Introductory Note:
Forty years ago, traditional ways of growing in grace that had nurtured believers for almost two thousand years had largely fallen by the wayside of western Christianity. Yet, many had a strong desire to find practices to enter ever more fully and deeply into Christlikeness. Richard Foster penned Celebration of Discipline as a response to this increasing need.
Renovaré Team
Excerpt from Celebration of Discipline
Still, today, some forty years later, we can thank God for steps forward. Many no longer find “spiritual discipline” to be negative and off-putting. Vast numbers of ordinary folk have taken into their own lives Disciplines of the spiritual life that reflect the overall life of Jesus himself. And, they have indeed discovered these Spiritual Disciplines to be the means of God’s grace for the formation and transformation of heart and mind and spirit and body and soul. They have actually made progress forward in the spiritual life. What a wonder! What a grace! I thank God.
Now, let’s consider together whether Celebration of Discipline is relevant to our cultural context today. So much has changed in the last four decades. Perhaps most important is the explosion of information technologies in our day. Nevertheless, and this is the crucial point, nothing in these amazing technologies touches the substance of the human personality. Our moral deficiencies are as glaring as ever … perhaps even more so, as a consuming pride grows stronger with every advance we make. Deep inside we still long for freedom from anger and bitterness and hostility. None of our gadgets are able to overcome the deep, destructive habit structures that reside in our souls. No technology is able to produce the character transformation we so desperately need. The gnawing hunger for the spiritual realities of love and joy and peace remains.
Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline (40th Anniversary Edition). HarperOne, 2018.
