Jesus: A Person of Vital Relevance
In Coram Deo's teaching on spiritual formation, we have unapologetically been drawing from the insights of theologian and philosopher Dallas Willard. We don't accept the words of men uncritically; we test everything in light of Scripture. But we would be arrogant and foolish not to learn from teachers wiser and more seasoned than ourselves. Willard certainly falls in that category.
I have recommended his book Renovation of the Heart most widely. But today, in preparation for my sermon on Sunday, I re-read some sections of his magnum opus, entitled The Divine Conspiracy, published in 1998 by HarperCollins. His introductory chapter was so good that I have taken the liberty of reproducing parts of it below. Hopefully it may spur some of you to further reading. Conspiracy is a long and complex book, full of insight. It's not for everyone... but it may be for some of you. I love the introductory sentence:
My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him.
Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real-life personality... but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with now. And frankly, he is not taken to be a person of much ability...
It is the failure to understand Jesus and his words as reality and as vital information about life that explains why, today, we do not routinely teach those who profess allegiance to him how to do what he said was best. We lead them to profess allegiance to him, or we expect them to, and leave them there, devoting our remaining efforts to 'attracting' them to this or that.
Jesus' instructions [that we should make disciples of Him] are starkly clear. We just don't do what he said. We don't seriously attempt it. And apparently we don't know how to do it. You only have to look honestly at our official activities to see this. It saddens me to say such things, and I do not mean to condemn anyone. But it is a matter of extreme importance, and unless it is openly acknowledged, nothing can be done about it.
...Individual Christians still hear Jesus say, 'Whoever hears these words of mine and does them is like those intelligent people who build their houses upon rock' (Matthew 7:24-25). How life-giving it would be if their understanding of the gospel allowed them simply to reply, 'I will do them! I will find out how. I will devote my life to it! This is the best life strategy I ever heard of!' and then go off to their fellowship and its teachers, and into their daily life, to learn how to live in his kingdom as Jesus indicated was best.
I have recommended his book Renovation of the Heart most widely. But today, in preparation for my sermon on Sunday, I re-read some sections of his magnum opus, entitled The Divine Conspiracy, published in 1998 by HarperCollins. His introductory chapter was so good that I have taken the liberty of reproducing parts of it below. Hopefully it may spur some of you to further reading. Conspiracy is a long and complex book, full of insight. It's not for everyone... but it may be for some of you. I love the introductory sentence:
My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him.
Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real-life personality... but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with now. And frankly, he is not taken to be a person of much ability...
It is the failure to understand Jesus and his words as reality and as vital information about life that explains why, today, we do not routinely teach those who profess allegiance to him how to do what he said was best. We lead them to profess allegiance to him, or we expect them to, and leave them there, devoting our remaining efforts to 'attracting' them to this or that.
Jesus' instructions [that we should make disciples of Him] are starkly clear. We just don't do what he said. We don't seriously attempt it. And apparently we don't know how to do it. You only have to look honestly at our official activities to see this. It saddens me to say such things, and I do not mean to condemn anyone. But it is a matter of extreme importance, and unless it is openly acknowledged, nothing can be done about it.
...Individual Christians still hear Jesus say, 'Whoever hears these words of mine and does them is like those intelligent people who build their houses upon rock' (Matthew 7:24-25). How life-giving it would be if their understanding of the gospel allowed them simply to reply, 'I will do them! I will find out how. I will devote my life to it! This is the best life strategy I ever heard of!' and then go off to their fellowship and its teachers, and into their daily life, to learn how to live in his kingdom as Jesus indicated was best.
posted by Bob | 4:23 PM
1 Comments:
“The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is not inadequate technique, insufficient organization or antiquated music and those who want to squander the church’s resources bandaging these scratches will do nothing to staunch the flow of blood that is spilling from its true wounds. The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church; His truth is too distant, His grace is too ordinary, His judgment is too benign, His gospel is too easy and His Christ is too common.”
-David Wells (from God in the Wasteland)
Post a Comment
<< Home