We have a book we are reading this summer as a staff at the school where I work. Some years are better than others, but most of the books our Head of School chooses, I have loved and benefited from quite a bit. It I had a better memory, I'm sure my life would be applying more of the content not only in my counseling office and my classroom, but also in my life! This year we are reading a book by a brilliant man, a man with such obvious humility and wisdom that is combined with a genuine love for the Lord. The book is called The Great Omission by Dallas Willard. I don't want to expound on anything too much, but instead to just leave a few quotes for you to ponder...the premise of the book is that there is a great difference between those who are converted to Christianity and those who are disciples of Jesus. To say you believe in Him as a fact is not the same as following His life and becoming more like Him. So here are a few nuggets:
"Jesus is actually looking for people he can trust with His power. He knows that otherwise we remain largely helpless in the face of the organized and disorganized evils around us..."
"However we may understand the details, there can be no doubt, on the biblical picture of human life, that we were meant to be inhabited by God, and to live by a power beyond ourselves. Human problems cannot be solved by human means...but only constant students of Jesus will be given adequate power to fulfill their calling to be God's person for their time and their place in this world. They are the only ones who develop the character which makes it safe to have such power."
"In our culture, and among Christians as well, Jesus Christ is automatically disassociated from brilliance or intellectual capacity. Not one in a thousand will spontaneously think of Him in conjunction with words such as 'well informed,' 'brilliant,' or 'smart.'...What lies at the heart of the astonishing disregard of Jesus found in the moment-to-moment existence of multitudes of professing Christians is a simple lack of respect for Him. He is not seriously taken to be a person of great ability."
One more thought I appreciated is his firm stance on our responsibility in this transformation. In our becoming more like Jesus, we must make an effort and be a part of the relationship. To often we falsely believe that God must just drop down His power, motivation and inspiration down upon our heads...then we will be mighty Christians who leave a transforming ripple effect on the universe. Wrong. Nothing in life works this way. In this, he addresses the disciplines of the faith. In a clarifying statement he says,
"The emphasis in this dimension of spiritual transformation is upon our efforts. True, we are given much, and without grace we can do nothing, but our action is also required. 'Try your hardest,' Peter directs us (II Peter 1:5)...We should not only want to be merciful, kind, unassuming, and patient persons but also making plans to become so. We are to find out, that is, what prevents and what promotes mercifulness and kindness and patience in our souls, and we are meant to remove hindrances to them as much as possible, carefully substituting that which assists Christ-likeness."
"We will come to understand that for the most part our hurry is really based upon pride, self-importance, fear, and lack of faith, and rarely upon the production of anything of true value for anyone."
Wow. It seems we can be on the same track for years of our life and never stop and ask some of these invaluable questions. It is like we don't even know what it means to follow Jesus. No wonder the watching world is not really that drawn to us, and more importantly to Him. We are living like atheists. It's quite sad. But we have access to life-giving, life-changing power. He has promised abundant life and we settle for dull colors and a bland existence. Ask for more...Put effort into it. Eat of the richest of fare.
