IRVING, Texas (ABP) — By teaching forgiveness without discipleship, many churches are distorting Christ's message and creating “nominal Christians,” according to author and professor Dallas Willard.
Pastors are preaching alternative “gospels” that do not reflect the true meaning of Christ's message, Willard said. Conservative ministers present Christ's work as one that provides forgiveness of sins. Liberals emphasize a “gospel of liberation.” Other ministers present a “gospel of the church” that says the church will take care of believers if they take care of the church.
Christ's work is liberating and enables the forgiveness of sins, but the gospel is that salvation brings “life now in the kingdom of God,” where God's will is followed, said Willard, professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California. Jesus called people to rethink their lives because they can now move into “God's effective will.”
“The root of nominal Christianity is people have moved away from a gospel of life and replaced it with something else,” Willard said during Epicenter, a Baptist General Convention of Texas evangelism and missions conference.
“If you're preaching the gospel as forgiveness of sins because Jesus died for you, what you will have is nominal Christians you will have to prod to get going.”
The availability of the kingdom is the only message that leads to character transformation through discipleship, Willard said. The gospel encourages people to trust Jesus for life in God's will.
“I think there will be a lot of people who will be in heaven who believe that [Jesus died for their sins],” Willard said. “I think they will have a lot of catching up to do because they are not all that different from those in the other place.
“Who he was is much bigger than that. What he offers and calls people to do is trust Jesus.”
Trusting Jesus involves rethinking one's life, becoming humble and being born from above, Willard said. God will assist people in following his will and changing their lives through grace, a term the author described as God helping individuals accomplish what they could not do on their own.
Churches can correct the creation of nominal Christians by intentionally forming disciples, which Willard described as apprentices of Jesus. This is done by depicting a clear picture of “new life” through trusting Jesus, including many of the disciplines – prayer, Scripture memorization, fasting and worship – that strengthen spiritual lives.
“As a disciple of Jesus I am to lead my life in the kingdom of heavens as he would lead my life if he was I,” he said.
To accomplish this goal, many churches need to rethink what they are doing and focus all efforts on following the Great Commission of sharing the gospel and creating disciples, Willard said. “What we need is people who are more Christ-like,” Willard said.