In 1978 Richard Foster penned Celebration of Discipline, which has become somewhat of a classic book in the field of Spiritual Disciplines. After thirty years, Celebration contines to be a widely read text on the discipline of the spiritual life. I personally found myself reading it as an assignment for a study group I am currently participating in. The book breaks down somewhat expectedly with a chapter devoted to each of the spiritual disciplines he addresses and the chapters themselves seperated into three parts. Part One deals with the inward disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. Part two deals with the outward disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. Part three addresses the corporate disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.
Much can be gained from Foster’s work which is well researched and well documented (over 100 citations). Foster’s experiential and academic knowledge of the spiritual disciplines cannot be questioned when one takes into account the immense time and study that he has put into this volume. His chapters on fasing and simplicity spoke loudest into my life, probably because they are two disciplines where I struggle the most.
I was somewhat bothered by the inherit charismatic and spiritual leanings in Foster’s writing. Of course he comes from a different faith tradition than I, but I am still inclined to question some of his assertions. For instance, in his chapter on prayer, Foster writes:
In physical matters we always tend to pray for the most difficult situations first: terminal cancer or multiple sclerosis. But when we listen, we will learn the importance of beginning with smaller things like colds or earaches. Success in the small corners of life gives us authority in the larger matters (pg. 39).
I’m not certain that “success” in prayer leads to any kind of authority. After all, it is not our authority in prayer that brings about healing, it is the authority of the One to whom we pray. Further on the issue of prayer, Foster continues:
The inner sense of compassion is one of the clearest indications from the Lord that this is a prayer project for you. In times of meditation there may come a rise in the heart, a compulsion to intercede, an assurance of rightness, a flow of the Spirit. This inner “yes” is the divine authorization for you to pray for the person or situation. If the idea is accompanied with a sense of dread, then probably you should set it aside. God will lead someone else to pray for the matter (pg. 40).
In the statement above, Foster must find it difficult to reconcile his views with the command of Jesus to pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
Like most books, there are problems with Celebration of Discipline. However, it is a good book to remind us that the Spiritual Disciplines are not simply something that happens to you, they are something you do. Foster points out that “in the spiritual life, only one thing will produce genuine joy, and that is obedience” (pg. 192). Obedience to Christ requires discipline of life and it is this discipline that Foster seeks to celebrate.
In the end, you will benefit from reading this book and others that focus on the Spiritual Disciplines. However, if you have time to read only one book on the Spiritual Disciplines, I would Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life or John Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God.
