Willard Wednesdays

On making disciples....

"In life, some things that can be pushed cannot be pulled.  Making disciples is a matter of pulling people, of drawing them in through who we are and what we say.

Disciples are those who have been so ravished with Christ that others want to be like them. Others look at those disciples' life in the kingdom of God, and they say, 'This is the best thing I ever saw in my life.  I must have that.' "

"What do the pastors and other spokespersons for Christ do?  They bring the life of the kingdom to other people.  They bring that life in themselves.  That's what Jesus himself said, and that's what he did.  When he came, he said, 'Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.'  What was at hand?  The kingdom that was in him.  As people looked at him and listened to him, they realized that the kingdom of God was there and that it was available to them, and they became disciples of Jesus because of that.  Pastors and spokepersons for Christ exemplify eternal living and bring it to bear on everything around them.  Eternal life is the life we have now, because our life is caught up in God's life."  

-Dallas Willard,  Living in Christ's Presence