The Cost of Nondiscipleship; excerpts from The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard
3. We have neglected the very command Christ gave us. He says to make disciples, we have failed. We have substituted genuine Christian growth and maturity for increasing numbers in attendance and membership in the church. Everyone says that discipleship is important, but our actions don’t reflect this attitude.
More and more I realize that I, too, am in need of discipleship. I am not an island to myself, nor have I lived long enough to know all there is to know about faith and love. All I know is that the victorious Christian life the Bible describes is not being lived out like it should. I am a part of a broken world that is continually falling, and we Christians are conceding to it.
LORD, you have set me apart from this world, called me holy and belonging to you. Let this be evident and true in all I do and all I say. I want to be more like you, and I want to do that which you have called me to do. I want to be a disciple and a disciple-maker. I want to live victoriously through Christ’s sacrifice.
4-5. “And if we intend to become like Christ, that will be obvious to every thoughtful person around us, as well as to ourselves.” That is a challenging take on becoming a disciple of Christ. I am my own worst critic when it comes to comparing myself with Christ. How can I, knowing all my sins and all my baggage say that I’m becoming more and more like Christ?
Though maybe it is possible. Maybe one can see his own self becoming like Christ when someone else can point it out to him. This thing of discipleship clearly has a relational component to it. As Jesus discipled the twelve, and the Apostles discipled the early Church, we are meant to be in a discipling relationship, both as a discipler and a disciplee. It takes encouragement and guidance, rebuke and restoration, a heavenly relationship that can speak into one another and bring each other closer to Christ. I think this is the picture of true community and fellowship. I think this is the true picture of Church.
I want to become more like Christ. Let my relationships push me towards that, and let my words and action push others toward that as well.
6. There is a cost to being a disciple. One must give up his own rights, deny himself of things he might otherwise want when he lives for himself. But the cost of not being a disciple, Willard points out, is to give up the joy of Christian life Jesus promises to his disciples. Willard says that nondiscipleship costs peace, love, faith, hope and power. Discipleship prevents the person from having the Fruit of the Spirit.
Your gift of discipleship is more valuable than my own desires of the flesh. The wonderful cross bids be come and die to find that I may truly live. Help me to put to death my selfish and sinful flesh. I want Christ to live in me.
