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, “Understanding the Person: Including the Hidden Parts”
My standard disclaimer is that these are insights that I gained from listening to Dallas. 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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Richard Foster and Renovare have been such an important voice in the work Christ has been doing in the last few decades. We’ve been blessed in so many ways. They reminded us of the importance of actually learning how to live the spiritual life. Celebration of Discipline contributed so much!
Review: We’re trying to show how the deep truths and realities of Christ are actually accessible to every person. The scriptures and Jesus are true…and work. Nothing compares with this.
This is the knowledge of reality that we hold in ourselves, both gently and firmly. Jesus invites us to “continue in my word,” to live in it.
I long for us to get past so many petty things that occupy our time and energy in the church.
We started with Mt 11, “Come to me those of you who labor (under religion).” Come and accept your life with Me in the kingdom of God as a little child. Mt 28 then spells out how you actually do that and commissions us to do so.
The main field for discipleship evangelism today is the church itself. We must present the gospel and the kingdom of God in the context of our churches and faith communities. This would cause disciples to emerge. They would come together in a unity that is Trinitarian. We would then teach ourselves and them how to do everything Jesus taught. There isn’t a thing Jesus said or taught that is impossible for any of us. He makes sure of that. We really can live under his counsel and his direction.
Intentionality here is critical. It’s sad that so many seem to be proclaiming the bad news that “You cannot actually do this.” Grace is here to make obedience possible. Grace is acting in our lives to accomplish what we cannot accomplish on our own. Grace is God acting in my life. This is His kingdom–His reign–in my life.
One big thought I want to get on your plate: If you’re going to be transformed, you have to transform that parts of who you are. Christian growth is defeated as we fail to attend to the parts of the person.
For example, our body is an important part of us. You are a non-physical entity with a physical body. Romans 12 invites us to present our bodies as living sacrifices. We aren’t to be conforming to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The mind is another part of us. We must transform our minds. Different thinking will change the rest of our parts.
We are complex beings. We have essential parts that work differently in some people. Spiritual disciplines don’t work the same way for everyone. Some need more work on their body, some on their mind, some in their soul. Some are caught in a web of social relations that are destroying them. Take care of all the parts, and the whole will take care of itself.
Jesus was the smartest, strongest, wisest person ever. He can show us what it looks like to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength.
We tend to put far too much pressure on the will. This is the “trying harder” that doesn’t work. So back to the parts.
1. Heart (will, spirit). The source of creativity. Power to originate. Executive center of the self. Jesus says to love God with our whole heart. This is to have your will set on what is best for Him above everything else. Love is the disposition to bring good into the object that is loved. God has disposed us towards creation, human creation especially, so that we are able to participate in His life by setting our will towards what is good for Him. We have our will, our spirit, entirely set on what is good for God. Crucial. We sing the hymn, “I Surrender All.” This is a will totally devoted to what is good for God.
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Filed under: Church, Dallas Willard, Knowing Christ, Spiritual Formation Tagged: church, Dallas Willard, eternal life, Kingdom of God, Knowing Christ, Spiritual Formation
