What you present as the gospel will determine what you present as discipleship. If you present as the gospel what is essentially a theory of the atonement, and you say, ‘If you accept this theory of the atonement, your sins are forgiven, and when you die you will be received into heaven,’ there is no basis for discipleship. Dallas Willard Read Quote
We Christians should be aware that there’s something at stake in cultural participation that we wouldn’t have been concerned about if all we did was worry about the messages in culture. Dallas Willard Read Quote
What sometimes goes on in all sorts of Christian institutions is not formation of people in the character of Christ; it’s teaching of outward conformity. You don’t get in trouble for not having the character of Christ, but you do if you don’t obey the laws. Dallas Willard Read Quote
The core of the person is what he or she loves, and that is bound up with what they worship – that insight recalibrates the radar for cultural analysis. The rituals and practices that form our loves spill out well beyond the sanctuary. Many secular liturgies are trying to get us to love some other kingdom and some other gods. Dallas Willard Read Quote
God may not guide us in an obvious way because he wants us to make decisions based on faith and character. Dallas Willard Read Quote
Discipleship’ as a term has lost its content, and this is one reason why it has been moved aside. I’ve tried to redeem the idea of discipleship, and I think it can be done; you have to get it out of the contemporary mode. Dallas Willard Read Quote
I believe that every human being is sufficiently depraved that when we get to Heaven, no one will be able to say, ‘I merited this.’ Dallas Willard Read Quote
So many people would like to have guidance from God because obviously, if you have a word from God, it’s the best possible thing. But they don’t relate that to life as a whole. Often they want guidance as a way of opting out of the responsibility of making decisions. Dallas Willard Read Quote
