The Great Omission: Discipleship vs. Conversion

There is one book that is shaping me more than any other right now: The Great Omission by Dallas Willard. This is a book that must be read slowly and deeply. It is not a hard read, or rigorous on Biblical exegesis or anything, it is just that every sentence is thought through, and infused with beautiful, life-challenging, Jesus-centered meaning. Ever sentence.

What is it about? It can be summed up in its first sentence:

The word 'disciple' occurs 269 times in the New Testament. 'Christian' is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus.

The books goes on to challenge us to be people who are apprentices of Jesus, practitioners of his teachings, disciples (lit. Learners) of the Greatest Rabbi who ever lived. The foundation of this book is a challenge to easy-believism and a Christianity that focuses on conversion without focusing on transformation into Christ-likeness. He argues that Biblically there is no such thing. The following are three paragraphs from one chapter. The depth of which has effected my thinking deeply.

There is absolutely nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that suggests you can decide just to enjoy forgiveness at Jesus' expense and have nothing more to do with him. Some years ago, A.W. Tozer expressed his "feelings that a notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles--the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to him as Lord as long as we want to!

This heresy has created the impression that it is quite reasonable to be a "vampire Christian." One in effect says to Jesus, "I'd like a little of your blood please. But I don't care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won't you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I'll see you in heaven." But can we really imagine that this is an approach that Jesus finds acceptable?

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 the world. They are the only ones who develop the character, which makes it safe to have such power. But, someone will say, can I not be “saved”—that is, get into heaven when I die—without any of this [discipleship]? Perhaps you can. God’s goodness is so great, I am sure that He will let you in if He can find any basis at all to do so. But you might wish to think about what your life amounts to before you die, about what kind of person you are becoming, and about whether you really would be comfortable for eternity in the presence of One whose company you have not found especially desirable for the few hours and days of your earthly existence.