Spiritual Formation Insights from Dallas Willard
This article is the sixth in a series looking at the top insights from the life and work of Dallas Willard. In this article, we look at the fifth insight – What is discipleship?
- The first article was an introduction (Dallas Willard – Spiritual Formation Insights That Will Propel Your Growth).
- The second was about the four great questions of life (What did Dallas Willard Believe About Reality and the Good Life).
- The third article was about identity and death (Dallas Willard: Insight #2 – What is a human being?).
- The fourth article was about the genius of Jesus (Dallas Willard: Insight #3 – Jesus Is the Greatest Genius).
- The fifth article was about spiritual disciplines (Dallas Willard: Insight #4 – What are Spiritual Disciplines For?).
We will continue to explore additional insights in future articles.
Insight #5 What is Discipleship?
Dallas Willard talked a lot about the importance of discipleship in the Christian life, but what exactly is discipleship?
Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.
Dallas Willard
We often think about how we can be like Jesus and do what he did. That may be a good start, but Jesus lived a uniquely singular life that will never be repeated. Ultimately, we need to learn from what Jesus did in order to determine what we should do in our context. Our context is very different that the specific examples we see about Jesus in the Bible. We need to discern what Jesus would do if he were living our life. This flips the usual approach on its head.
All of us have a sphere of influence. We have areas where our will is able to impact the outcomes of the people and situations around us. Some people have a small sphere of influence and others have a larger sphere of influence. The size doesn’t matter. What matters is whether we are progressing in the process of aligning our will with God’s will.
As we talked about in a previous article, Jesus was a genius (Dallas Willard: Insight #3 – Jesus Is the Greatest Genius). With this high view of Jesus in mind, Dallas Willard challenges us to think about how Jesus would do what we do. How would Jesus approach our occupation (accountant, software engineer, teacher, etc.)? How would Jesus approach the various relationships we navigate each day? What would it look like to parent like Jesus would? How would Jesus spend his free time if he were you?
What This Looks Like for Me
This will look different for each of us, but there are some consistent principles I would expect to see.
Firstly, we should be aligned with loving God and loving our neighbor. Jesus said that these sum up all the law and the prophets. Secondly, we should be outward focused. We will focus on seeking the flourishing of others and the flourishing of creation. We will avoid exploiting others and creation for our own gain. Thirdly, there will be peaceful hope that permeates what we do. Our value and identity will not be dependent on our actions or the perception our actions create in others. Peace will come from the security we have with an identity rooted in Jesus.
Here is an example for someone who works is software support:
- Provide customer service with the mindset that the people you are helping are made in the image of God and unconditionally loved by him.
- Consciously observe and appreciate the elegance of both complexity and simplicity in the technical details.
- Create software that improves the lives of the people who use it.
- Go above and beyond to help coworkers with their work.
- Demonstrate integrity. Avoid gossip, politics, and striving to get ahead.
- Be empathetic and get to know others as people and avoid using them as a means to achieve professional outcomes.
- Avoid getting caught up in the achievement culture and find peace and contentment in a job well done.
What Discipleship is Not
Reminder, as discussed in the previous article (Dallas Willard: Insight #4 – What are Spiritual Disciplines For?) The disciplines are activities of mind and body purposefully undertaken, to bring our personality and total being unto effective cooperation with the divine order. Discipleship is not something we can do or achieve directly through our own effort. The spiritual disciplines help us create a posture where the Spirit can work in us and through us. The Spirit helps us slowly become the type of people who are gradually more able to do what Jesus would do if he were us.
Discipleship is also not a church growth program. Discipleship is not effective to do at scale. It requires close relationships and a high level of commitment. There is also a cost (time and energy). I suspect many churches would decrease in size if they took discipleship more seriously. While the idea of spiritual formation is becoming more popular in evangelicalism, if we view discipleship as a program to increase church attendance or engagement, it will almost certainly fail.
Conclusion
Dallas Willard provides a helpful perspective for how to view discipleship as the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were in our place. We learn to use our effective will to see God’s will done here on earth as it is done in Heaven.
Let us know what you think about Dallas Willard’s perspective on discipleship in the comments section below. Where do you agree or disagree? What does discipleship look like in your context?
Get future articles in your inbox. Subscribe Now!
Resources
- Divine Conspiracy (https://amzn.to/41Eo9Aw)
- Renovation of the Heart (https://amzn.to/3H1GGgN)
- Hearing God (https://amzn.to/47nptcm)
- Life Without Lack (https://amzn.to/3tCM7jc)
- The Spirit of the Disciplines (https://amzn.to/41SGzO8)
- Becoming Dallas Willard by Gary Moon (https://amzn.to/3NN9n4
- Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (https://amzn.to/3SjkjtN)
Also take a look at our Resources page for what has influenced our thinking.
Take a look at our other Blog posts for articles engaging culture with faith and reason.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Leave a Reply