I spent an hour or so yesterday digging into one of my favorite books about Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline. While I don’t always agree with Richard Foster, and while the expressions of worship he prefers sometimes differ from my own, few books outside the Bible and the perennial classic Ordering Your Private World have done more to guide my spiritual growth.
One of the chapters I re-read yesterday focused on the spiritual discipline of simplicity. Foster wrote these words when I was three years old, but they ring as true (if not truer) now as they did then. After insisting that this, like all elements of genuine spirituality, begins with the heart and not with legalistic rules, he goes on to point out ten practical applications for a life that resonates with simplicity:
- Buy things because they’re useful, not because they’re impressive (“Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.”)
- Reject anything that produces an addiction (“Any[thing] you find you cannot do without, get rid of [it].”)
- Develop a habit of giving things away (“De-accumulate!... Most of us could get rid of half our possessions without any serious sacrifice.”)
- Refuse to be deceived into constantly upgrading (“Propagandists try to convince us that because the newest model… has a new feature, we must sell the old one and buy the new one… Such media dogma needs to be carefully scrutinized.”)
- Learn to enjoy things without owning them (“Owning things is an obsession in our culture. If we own it, we feel we can control it; and if we can control it, we feel it will give us more pleasure. The idea is an illusion.”)
- Avoid debt (“Look with a healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes… They are a trap and only deepen your bondage.”)
- Pursue honesty in your speech (“If you consent to do a task, do it. Avoid flattery and half-truths.”)
- Reject anything that contributes to oppression (“In a world of limited resources, does our lust for wealth mean the poverty of others?”)
- Turn away from anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God (“It is so easy to lose focus in the pursuit of legitimate, even good things.”)
As you read Foster’s words, does your soul leap as you see how God is shaping you for simplicity in these areas? Or is there an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach as you realize you’re missing the mark of living an authentically simple life?
If you’re like me, it’s a little of both. Today, pursue Christ and let simplicity be one of the disciplines your pursuit of him produces.
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