Just Enough Time

The official song of our culture is "I Need More Time."

We live under the delusion that our problems would all be solved if we just had more hours in each day. There's just not enough time to get everything done. If only we had just a little more time.

But as Parkinson's Law tell us, "Work expands so as to full the time available for its completion."

However, work is not the only thing that expands. If we had more time, we would tend to fill it in the same way that we do the 24 hours we get every day.

We see this dynamic in computer storage capacity. In the past 30 years hard drive capacity has increased by about a factor of 1,000,000:1. But instead of having abundant free space, we've filled up our drives with music, videos and mega-pixel photos. John Dvorak may be an early adopter, but he voices a complaint that we can all indentify with: "I filled a terabyte drive with crap; now I need another terabyte drive."

Besides being metaphysically impossible, manufacturing more time is not the solution.

Enter the GTD cult.

Since we can't have more time, we must get more out of the time we have.

What was once known as time management has now become an entire industry. We have planning notebooks, software, blogs, newsletters and clothing to help us make the most efficient use of the 86,400 seconds that slip through our fingers every day.

Now we are not just overwhelmed with stuff to do, but we also feel guilty because we are not productive enough. We feel the angst of opportunity cost for all the things we should do that we never get to.

This problem is especially bad for pastors and other church leaders. Our "opportunity cost" has eternal consequences.

It's no wonder then that 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month and 50% of all pastors say that they would leave but have no other way of making a living.

So what's the solution?

Clergy renewal centers call us to pay more attention to our own spiritual development:

More than anything, God has called pastors to have an intimate relationship with Him. That must come before the ministry, that must come before the congregation, and that must even come before the family. As you can plainly see from the statistics above, we literally cannot survive in the ministry without taking the time to be with the Lord.

If we, as ministers, don't have an intimate relationship with the Lord, how can we expect to have anything to minister to others? Our congregations don't need yesterday's warmed over breadcrumbs. They need the fresh meat and manna for today. But, you know what? We need that too.

Unfortunately, we pastors tend to hear this as just another thing we should do, another thing that we can't get to. So we try to do more devotional activities and schedule time for retreats. But these good intentions go the way of our diet and exercise plans. Before we know it, we're just as busy as ever—and even more guilt ridden.

There are several things that contribute to this culture of perpetual busyness and constant stress.

Most Protestant congregations have unrealistic expectations for their pastors.

Pastors can NEVER do everything right. If we visit the hospital then we either stay too long or not long enough. When we preach we either are too shallow or too hard to understand. When we are at the office we either need to be in deep study AND also be available for every phone call, e-mail and every random person that happens to drop by. When we walk through the crowd we spend too much time with some people and not enough time with others.

And denominational officials try to "get the most out of" those under their direction.

Abused pastors tend to perceive the denominational office as having a "fire the coach" strategy.

Many of these beaten up pastors (and their abused families) just play the game of "churchical chairs," moving on to a new field every two to three years, only to find the same battles, just with new faces. Tragically, many just give up and walk away from the call that God once placed so vividly upon their lives.

But the main source of stress and pressure is the mindset of the pastors themselves.

Many pastors have a Messiah complex. They have the notion that everything depends upon them. They talk about grace, but they have no experience of grace.

Our culture canonizes workaholics. And ministry workaholics are raised to an even higher level. Overwork is seen as dedication, commitment and sacrifice.

But at the heart of this obsession is ego.

Buried deep in the psyche of many leaders is a Superman mentality—the idea that somehow there are a few of us that can function beyond normal human limitations and save the world. Or at least our little corner of the world. This is a grandiosity that we indulge to our own peril.

Dallas Willard suggests that church leaders need to let go of the illusion that everything depends upon them and to "release the world and [their] fate" to God's care and keeping. But this may be the most difficult challenge these leaders face.

For leaders, a decision to release the world and our fate to God runs contrary to everything within and around us.

Consequently, one of the greatest blessings a pastor can experience is failure.

If we are not very successful in ministry, in whatever way we measure success, then God does not have a hard time getting us out of the way. . . . The burdens of office may have become so heavy that we welcome being bumped aside by Jesus.
Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 25

Once we resign as Messiah, the true Messiah can take over.

Ministry is no longer about us and our skills. It is now about the real presence of Jesus Christ.
Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 16

If we feel that we have too much to do, it is a sign that we are not trusting God.

• It is not our job to save people.
  
• It is not our job to change the world.
  
• It is not our job to build the Church.
  

So how do we break the grip of this ego-centered, compulsive, workaholic approach to ministry?

Here's a hint: Exodus 20:10.

The Sabbath for the Israelites had one overriding purpose, to continually remind the people that their future was in the hands of God. They were not allowed to be productive for one entire day every week. They were forced to do nothing.

I'm not advocating the keeping of a literal Sabbath. For many people (e.g. the Pharisees) the keeping of a Sabbath quickly turns into a legalistic obligation.

One of the great dangers in the process of spiritual formation is that self-denial and death to self will be taken as but one more technique or "job" for those who wish to save their life (soul).
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 67

Sabbath-keeping is just one example of the kind of spiritual discipline that reminds us that God is in control and we are not.

Another spiritual discipline that addresses the problem of "grandiosity" is solitude.

Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness. You will see that the world is not on your shoulders after all. You will find yourself, and God will find you in new ways. Joy and peace will begin to bubble up within you and arrive from things and events around you.
Dallas Willard, The Great Omission, p. 36

Ironically, the cure for the feeling of not having enough time is to set aside time to do nothing.

Once we assume our proper place in ministry, we begin to realize that we have just as much time as we need. Eventually, we learn to live with the relaxed urgency of Jesus.

Jesus was willing to adjust his personal schedule to give time to anyone who began to follow him. He was accessible, adaptable, and capable of showing love and attention.
Arthur Glasser, Announcing the Kingdom, p. 210

If we give up the job of trying fix everything, then we can take the time to be present to the people around us. And we have all the time we need to be loving and caring to those that God sends across our path. We don't have to solve their problems. We just need to be with them and do what we can with the resources that God makes available to us.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Missional Manifesto III

What is the "job" of a pastor?

These ideas about leadership lead to misguided notions about what the role of a pastor should be. These notions are rooted in culture and are based upon value systems that are contrary to the gospel.

In North America the culture of the strong leader has pushed aside a proper, biblical understanding of the role of a pastor.

A pastor is not a CEO. Yet pastors are encouraged to follow the "take no prisoners" strategy of strong leadership. Because we have turned the mission of the Church into a to-do list and have lost our theological moorings, our pragmatism quickly degenerates into an "ends justify the means" mindset.

A casual observer may more easily compare much of what masquerades for Christianity with Nietzsche's power ideal than with Jesus' focus on vulnerability and service and Paul's conviction that God's power most often shows through our weakness.

Brian J. Dodd, Empowered Church Leadership, p. 83

Some pastors suffer from the messiah complex. They need to be needed. Others buckle under the weight of "responsibility." But this is not a responsibility placed upon them by God. Others mindlessly follow the model of business leaders and sports heroes. As "quarterbacks" it is their job to "take control of the huddle."

We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, pp. 43-44

To be truly effective, pastors must give up the idea that they are the key to success. They must avoid the temptation of thinking that God needs them.

Our strategies, action plans, pastoral resources and entrepreneurial church revitalization techniques have become not the solution but the problem. Our ministries need to be crucified. They need to be killed off.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 10

If anything of any lasting value happens in the Church, it is not because of the skill, effort or dedication of a pastor. The only way anything worthwhile will come about is through the work of the reigning Lord Jesus Christ.

Everything that we "know" about pastoral ministry has to be rethought.

Ministry is not a matter of a minister working hard, preaching relevant sermons, being a super-efficient congregational administrator, attending those who are sick, downcast, grieving and lonely, all the while growing the congregation and charming the people with a winsome and attractive ability to relate warmly.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 119

All that we think we should do and can do and are doing in ministry must be put to death.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 13

So is there nothing for a pastor to do?

There is much important work to be done by pastors. At its heart, the work of a pastor is primarily theological.

The work of theological reflection in a profoundly changing culture must be reintroduced into the daily practices of pastoral life.

Alan Roxburgh & Fred Romanuk, The Missional Leader, p. 170

The Christian leaders of the future have to be theologians, persons who know the heart of God.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, p. 68

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

Theological reflection requires fluency in the Scriptures, personal knowledge of God and a deep understanding of the culture. Doing theology should not be left to those in academia. It is not a luxury reserved for those who have extra time. A pastor should never say, "I'm not a theologian."

Theological discernment is the primary skill we need. Regardless of our therapeutic skills, without theological discernment pastoral care does not happen. God undoubtedly is up to something, but it will be in spite of us if we are not focused on the present ministry of Jesus Christ.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 131

The task of pastoral interpretation is through and through theological, always asking the key question Who is Jesus Christ for this person, and what does this mean for faith and faithfulness?

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 137

Doing theology does not mean memorizing the propositions of some dead thinker. The work of theology is more narrative than it is propositional. The content of the Old Covenant is the story of God's interaction with his people to deliver them from slavery, oppression and their own faithlessness. The New Covenant is likewise a story, a continuation of the previous story but with several surprising twists.

At its core, pastoral work involves bearing witness to the joining of two stories, the parishioner's and God's. Who is Jesus Christ specifically for this person amid the particularities and exigencies of her current life experience?

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 128

Proclamation is an important part of the role of pastor. Preaching is not about tips and techniques for a better life. It is not about selling tickets to heaven. It is not about mobilizing volunteers.

Everything else we might do is an addition to speaking of God. Because God is means God acts, we must speak of the God who has acted, does act and will act in time and space in, through and as Jesus Christ. Everything else we do is secondary, no matter what its seeming institutional, programmatic or administrative importance.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 132

Commit yourself again to ever more deeply becoming a careful preacher of Christ. Don't preach to grow your congregation; preach to bear witness to what the Lord is doing, and let him grow your church.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 44

The primary task of the pastor is theological reflection and proclamation. To that the pastor must add the ability to "connect" with other people.

No matter what your theological skills, if you do not know how to relate to another person, your pastoral work will not get off square one.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, pp. 130–131

The effective pastor cares for people, not in the abstract but as individuals. The effective pastor has empathy. The effective pastor knows how to put others at ease and just be with them.

I would argue that in today's society, any attempt to model your life on the life of Christ must include a genuine attempt to hang out regularly in third places. Genuine incarnational living demands it.

Michael Frost, Exiles, p. 59

Incarnational ministry is not about goals, agendas or schedules. Incarnational ministry is simply being with people redemptively. Incarnational ministry is the "enfleshment" of God's love, mercy and grace.

Ministry is no longer about us and our skills. It is now about the real presence of Jesus Christ, whenever and wherever in his gracious freedom and love he is Emmanuel, God with us.

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 16

Incarnational ministry is impossible if the focus is on results. When we start to press, we begin to rely on our skills, commitment and effort. The ministry stops being about the presence of Jesus Christ and starts to be about "closing the deal."

All our instincts and training tell us that we should do something. Our sense of responsibility makes us feel guilty that we are not trying "hard enough." But, if we give in to these impulses, we lose our long-term effectiveness, and possibly our souls as well.

To live and minister in light of these truths [of the gospel] you really do have to have a lot of peace in your heart. That comes from the realization that you don't have to make it happen. You just have to be truthful, follow your studies, stay with your fellowship with the few who are close to you, and just keep going. Because, truthfully, what we need is a revolution, but revolution is always very dangerous. And human revolutions always devour their children. And so what we need is a revolution that is actually conducted by Christ. And that means that we have to be content not to make things happen.

Dallas Willard, "New Age of Ancient Christian Spirituality" www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=95

The issue is not How does Jesus get in on our ministries? Instead, because he is the living and reigning Lord, the issue is now What is he up to, and how do I hitch a ride on whatever he is up to?

Andrew Purves, The Crucifixion of Ministry, p. 12

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Wisdom from Willard

I'm listening to an audio of a seminar by Dallas Willard. Here are a few quotations:

If you want to succeed in discipleship, it has to be the most important thing in your life. And you have to understand that what you are going to get is worth so much more than what it's going to cost you that you will absolutely not let anything get in your way.

You are a disciple of Jesus if you are with him learning to be like him.

As a disciple I am learning from him how to lead my life as he would lead my life if he were I.

The meaning of the cross is the end of your life. It's no longer important for you to have your way.

If you abandon the pursuit of your [own] way then you are in a position to really begin to live.

What happens to people is that they go dead. They are not living in the drama that God intended to live in. Drama is absolutely crucial to our lives.

Idolatry always takes the form of using God for my purposes. And that can happen among professing Christians, and often does.

God intends to exalt you, but not on your terms. On his terms. And that's much better, I can assure you.

Salvation is being caught up in the life that Jesus is now living on earth.

The gospel is "trust Jesus Christ and walk into the kingdom of heaven here and now." Heaven will take care of itself, if you take care of heaven now. And you do this by trusting Jesus, not something he said or something he did.

Most of our teaching has been that you can't do the commandments of Jesus. And you can't if all you do is try. But if you also train as his disciple, there's not a single one of them that you can't do.

The only cure for lust is love. If you love people, you won't lust them.

I need more influences like Dallas Willard in my life. The church needs more serious disciples like Dallas Willard. The world needs to experience the kingdom through Christians who are like Dallas Willard.

May I be one of those people.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

All Roads Lead to Romans?

What is the Gospel?

For many evangelical Christians it is defined by what has come to be called the Romans Road:

• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
  
• The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  
• But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
  
• If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
  

This is true as far as it goes. But there is much more to the Gospel than what is represented in these four verses.

Scot McKnight has an excellent post on this. Here is an excerpt:

The biggest issue that I see with the Romans Road approach is that once the sin problem is resolved (sin almost always understood as guilt before an all-holy God, which is true but not true enough), salvation has been accomplished. Frankly, this isn't biblical: the sin problem of guilt, to be sure, has to be resolved, but sin is bigger than guilt (it is distorted relationship with God, self, others, and the world) and therefore the resolution (salvation) is bigger than forgiveness (it is resolved relationships with God, self, others, and the world — and it takes a lifetime). Only a kingdom vision makes the sin problem fully clear and only a kingdom vision makes the solution fully clear.

The Romans Road reduces the Gospel to getting people signed up for heaven. In the tradition I have come from, people look at me with utter confusion if I tell them that the Gospel is about more than just getting people signed up for heaven. They can't imagine what else there could be.

Among the worst expressions of this distortion of the Good News was a group of one-point Calvinists that I knew when I was in high school. They held to the "perseverance of the saints" but believed that individuals needed to "make a decision" for Christ. I actually heard one of them talking about his willingness to use deceptive means to get people to "make a decision" for Christ because once they were signed up for heaven they were guaranteed to get there.

I find myself surrounded by church leaders (not in my congregation) who seem to share a similar philosophy. They say things like:

• "Nothing is more important than" getting people signed up for heaven.
  
• "The only justification for the existence of a church is to" get people signed up for heaven.
  
• "We need to do whatever it takes" to get people signed up for heaven.
  
• "This event will be worthwhile if just one person" gets signed up for heaven.
  

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reports that "3.9 million people made decisions for Jesus Christ in 2006." The 2005 report cites 3.2 million decisions: "On average, one life was transformed by God's grace every 10 seconds last year [2006] through the ministries of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association."

Now, I'm not claiming that the work of the BGEA is harmful or even worthless. But I am wondering if these 7 million people really have been transformed by God's grace in the past two years. Are they true disciples of Jesus Christ? Are they really "signed up" for heaven?

Unfortunately, when many Christians read the Great Commission they see this equation:

Make disciples = Get people signed up for heaven

Others read this (incorrectly, I believe) as a three steps process:

1. First make disciples
   
2. Then baptize them
   
3. Then teach them
   

They then reason that the first step is the most important step because it gets people "signed up for heaven." But the Gospel seems to be much more than "step one."

What you present as the gospel, will determine what you present as discipleship. If you present as the gospel what is essentially a theory of the atonement and you say if you accept this theory of the atonement, your sins are forgiven and when you die you will be received into heaven, there is no basis for discipleship.

Dallas Willard, "Kingdom Living"

And as we think more clearly about what this mission really is, we must remember that it is not our mission. It is Jesus' mission in which he invites us to participate.

The Church's job is not to save people but to shape the space in which God calls them to Himself.

Earl Creps, Off-Road Disciplines, p. 145

So what do you think? Is the "Romans road" an adequate explanation of the Gospel? Is the mission of the church primarily to get people signed up for heaven? What exactly is the Gospel?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Willard on Church Planting

Dallas Willard makes these provacative statements in a presentation that you can listen to at www.allelon.org:

The church is God's operation on earth.

We don't build churches. We preach the kingdom, make disciples, bring them together in the presence of God, and grow them. And the church results. And then it has a further activity. But the one who is in charge of his church is Jesus Christ.

When Jesus sent his people out into the world, he did not send them to plant churches. He sent them to establish beachheads of the kingdom of God. And churches would be the natural result of that. And then they would carry on that work. But the primary work is the action of God among the people who go out with faith in Jesus Christ to make disciples to him.

Not only are our efforts ineffective, but they actually prevent us from us becoming channels that God can use to advance his kingdom. Here's some more from Willard:

Grace is God working in our lives to do what cannot accomplish on our own.

What you really believe about Jesus Christ is shown by what you do after you learn that you can't do anything.

Spiritual formation is not learning to do the right things.

Here is the irony. What we do really matters.

But the only effective action we can really take is to trust in God's grace.

The harder we try to "make things happen," the less we trust in God's grace.

This is neither simple nor easy.

And people who should know better get in the way of this instead of facilitating it.

Tell me what you think. Do you agree with Willard? Have you experienced this dynamic at work in your own life?

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

Oprah’s Secret

Oprah recently devoted a couple of shows to The Secret, a book and a DVD movie about “the law of attraction.”

From Oprah’s site:

The Secret is defined as the law of attraction, which states that like attracts like. The concept says that the energy you put into the world—both good and bad—is exactly what comes back to you. This means you create the circumstances of your life with the choices you make every day.

This is a combination of Buddhism and self-help psychology.

But a few viewers were uncomfortable with the religious implications of The Secret. They asked if it didn’t contradict the teachings of Christianity. The panelists all smiled as if a child has just asked where the sun goes at night:

Michael says The Secret isn’t about contradicting religion—it supports it. “It actually goes underneath the culture and explains to you the sacred laws that these wonderful teachers have brought to us,” he says. According to James, The Secret is about supporting the great spiritual traditions in a more modern form. “It really is just putting Christianity, Judaism, all the great teachings into a current vernacular,” he says.

Of course, this view is nothing new. There are many who say that all religions are the same. But this assertion is naïve and self-contradictory.

Yet in an attempt to ride the wave of The Da Vinci Code, the producers of The Secret have announced that a great conspiracy has prevented the widespread implementation of The Secret. They even say that it was discovered by “the church” in the 20th century and then banned.

They claim that The Secret is old but that it has been known by only a few fortunate individuals. They claim that it holds the key to having one’s desires fulfilled. They claim that the world will experience a dramatic change now that The Secret is being revealed.

If you would like a detailed response to these claims, you should read the article by John Stackhouse.

But here is my quick analysis:

Positive thinking works. Our thoughts tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies.

We are responsible for our choices. Many people live as if they are victims. They spend so much energy complaining about the choices they do not have that they fail to take advantage of the choices they do have.

Self-reliance and self-esteem are not the answer to humanity’s problems. We do not need to “believe in ourselves.” We need help from “outside.” Our only hope is for Someone to rescue us from the disaster we’ve created for ourselves.

The Secret is both good and bad. Many people could benefit from some of the techniques presented in The Secret. But the underlying philosophy is dangerous. The answer to “all our problems” is not getting what we want. It is rather submitting to the true King who seeks to fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). And this submission often feels like moving away from the very things we think we really want. Jesus called it denying ourselves and taking up our cross (Luke 9:23).

And without that “giving up,” you cannot be his disciple, because you will still think you are in charge and just in need of a little help from Jesus for your project of a successful life. But our idea of a “successful life” is precisely our problem.
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 243

The real secret is the “open secret” about Jesus Christ. All of human history was a preparation for the arrival of the Creator of the universe in a small Judean village 2000 years ago. The good news is that this King has defeated all the rival claimants to his throne and has freed his people from bondage to sin, Satan and death. And now we can live in the power of that victory as we are transformed from the inside to reflect the character of our Master.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”

Discipleship & Grace

I’ve heard people that I respect say that sanctification is by grace alone: “The Christian's personal holiness is as much a monergistic activity of the Holy Spirit as is his justification and conversion.”

(Monergistic is just a fancy way to say that it depends entirely upon God and that we play no part in the process.)

I understand the motivation and mindset behind such a statement. But it is not biblical.

Fortunately, J. I. Packer doesn’t let his theology get in the way of clear biblical teaching:

Regeneration was a momentary monergistic act of quickening the spiritually dead. As such, it was God’s work alone. Sanctification, however, is in one sense synergistic — it is an ongoing cooperative process in which regenerate persons, alive to God and freed from sin’s dominion (Rom. 6:11, 14-18), are required to exert themselves in sustained obedience. God’s method of sanctification is neither activism (self-reliant activity) nor apathy (God-reliant passivity), but God-dependent effort.

As Dallas Willard explains:

Currently we are not only saved by grace; we are paralyzed by it. We find it hard to see that grace is not opposed to effort, but is opposed to earning. Earning and effort are not the same thing. Earning is an attitude, and grace is definitely opposed to that. But it is not opposed to effort.
Dallas Willard, The Great Omission, p. 166

Here are a few statements from Scripture about the effort involved in becoming like Christ (emphasis added):

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation.
Philippians 2:12–15

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:9–10

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:28–29

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
2 Peter 1:5–7

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13–16

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
2 Peter 3:14

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:5–10, 12

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–7

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’
tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:7–8

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
1 Timothy 6:11

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 6:11–12

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Hebrews 10:24

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14

Make no mistake. The work of transformation in the Christian is done by the power of God. But this transformation does not occur without participation on our part.

Discipleship is “training for godliness.” It is a process much like physical training.

In today’s church we’ve reduced the gospel to a theory of atonement and reduced grace to forgiveness of sins. But the gospel is much more than that. And grace is not just some deposit in a cosmic bank account.

Jesus called us to be (and to make) disciples.

A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do. A disciple is not a person who has things under control, or knows a lot of things. Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to carry through on their decision to follow Jesus.
Dallas Willard, “Rethinking Evangelism”

Discipleship “is not a matter of behaving in certain ways, but of being inwardly and thoroughly a different kind of person: having the character of Jesus Christ.”

Christian spiritual formation is a transformation of the “inner person” by the power of God through our exercise of spiritual disciplines and participation in the means of grace. It is God’s work. But it also requires effort on our part.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”

Willard on Discipleship

So what exactly is discipleship?

For an answer to that question I’ve turned to who I believe is the number one expert on Christian discipleship, Dallas Willard.

Discipleship belongs to the category of spiritual formation. This is a popular topic in today’s world. (A search on Google returns 1.5 million hits.) There is Buddhist spiritual formation. There is generic spiritual formation. Some think that spiritual formation is a Trojan horse for heresy.

The truth is that everyone is a product of spiritual formation, even atheists. The only question is what kind of a person each is being formed into.

Unfortunately, most North American Christians are not intentional about their spiritual formation. Their spirits are unconsciously shaped by Woody Allen movies, by The Oprah Winfrey Show, by The Simpsons, by U2, by Dr. Phil, by Rick Warren, by Dan Brown, and by Bill O’Reilly.

Instead of this haphazard spiritual formation, followers of Jesus are called to an intentional process of Christian spiritual formation (2 Peter 1:5–7).

In Living A Transformed Life Adequate To Our Calling, Dallas Willard explains:

Spiritual formation for the Christian is a Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self—our “spiritual” side—in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself.

Christian spiritual formation “is not a matter of behaving in certain ways, but of being inwardly and thoroughly a different kind of person: having the character of Jesus Christ.”

But that inner transformation will result in observable differences in behavior:

Discipleship focuses on the inner self, which consists of our ideas, beliefs, and emotions. Character grows out of our inner lives, and it governs what we think and feel. As our character is transformed, our behavior is transformed as well.
Dallas Willard, “Apprentice to the Master,” Discipleship Journal, #107

It is widely accepted that Christians behave in ways that are virtually indistinguishable from nonbelievers. Why is this the case?

The modern church has changed what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Being a Christian has come to mean going to church and being saved when you die. The ministry of the church is given over to “making the final cut” and solving problems (marital problems, witnessing problems, apologetics, pain and suffering), not to discipleship.
Dallas Willard, “Apprentice to the Master,” Discipleship Journal, #107

In this article, Willard explains:

[Christians] believe there is a God and they need to check in with him. But they don't have any sense that he is an active agent in their lives. As a result, they don't become disciples of Jesus. They consume his merits and the services of the church. … Discipleship is no essential part of Christianity today…. We don't preach life in the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus as an existential reality that leads to discipleship and then character transformation…. When you don't have character transformation in a large number of your people, then when something happens, everything flies apart and you have people acting in the most ungodly ways imaginable.

Christians generally do not exhibit that character of Jesus. And the reason they don’t is that they don’t intend to. They don’t think that the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are livable in the real world. They believe that “turning the other cheek” and blessing “those who persecute you” are idealistic moral sentiments rather than commands.

Of course, there are other issues involved such as a misunderstanding of the nature of grace and very real concerns about legalism. Then there is the question of whether it is even possible for us to develop the character of Jesus.

I’ll address these issues in subsequent posts.

Pastor Rod

“Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be”