![]() ![]() You have to suspect that there was some spiritual force in back of this. You just have faith in the death of Christ on the cross or have faith in Jesus as a great social prophet or whatever.’ But it’s amazing to see how universal it was. ![]() It’s amazing to see how every system within Christianity took a route that said, ‘You know, you don’t have to do that. On the liberal side something different is happening. This is just taking possession of the whole country on the conservative side. So then now you have crazy hermeneutics like, ‘The Gospels are for the Millennium, but Paul’s gospel is for us today’. The results of this are that (now) discipleship is not essential, and people are not invited to become disciples. In that way, one theory of the atonement was substituted for the Christian Gospel. It has come to no longer mean trusting Him it meant trust something He did. “What has basically happened is that the meaning of ‘Trust Christ’ has changed. Now, a few decades ago you had leading speakers for Christianity across the nation who would say things like, ‘We’re not supposed to follow Christ, we’re supposed to trust Him’, and that meant not to trust His leadership and teaching, but to trust His death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The real problem is not misunderstanding Him, but it’s setting it aside as a requirement for salvation. : “Well, I don’t think we’ve misunderstood Him. Have we misunderstood what it means to follow Christ?” That’s not a very popular idea in today’s culture. Jesus seemed to suggest that one cannot be His disciple without laying it all down for Him and taking up one’s own cross. : “The idea of Discipleship acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Teacher of our lives is daunting for most. “You remember Jesus saying, ‘Call no man Master, you have one Master.’ Don’t call anyone Teacher, don’t call anyone Leader or Doctor or whatever. It’s just heartbreaking to see this thing on leadership and how this has progressed. You’re absolutely right, it’s a crisis of ‘follower-ship’ and of leaders themselves living as disciples and inducting others into discipleship, not to them, but to Christ. It is just shameless the way we go on about leaders and various kinds of figures. It is actually not from the Church, it’s a carry-over from the Culture and it’s one of the many ways that the modern church has bit and swallowed the contemporary culture whole. (Laughs) The fact of the matter is this leadership thing has just gone crazy. : “Now you’re going to get me in trouble. : “So, are you saying we have a crisis of follower-ship rather than a crisis of leadership?” I’ve remarked on this in the last chapter of my book, The Renovation Of The Heart, about the local congregation and the spiritual formation of the Believer.” The Church then would have, as their big project, to make this the center of what they do as churches. How to recover Jesus the Teacher? That would mean, of course, that we’ve decided now that we’re actually going to do what He said. “What has happened is Church ritual has replaced Discipleship. This is the unfortunate fact, and it lies at the foundation of the efforts of many people today to find a different form for the Church. Whether Liberal or Conservative, it doesn’t make any difference. Unfortunately, it’s a long and convoluted story, but roughly over the last two hundred years, Jesus as Teacher has simply disappeared. You know, if you don’t have a teacher you can’t have a disciple. Another way of putting this is to say that our greatest challenge is to recover Jesus the Teacher. So that means, whatever I am, whoever I am, I take Him into my whole life as my Lord. And by that I mean they’re learning from Him how to live their life, as He would live their life if He were they. The greatest challenge the church faces today is to be authentic disciples of Jesus. : “What are the most critical challenges facing the modern church?” In this first installment of a three-part interview, RELEVANT’s Keith Giles speaks candidly with Willard about these two opposing theologies and the state of modern Christianity today. In short, Willard’s ideas confront the modern-day theological practice of atonement-centered Christianity rather than disciple-making Christianity. Not for any overtly radical teachings or practices, but simply because of his call for the Church to return to more Christ-centered living and practice. Having spent over 30 years as a professor of Philosophy at USC, Willard has become known as something of a controversial figure in Christian circles. That has meant stepping down from a pastorate involved in trying to attract people to his church, and immersing himself into the culture around him armed only with a Bible and a desire to make his faith more real. ![]() Dallas Willard has spent the best part of his life getting down to business.
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