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A Rebuke of "Disciplines of A Godly Man" by R. Kent Hughes
A Rebuke of "Disciplines of A Godly Man" by R. Kent Hughes
A Rebuke of "Disciplines of A Godly Man" by R. Kent Hughes
Kent Hughes
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and
doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own desires
shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” – 2 Timothy 4:2-5
First, I’d like to clarify that I understand that this book was written to be an accessible
book for the lay. Nevertheless the issues I present to you here, I believe, make this book a
critical mistake for men to glean wisdom from; thus unprofitable for the body of
believers. This is not to say there is no true proposition to be found, but the snares of the
traditions of men are lying in wait within them. (Mat 15:1-9, Col 2:18-23, 1 Tim 1:3-11)
Hyper-Spiritualization: There are many places within this chapter that adopts a
Greco-Roman approach to loving your wife. Simply put, if you are trying to take
the Word at face value and as literal, you won’t mistreat such a self interpreting
passage as Eph 5:23-33. Death does mean death. This is what is Victorian about
his approach to this topic. We lose the actual duty to protect and be willing to
literally die for you wife in the midst of this mystical “lifelong practice of death,
of giving over not only all you have, but all you are.” I’m sorry, but my Messiah
doesn’t give me ALL He has or ALL He is. My inheritance in Him is great, but
He is still my master and seeks what I need not what I want from Him. And even
at the resurrection, all He IS is far greater than anything I will ever be. This line of
thinking removes men as the driving force in a family that is entrusted with the
faithful stewardship of his wife and children. The list of passages cited in my
handling of Ch. 1 should overwhelmingly support this claim. Woman was created
FOR man and to HELP him. Man was created to image God, woman to image
man. We are the head of woman and without us the women are running around
without heads! It is all too clear if we let His Word renew our minds rather than
trying to make the word fit our emotions! We as men need to stand up and be
faithful with the duties our creator has given to us, not bury it in the ground until
He returns! Are we really ready for His return? May we repent and stop repeating
Adam’s mistake of heeding his wife when he knows the mission and needs to take
the lead. Mr. Hughes, whether intentional or not, is misleading us to only see our
reflection as the Messiah to our wives as just an example of Godliness, not
leading her to Godliness.