Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship’

Jon Walker
Leafwood Publishers/Abilene Christian University Press (2010)
ISBN 9780891126768
Reviewed by Chad Feight for Reader Views (1/11)


I recently received a free copy of “Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship,’” by Jon Walker, from Reader Views in exchange for this review.  After reading the book, I have mixed emotions.  Overall, it’s a book full of good ideas, but it’s not a real exciting read. 

Upon first opening the book and beginning to read, I found a foreword, a brief history of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and an introduction.  I understand the premise of the Bonhoeffer lesson, as his writing is the basis for this book, and the foreword is commonplace in most books.  The introduction, though, was another matter.  The introduction was by far the toughest part of the book to read.  It contained some valid points about grace and not trivializing it, but it was long and contained no explanation of the rest of the book.  It seems as though it was an afterthought that was rushed into production.  I don’t believe it is worthless, but it could have been put together better.

The meat of the book, however, is twenty-eight chapters on Jesus, and specifically, becoming like Jesus.  The chapters are reasonably short and to the point, containing some great truths and inspiring challenges.  The book does not, however, claim to be a feel-good book.  This book is about hard-core, tough discipleship.  That is a premise that I can appreciate, but also causes some disdain.  I do try to challenge my thoughts, beliefs, and actions, but this makes for a book that is difficult to read through.  

That may be my biggest gripe about this book – it just doesn’t keep my attention long enough to be adequately motivated.  There are other books out there that challenge readers and provoke some “it hurts so good” moments that can be the catalysts for growth and maturation.  This book certainly has some merit amongst those other books.  However, this particular writing struggles with…the writing.  Perhaps I am overly sensitive to writing style and tone, but it just seems like other books do it better.  I am not invalidating Walker’s points, but I am stating the fact that this book is really marketed to a limited audience – those who are strategically seeking to challenge their ways of life.  In that regard it succeeds and exceeds expectations.  However, for the casual reader, this one’s a bit tough to digest.

In general, I admire Walker’s desire to inspire change with “Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship.’” Unfortunately, I just believe that he doesn’t write in a way that will capture the interest of most people, including myself.  I believe in his mission and most of his points, but it’s just hard to read, keeping this book from being placed on my short list of must-read titles.

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