In The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship, Dallas Willard magnificently preaches a simple and basic message on discipleship, of which is commonly missing and misunderstood in many churches today.
I love the way that he breaks down the misconception that there are different levels in being a Christian, since this is the exact problem that has made discipleship an option, rather than a baseline requirement for being Christian (i.e. this is the great omission that he is talking about). I appreciate the fact that he is not just calling Christians to change, but that he is actually expanding the scope and call to all people by emphasizing that following Christ is “the fulfillment of the highest human possibilities” (Location 312).
Furthermore, he uses the metaphor of training, or staying “in shape” when discussing spiritual disciplines. Although I have commonly heard and taught on the fact that our spiritual life is like the running of a race and that we need to train for this; for some reason, I never made the direct and deeper connection to spiritual disciplines. I always considered spiritual disciplines to be an out working of my love and devotion to God – a way to spend time with God. Although the latter is true, so is the former. Spiritual disciplines are training to keep us spiritually “in shape,” so that our bodies would be poised to do what Christ would do when the occasion arises. Consequently, as much as spiritual disciplines are training, they are also the places where I meet regularly with God to learn to be his disciple in Kingdom living.
Rather than zealously going out and seeking to convert all people, what if we first looked in the mirror and began with ourselves: to see where we are not living in line with the way of Jesus. After all, going and making disciples presupposes that we are, first of all, disciples with “some substance of the Christ-life, the person of Jesus himself” (Location 3241). Rather than focusing on going and changing the church and the world, what if we first focused on becoming disciples of Jesus – wouldn’t then the church and the world be different?
Consequently, I give this book 3 stars out of 5.
Although there are so many gems and nuggets in this book, I felt like there was too much repetition between the chapters. Albeit, the repetition did reveal his main points, but from a literary standpoint of flow, there was just too much repetition. On the other hand, check out his Renovation of the Heart and The Divine Conspiracy – both of which I would rate higher.