Spiritual Formation Insights from Dallas Willard

This article is the seventh in a series looking at the top insights from the life and work of Dallas Willard. In this article, we look at the sixth insight – What is belief?

• 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?).
• The sixth article was about discipleship (Dallas Willard: Insight #5 – What is Discipleship?).

We will continue to explore additional insights in future articles.

#6 What is Belief?

What Belief is Not

Let’s begin with what belief is not. Firstly, belief is not just an intellect ascent to a propositional statement of fact. For example, just acknowledging the objective fact that God exists is not sufficient belief. Believing that the death of Jesus for the atonement of sin and the resurrection were historical events is not sufficient either. Belief must go beyond acknowledging truth into a personal choice that makes a personal difference.

Secondly, belief is not just a ticket into Heaven after death. As discussed in The Gospel – What Did Jesus Think He was Doing? the gospel should not be framed as what to believe in order to get to Heaven after death. It is about submitting to Jesus as King and joining him in the Kingdom of God starting here and now. Dallas Willard called this barcode theology. If you say, do, or believe the right thing so that you can get the barcode stamped on you, then when you die and get to the gates of Heaven you will be scanned and allowed in.

Thirdly, belief is not measured by how strongly you feel about the belief. The human mind can easily deceive itself. It can be nearly impossible to objectively assess one’s own desires and motives. We can honestly believe that we believe on the surface level, but if there is no evidence of belief then there is something significantly lacking in that belief.

Lastly, belief is not just wishful thinking. The object of belief must be grounded in an external, objective reality that exists separately from our belief in it. Otherwise it has no power. The power that comes from believing in God comes from the power of God, not the power of our belief. It doesn’t matter how strong the belief is.

What is Belief?

Here is how Dallas Willard defined belief.

We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.

Dallas Willard

Our actions are the best indicators of our beliefs. What we say may not reflect what we think and we may be deceiving ourselves with what we think. Real actions and behaviors can indicate an underlying belief that holds more sway than our words and thoughts. For example, someone says that they believe that the earth is round and have even convinced themselves that they do honestly believe that the earth is round. If they then refuse to go near the edge so they don’t fall over into nothing, then they don’t really believe.

This may feel like too high a bar for belief. Shouldn’t it be easier? Here is what Jesus had to say to those who thought that they believed.

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Matthew 7:21-23

Moving Forward

Faith is a journey. We start with foundational beliefs and add or remove beliefs as we learn and grow. Some of the basic beliefs are:

• God exists.
• Jesus lived, died, and rose again.
• The Bible is authoritative.

I think most Christians can get through these initial steps. Many Christians get stuck with the belief that the way of Jesus is the best way to live. They may say that they believe that. They may even mean it. But if you look at their actions, they are not living the way of Jesus. There is something in us that makes our own way seem better to us. What would our life look like if we acted like we believed the way of Jesus was best.

Hope

Fortunately, we do not need to perfect our beliefs and subsequent actions to have a relationship with Jesus and to receive his love. One of Jesus’ miracles illustrates the way we can both believe and not believe at the same time.

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24

Jesus doesn’t wait for us to get to the point of perfectly acting in alignment with all of our beliefs. He seeks us where we are and through the power of the Holy Spirit, he helps us take step after step in our faith journey. It is a combination of effort and grace, not earning. This will be the topic of the next article in the series.

Conclusion

Dallas Willard provides a helpful definition of belief. With a focus on actions, we cannot settle for mere intellectual facts that do not change our lives. We must have a belief that forms the guiding center of our life.

Let us know what you think about Dallas Willard’s perspective on belief in the comments section below. Where do you agree or disagree? What does belief look like in your context?

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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.

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