Conformity

“The test of character posed by the gentleness of God's approach to us is especially dangerous for those formed by the ideas that dominate our modern world. We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can be almost as stupid as a cabbage, as long as you doubt. The fashion of the age has identified mental sharpness with a pose, not with genuine intellectual method and character. Only a very hardy individualist or social rebel -- or one desperate for another life -- therefore stands any chance of discovering the substantiality of the spiritual life today. Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as wildly individualistic and unbearably bright.”

― Dallas Willard

The Problem

"The problem with the church is never that we don't have enough money, or people, rather the problem with the church is the quality of its people.  And that begins with me."

Dallas Willard

"In religion, nothing fails like success."

Funny!

Willard on Knowledge

A Broken System

"But I do grieve for the people within the church who are suffering—especially the pastors and their families. They are suffering because much of North America and Europe has bought into a version of Christianity that does not include life in the kingdom of God as a disciple of Jesus Christ. They are trying to work a system that doesn't work. Without transformation within the church, pastors are the ones who get beat up. That is why there is a constant flood of them out of the pastorate. But they are not the only ones. New people are entering the church, but a lot are also leaving. Disappointed Christians fill the landscape because we've not taken discipleship seriously."

Dallas Willard

(Click on the title link)

Integrity

"Integrity would mean, among other things, that you don’t have to run different processes in your life—that you’re transparent and all parts of who you are hang together, are consistent, so you don’t have to keep parts of yourself hidden."

Dallas Willard (Click on the title link for the whole article)

Repentance

"Mark 1:15 “Jesus then came into Galilee announcing the Good News from God. ‘All the preliminaries have been taken care of,’ he said, ‘and the rule of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.”
This is a call for us to reconsider how we have been approaching our life, in light of the fact that we now, in the presence of Jesus, have the option of living within the surrounding movements of God’s eternal purposes, of taking our life into His life."

Dallas Willard

Yes, He Matters!

"Now, in fact Jesus and his words have never belonged to the categories of dogma or law, and to read them as if they did is simply to miss them. They are essentially subversive of established arrangements and ways of thinking. That is clear from the way they first entered the world, their initial effects, and how they are preserved in the New Testament writings and live on in his people. He himself described his words as “spirit and life” (John 6:63). They invade our “real” world with a reality even more real than it is, which explains why human beings then and now have to protect themselves against them.

He and his early associates overwhelmed the ancient world because they brought into it a stream of life at its deepest, along with the best information possible on the most important matters."

Dallas Willard

Does He Matter?

"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 who deals with real-life issues but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with, and must deal with now.

He is automatically seen as... (fitting) only within the categories of dogma and law. Dogma is what you have to believe, whether you believe it or not. And law is what you must do, whether it is good for you or not. What we have to believe or do now, by contrast, is real life, bursting with interesting, frightening and relevant things and people."

Dallas Willard

Why?

Why is my first response to antagonism simply to return the hostility?

I must face the simple truth, I am (in the words of Dallas Willard) "prepared to do evil."

Training Wheels Pt II

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:2-4

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Previously we quoted Dr Willard saying, "the Law is, has been, and always will be, the course of righteousness..."

However, he finishes that sentence by saying, "but the Law is not, never has been, and never will be, the source of righteousness!"

Training wheels are not the source of bike riding skill, or the ability to travel from point A to point B, or to navigate a route. Those skills come from some other place. The training wheels are a guide, pointing towards 'upright.'

The Law performs a similar function. It is not able to create people of righteousness, people cannot become good by obeying the Law, but by obeying the Law they are kept from 'falling over.' It is a way of staying alive long enough to actually learn righteousness. You will not learn how to ride a bike if you cannot stay upright, and training wheels are an aid to this; you cannot learn to be righteous if you are breaking the Law, and so obedience is an aid to righteousness, but not its source...

Christ is the source, the Law is the course. Jesus is the method for making men righteous. He transforms hearts by His Spirit, He 'writes the law on the tablets of our hearts.'

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For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, " YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:14, 18, 22-26

Training Wheels Pt I

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
1 Timothy 1:8-11

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The Law is like a set of training wheels. They are for people who don't know how to ride a bike, not for people who do. The Law is for people who are unrighteous, not for the righteous.

This, of course, doesn't mean that 'the righteous' can break the law, anymore than people who know how to ride a bike should try to tip over sideways now that the training wheels are no longer in the way. Rather, 'the righteous' will live according to the law without trying! There is no 'obedience' necessary for those whose natural course of action is 'righteousness,' just as one who knows how to ride a bike will remain upright without the training wheels to hold them up.

As Dr Willard says, "The Law is, has been, and always will be, the course of righteousness..."

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Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.
Galatians 3:23-24

God help me, I am a sinner

How do we grow in Christ-likeness? What does it look like? I will give you a couple of verses here just as illustrations of where such growth comes out. "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."1 Now just think of the effects of that, and of what it would be like to learn it to the point where doing it is easy—where it was not a strain but was an expression of who you really are—easy for you habitually to see others as better than yourself. Further on in that same chapter: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."2 That’s basic Christian life from Paul’s point of view. That’s a life that wins the world and provides a model of life under God. That’s a life that has to explain its source to an inquiring public, because it stands out and is so different. That’s the New Testament vision. We’re talking about taking I Corinthians 13 and saying yes that’s for me. I will do that. I will let love dwell in me to the extent that, because love dwells in me, I suffer long and am kind. Love also does not envy, does not puff itself up, does not exalt itself, and so on. That would become my natural character. But in the Evangelical gospel preached today there is no natural connection between what is preached as the gospel among Evangelicals and the Christ-likeness described in these verses.

Dallas Willard

Count them or Weigh them

'Oh yes, I've read that book!"

(Click the title link if you want the whole thing)

You see, the flow of human events around academics proves that they too are sinners. They too are ready to give in to the pulls and pushes of the social context. Another little piece by Lewis called "The Inner Ring" is one of the most important things for any Christian academic to read. It is a story about how we hunger all of our life to be included. And that is one of the main reasons why reason has to be redeemed. I often jokingly say, but not so jokingly, that the lie most commonly told in my context is "Oh yes, I’ve read that book." Now why do we say that? Because we want to be included, we don’t want to be left out. We want to be "in." The whole word "party" is an interesting word; it means "to be a part of." We like to be included; we like to be brought in. Only the strength of a greater community that is provided by Jesus Christ can stand against that. And that’s why Paul refers to the church as "the pillar and ground of truth" (I Tim. 3:15).

It is only the person in a redeemed relationship to God that can stand for truth. Truth is too hard. You often hear the verse quoted to the effect that "The truth will make you free." The truth will not make you free! That verse doesn’t say that! Read the whole thing! It’s about discipleship: "If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-33) But today we no longer have to know the truth. On the elevator in the Humanities building at USC it just says "…The truth will make you free." Truth will not make you free - it’s probably better said "the truth will make you flee." Truth is hard to live with. And that is one reason why there has to be a community of redemption that comes down to earth and provides a context in which people can truly walk free, in the truth, because they are supported by their spiritual redemption before God in relationship to Him. They’re living in what I call "a conversational relationship with God."

Dallas Willard

Getting the Most Important things Right...

"My point is that those thoughtfully living in Evangelical circles throughout the generations will very likely believe they do not quite measure up if they are missing out on any of these areas of activity."

Dallas Willard

Where is True Power?

"Today there is the wide spread conviction—and corresponding levels of practice—that sin wins."

Dallas Willard

How Serious?

"But other Means must be employed in most cases. Two of the most useful are: openness to others and resolute avoidance of situations in which pornography can be indulged. As for openness, this may involve confession (to appropriate persons in appropriate ways), sharing with others in the same difficulty, a "buddy" (accountability) system with a small group of others (not all necessarily in the same difficulty) that allows you to meet and discuss regularly and to call on others for prayer and support in the hard times. Another measure that can be taken here is to kneel down publically and pray out loud for deliverance from your temptation. Perhaps "in church." (St. Benedict threw himself into a briar patch upon the occasion of salacious thoughts, and it seems to have done wonders for him.) Now at this point one might say: Are you serious? My answer would be: Are you?"

Dallas Willard

(Click on the title link for the whole article)

The Blind Watchmaker?

"Dawkins' work here is not in the line of Darwin, but of metaphysical speculation which attempts to hitch its wagon to Darwin's star. His soul-mates are people like Ernst Haeckel and Herbert Spencer--to mention only two of the more respectable from a logically pretty grubby bunch. When he writes a book like the present one he is not functioning as a scientist. If he were, he should incorporate his "findings" into the most advanced textbooks in the field and see how they fare as representations of established knowledge. He complains that "the true, Darwinian explanation of our own existence is still, remarkably, not a routine part of the curriculum of a general education." (4) Then by all means let him enter the academic arena and present his views about the watchmaker as established knowledge. He should not reserve his views for infliction upon a largely helpless public whom his scientific credentials and elaborate rhetorical devices will overwhelm and make incapable of any accurate assessment of argument. When he writes books like The Blind Watchmaker he is just a naturalist metaphysician, trying to cozy up to the scientists and blend into their company in such a way that his true colors will not be noticed. He takes the liberty to dress down what he calls "redneck creationism" (252), but unfortunately there are rednecks on the side of "Darwinianism" as well. He is one of the most outstanding."