Dallas Willard Interview

Relevant Magazine recently did an interview with Dallas Willard, one of my favourite authors/theologians. It was especially good timing for me to read this interview because I've been thinking a lot about various issues that Willard does a brilliant job of explaining and expanding on, particularly in the area of spiritual disciplines. Rather than being an old fashioned idea of strict piety that only 18th Century puritans practiced, spiritual disciplines (as Willard explains in "The Spirit of the Disciplines" and in various articles) are a means of putting ourselves into contact with the resources that God has given us to truly walk in the way of Jesus. These practices are especially appropriate and relevant for us today. Personally, I'm ready to take my own spiritual discipline to a new level. Regular prayer and Bible study are good, but things like fasting and solitude help us clear the air from the excessive noise and clutter that seems to build up in 21st Century life.

Okay, so I'm sticking my neck out a bit to be blogging about this, realizing that the 3 of you who actually visit my blog site may hold me to the things I'm talking about. Which actually brings up another point about spiritual discipline that Willard suprisingly brings up in the Relevant article. Individual spiritual disciplines alone are NOT enough. I believe (though Willard doesn't get this explicit, and it's something that he doesn't seem to mention much in his writing) that in order for spiritual disciplines to be maximised, they must be practiced in the context of community, that is, in relationships with other believers.

Go ahead. I dare you to ask how one practices solitude in the context of community . . . .