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.
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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What would have it been like to be at that little Friends church with Richard Foster as pastor and a Sunday school teacher like Dallas Willard.
What if the work that Dallas has given his life to recapture of the beauty of the kingdom in our day and to make the pursuit of the “with God” life and human transformation an accessible reality for ordinary people did not rise and fall with him, but became a river, and then a great flood of life? What if, by the hundreds and thousands, men and women in our day should turn again to the living Jesus as their actual Friend, Teacher, Guide and Power? What if the experiential knowledge of God—wisdom about the nature of the human condition and its transformation became standard operating procedure in the church? What if leaders of all types were first of all devoted to transformation of ourselves, and then found a way to make it available to others? What if churches became schools of life? What if people in the surrounding community flocked to learn how to live? We can’t engineer a revolution, but we have a part to play.
Conversation:
John: Is the church at a point of decision? As we think about the future for the church, talk about what it could be like.
Dallas: Could, should and is—disciples of Jesus would be conscious of one another beyond the boundaries of their local organizations or assemblies. When you look at the emergence of Jesus and his followers, this was the predominant fact. They supported and affirmed one another. That stands out. Paul’s letters were to the holy ones in [city]. He didn’t write to many different churches in one city. The main step in the move forward is that disciples become conscious of others nearby. A different quality of fellowship and life would emerge. The manifest presence of God in an area might rise through united followers in that place.
We should talk about the body of Christ built by the Trinity in an area without regard for differences in tradition or denomination.
John: How do we do that in a way that works? Interfaith councils almost never feel life-giving like you’ve just described.
Dallas: We arrange our time together where we actually share what is going on in our souls. We don’t talk about community affairs, ecumenical efforts, church comparisons, etc. Exchanging soul work is what needs to go on in these gatherings. Sharing lives, sharing experiences of Christ together. Share about their families. Share intimate things rather than peripheral things.
The real work is sharing our lives. Don’t mistake church services for the real life of Christ. Remember what is central. What is our “seek first”?
One thing that is the mark of the disciplines is simply: loving one another. God’s business is to love the world. We should care about it, but don’t have the capacity to love it as God does. We should focus first on loving other disciples. And they aren’t partitioned into different traditions. One body. One Spirit. Etc. This something would begin to move of its own power.
John: How do we help people ask questions about their soul formation?
Dallas: Slowly. One-at-a-time. Listen well. Ask the question: What’s bothering you? Listen more. How are you and God doing? That might be revolutionary. It would be getting closer to the AA model.
If you are in recovery, how’s that going? What hindering you? How can we help? Address those issues. Get to the heart of things. Quit dancing around the edges. This is a divine work not a technique.
John: We often end up either talking about abstract theology, or religious exercises, or therapeutic talk with a few Bible verse. You’re talking about really sharing our lives and their concrete realities and deeply tied to Jesus and His way.
Dallas: At 11:00, we’re going to talk about blessing one another. It’s rare. It only seems to be an occasional and official act. Blessing souls. We don’t go there for fear of judgment. Rejection is one of the most brutal things that we do to one another—in word or deed.
The shepherd is meant to become involved in the lives of persons. We have to find freedom to be totally vulnerable in a safe place. We have to be prepared to trust God entirely with what will happen when I go into these places with others. That’s the easy yoke and light burden. Getting there is our main problem.
Ask what’s bothering people, and not what they think is supposed to be bothering them. Listen for what God is doing alongside listen to another.
Ch. 1 of Life Together is priceless (Bonhoeffer). When I meet with another, we meet in the presence of Christ.
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Filed under: Church, spiritual disciplines, Spiritual Formation Tagged: church, communion with God, eternal life, John Ortberg, spiritual disciplnes, Spiritual Formation
