The Disciple-Making Pastor is strong—I suspect that genuine discipleship is as missing from the consumerist-minded church today as it was in 1988, if not more so! However, there are two critical flaws in Hull’s book that undermine the main message.

Mixed Messages. I was excited to read Hull quoting Eugene Peterson about the slow nature of spiritual formation (33), the challenge of an individualistic culture (63), and the impatience born of faithlessness (64). However, the market-language employed by Hull uncritically of churches cuts against Peterson’s broader message. Hull writes that “the church needs to upgrade its product” (3), and “maintain the integrity of their product” like a McDonald franchise (263). Hull earlier spoke about how “we can’t make disciples based on a consumer mentality” (37). It’s nonsensical to use consumerist language speak against the consumerism of church culture. (Of course, the original publication date explains some of this language. It’s worth noting that the quotations from Peterson all come from Hull’s 2007 addenda.)

Overstatement. For Hull, to be a pastor means to be a disciple-maker. Everything else is secondary. I’ll be the first to champion the need for pastors to seriously disciple their community. (I teach a course called “Discipleship in the Local Church,” after all!) However, not every pastoral task can be collapsed into disciple-making. Hull touches on the idea that pastor means shepherd, a common leadership metaphor in the ancient Near East, but then ignores the broader implications of the metaphor to make his case that pastoring = disciple-making.

In the end, The Disciple-Making Pastor seeks to correct the lack of discipleship in modern evangelical churches. Unfortunately, Hull’s picture of the pastor exclusively as a disciple-maker swings the pendulum too far the other way.

Hull, Bill. The Disciple-Making Pastor: Leading Others on the Journey of Faith. Revised ed., BakerBooks, 2007.