As we begin the new year I thought I would give a chapter by chapter "thought" about Dallas Willard's book, "The Great Omission." I have only finished the first two chapters but I would highly reccommend it for any one who wants to really think about what disicpleship is all about.
#1 – I cannot even get out of the Introduction without feeling challenged about how the church has viewed discipleship during my lifetime. Willard acknowledges the disappointments many Christians have about their own walk with Christ and their own feelings that the Christian life just doesn’t “work.” He insists that it is because “we do not give ourselves to it in a way that allows our lives to be taken over by it.” He writes,
“Who, among Christians today, is a disciple of Jesus, in any substantive sense of the word “disciple?” A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice – a practitioner, even if only a beginner…disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth. (Italics and underling from me)”
It’s the “every aspect of their life” part that we often exclude from people becoming Christians. Growing up I think I was focused on acting a certain way and knowing the right stuff. But what Willard is talking about digs much deeper into our life experience. This book is a challenge because it is less about theory and more about practice, and that begins to meddle in my (our) life!
How would you define a disciple?
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