Salvation or Discipleship

I have read three books by Dallas Willard and started a fourth.  I started the fourth one first and just could not get through it, The Divine Conspiracy was the book.  It was the third book of a trilogy.  I have, since trying to read Divine Conspiracy, read the first two books of the trilogy, Hearing God and The Spirit of the Disciplines.  Last week I met with a friend who essentially invested last year reading through Divine Conspiracy.  That meeting challenged me to engage again.

This time is different.  It may be that I have read three of his other books now.  But I am more in sync with what he is sharing than I was a few years ago.  All of his books require thought.  That is one of the things I appreciate about them.  This one is causing me to ask some hard questions.

Let me pose one to you.  If a person says that they are a Christian but are not a disciple of Christ, a follower of Him, His apprentice, are they truly a Christian?  Christ’s directive to us in Matthew 28:18 – 20 was to make disciples.  That is the imperative in the original, not go, make disciples.  If that is the charge, should that not be the focus of the community?  When is the last time you heard the notion of discipleship discussed or presented in your community?  Is it the central organizing principle of your community or something in which to engage after conversion?

Suppose we were to build our communities and our families around Christ’s command to make disciples, would that make a difference in how we function?  If so how?  If so why are we not doing that?