Author DALLAS WILLARD
Publisher HARPER ONE
ISBN 0-06-069333-6
This is a book I have often seen on shelves in bookstores. I am aware that some people regard Willard as “one of those writers popular with emerging church people,” the insinuation being that he is off the mark as far as the staunch evangelical is concerned. Well, having gone through this book it seems to me that such a judgment is rather harsh. This book is probably the most well known of this authors popular writings, it is subtitled “Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God” and is basically a walk through what is known as the sermon on the mount found in Matthew’s gospel chapters five through seven. It is a call back to the Christian life of discipleship as spoken of by Jesus in those chapters. Willard’s style is engaging, never harsh, and brilliantly perceptive at times; even prophetic in the way he analyzes the charismatic, evangelical church scene as it is to be found today. He weaves together a number of things in his Biblical teaching including observations from popular culture, science, some historical pointers, quotes from other writers of various eras and here and there a little poetry too. All this is linked with a gentle but insistent call to practical spiritual life instead of easy believism. He grasps the central teachings of the Lord in those Matthew chapters and imbues them with some fresh perspectives and insight. Especially good is the way he emphasizes the unfolding order in the sermon. As he does so he shows how relevant the Lord’s teachings are to every area of life and the fact that the majority of the world in which we live is shaped and affected by the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Willard shows that Jesus is the most important person who ever lived in this regard too. There is a section on the subject of the popular methods of ‘sin management’ as taught and practiced by the some churches today, again, and with gentle irony he exposes the fallacies in them. Along with this is a good critique of the idea that the principle purpose of Christianity is to guarantee us a safe passage to, and a place in heaven. Remember that this author is writing in the context of a milieu of Western, and principally American Christianity and he brings a whole lot of instruments to bear as he seeks to expose and cut out its weaknesses. Although practical discipleship is the central theme of this book Willard roots this firmly in the heart and spirit, it is not obedience to a legal code but can only be accomplished by God as we become children of the Father and cooperate with Him. He does not major on this vital of points present in the sermon, namely, the Fatherhood of God and His nature being thus manifested in His true children but the sense that without God working in us there is no possibility of the change coming is present; living the sermon is not self generated but comes from God is Willard’s understanding. This book is long, four hundred pages, but it is readable and understandable too. Finally, to again emphasize, this author’s emphasis is not that the sermon on the mount is a set of standards to be lived up to, but is the normal and increasing manifestation of the life of a disciple of Jesus and a son of the Father.
