In late February, I had the treat of sitting under the teaching of Dallas Willard and John Ortberg at the Knowing Christ Conference sponsored by the Martin Institute/Dallas Willard Center at Westmont College. I took dozens of pages of notes, which I’m editing and sharing over a number of posts. Below are the first portion of my notes from his second presentation, “How to Step into the Kingdom”
My standard disclaimer is that these are insights that I gained from listening to John. They are sometimes his exact words. They are sometimes my own words or reflections. So, don’t assume that every word here is straight from him. And these are lightly edited, so bear with possible typos or grammatical goofs. With that in mind, I pray these notes will help you in your own journey with Christ.
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The main thing we bring to the church is the transformed people we are becoming. Arrange your life so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God. That is no one’s job but yours and mine. I cannot wait until certain things are sufficiently resolved until I begin this good work.
To what extent am I restfully and joyously serving? The outcome is a growing community of supernatural love, in constant interaction with the members of the Trinity.
When we talk about “holy vision,” we aren’t talking about what we are going to do, but of God, how good God is, and how fortunate I am to live in His universe of love. A good and true vision of Him engages and captures our imagination.
Conversation:
Dallas: The Trinity has been a threat to some because they bought the idea that we have to have the doctrine right. Theological tension. The pressure of “getting it right” makes people confused and timid. The idea of three who are one gets us caught up in the issue of subordination within the Trinity. Father, Son and Spirit aren’t caught up in this. The Persons do not care about their status. No subordination between the members of the Trinity because they won’t have it. “You first.”
John 14 is a marvelous portrayal of the Father, Son & Spirit coming to live in us.
Jesus made Himself of no reputation (old translation of Phil 2). Jesus is like the Father and the Spirit. They love and admire one another so much.
What were the Persons of the Trinity doing before creation? They were enjoying one another. The deepest joy is when two people can be one.
John: How do we deal with the pettiness and smallness of the church sometimes? It can be mindnumbingly painful. There is such a gap between where we find ourselves and a vision of Trinity?
Dallas: All of this is so obvious when we step back and look at it. We have to step back to appreciate what Christ is doing in the world. The most important part of your ministry is your ministry to other ministers. Know one another. Love one another. Serve one another. Overcome separation and competition between yourselves.
The church in a community is not one of the churches. There is one church…period. We can want other churches to succeed. We are disciples…or we are nothing. As disciples, we love and care for one another. We claim one another.
I’m encouraged that denominationalism is waning in influence. Perhaps we can practice that Christ, Father and Spirit are building their church where we are…but only one church.
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Filed under: Church, Spiritual Formation Tagged: church, communion with God, eternal life, John Ortberg, Spiritual Formation, Trinity
