In the Great Commission, our Lord commanded us:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Theologians point out that there are four commands (go, baptize, teach, and make disciples), but the primary command is to make disciples. The other three flow from and modify that one. That is Christ’s mission for His church. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to make more disciples.

One of the encouraging developments in evangelical Christianity over the past several decades has been a renewed emphasis on discipleship and discipling. Indeed, Mark Dever helpfully distinguishes that discipleship is the overall process of following Jesus, of being His disciple, while discipling is the process of helping someone else follow Jesus.

That renewed focus on discipling is wonderful thing. Most of the time, we imagine discipling as a small group or a one-on-one meeting, typically with someone older or more mature meeting with a younger believer to study Scripture or work through a Bible study. That certainly is discipleship, and it is fitting that this would first come to mind.

But notice that when Jesus commands us to make disciples, He does not give us one narrow method. He simply says to go, baptize, and teach. He does not limit those things to one-on-one meetings or small groups.

In fact, discipling also happens in the corporate setting. Whenever you gather with the church for worship on the Lord’s Day, you are participating in corporate discipleship. Your pastor is discipling you through the preaching of the Word. The songs, the prayers, and the ordinances are all shaping and forming you as a follower of Christ.

Yet there is another form of discipleship that is not commonly thought of, yet it is one of the great blessings of the Christian life. Let’s call it literary discipleship.

Thomas Brooks once said that books are “the voice of the dead.” When we read, those who have gone before us still speak, even though they now belong to the great cloud of witnesses. Of course, we are not engaging in anything mystical or communicating with the dead. But there is something profoundly beautiful about opening a book written by a saint who has finished the race and entered the presence of the Lord and still be able to learn from them.

Christians, after all, are a people of the Book. We rightly honor the book, the Bible, as the supreme authority for faith and life. But we also love other books because they help us grow in grace and wisdom. And when we read good books of the faith, we should see them as a form of discipleship, a way of learning from brothers and sisters who have faithfully walked before us.

This kind of discipleship is clearly not the same as meeting with a living person, but it is still powerful. We can open the writings of some of the greatest minds God has ever used, like Augustine, Chrysostom, Calvin, the Puritans, or even modern teachers like Piper and MacArthur, and be instructed by them.

Of course, we do not need to agree with every word they say in order to benefit from them. None of us are perfect in our theology, and that includes the greatest theologians from church history. So, we must certainly be like the Bereans and hold everything against the infallible truth of Scripture. But with that in mind, even though Calvin never knew my name, I count him as one of my spiritual mentors. Whenever I sit down to read one of his sermons, I am literarily being taught from his pulpit.

Another mentor of mine is C.S. Lewis. While Lewis did not consider himself a theologian, he did think deeply about the Christian life, and I have long benefitted from his fiction and Christian works. More recently, however, as I have been learning the classical languages and begun exploring the classics, I have found new encouragement in Lewis’ scholarly writings. His Preface to Paradise Lost was particularly helpful for thinking through Milton’s monumental and difficult work.

So, my encouragement is simply this: see the spiritual value of good books. Do not read simply to gain information or especially to appear well-read. Rather, come to the great Christian works of the past as opportunities to be discipled by fellow believers, especially those who have joined the great cloud of witnesses.

Learn from them. In the English-speaking world, we have unprecedented access to the writings of church history. Previous generations had to travel to monasteries to read Augustine or wait for traveling preachers to hear Luther. You can study God’s Word alongside Augustine, Luther, Calvin, or Spurgeon from your own home. The question is: Will you?

Hear the words that Augustine once heard: tolle lege. Take up and read. Take up and read the great books of the faith. Enter into this great communion of the saints through literary discipleship to the glory of God.