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Dear Friends,
We hear shrill voices from all quarters warning
of crises of all sorts. The crisis in world hunger!
Crisis in the political arena! Environmental crisis!
Financial crisis! Urban crisis! Crisis in the
family! And I am sure there is much to be said
in all these areas, and more. But we so often
fail to see the dire predicament—crisis if you
will—we are facing in the area of Christian spirituality.
To begin with, we have a whole proliferation of
spiritualities not rooted in Jesus Christ which
have sprung up out of the desperate hunger for
something—anything—that offers even the slimmest
hope of leading people into spiritual reality.
Some are so silly that you have to shake your
head in astonishment. Many draw from old animistic
religions which rightly call us to a respect for
creation, but then move into an unqualified reverence
of creation, and finally into an unholy deification
of creation.
These spiritualities are a smorgasbord of beliefs—some
foolish, some more sophisticated—however they
hold a common pantheistic base which begins by
saying "God is in creation" and moves to affirming
"Creation is God" and finally ends up with the
idolatry of "I am God." In virtually all cases
these spiritualities lack the great biblical confession
of the transcendence of God, that is, God is above
and beyond us in every way. The Bible always holds
in creative tension God's utter transcendence
(God is wholly other than us) with his wonderful
immanence (God has freely chosen to draw near
to us, to commune with us, to teach us, and to
shepherd us).
The reasons for this explosion of spiritualities
is varied and complex, but clearly a contributing
factor has be Christianity's failure in the twentieth
century to show forth a profound spirituality
that is deeply rooted in the resurrected Christ
and which offers a living and vital union with
him in the midst of everyday life. There are obvious
exceptions to this—I think of the American writer
A. W. Tozer, the Chinese preacher Watchman Nee,
and the living example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta—but
these sterling examples only underscore our overall
poverty of spirit. The tragedy—and the real crisis—is
that our churches today have been taken over by
what Dr. Dallas Willard calls a "Theology of Sin
Management." Let me give you just two examples
of how this has worked its way out in our day.
Rejecting Christ as Teacher. At the turn
of the century there was a huge debate among Christians
called the Modernist/Fundamentalist controversy.
There were many dimensions to this struggle, but
the thing I want to focus upon here is how both
groups ended up rejecting Christ as our pattern
for living. The modernists said, "We reject Jesus
as the Son of God but affirm him as a great moral
teacher." Now, the truth of the matter is that
they meant "teacher" only in the sense of someone
who taught ethical things about loving enemies,
etc., but not in the sense of someone you should
pattern your life after with appropriate disciplines
of prayer, solitude, fasting, and more that conform
to the overall way Christ himself lived when here
in the flesh.
Fundamentalists
reacted strongly to the liberal notion of Jesus
as merely a "great moral teacher" and distanced
themselves from any idea of Jesus as Teacher.
Therefore, when they stressed orthodox theological
formulation (i.e. the virgin birth, the deity
of Christ, etc.) they failed to connect this with
a way of life that imitates Jesus as our Teacher
for living. The result was an almost total loss
of the ancient practice of the imitatio Christus,
the imitation of Christ. (There is a reason, you
see, why Thomas à Kempis' book The Imitation
of Christ has been the unchallenged devotional
masterpiece for Christians in every century since
its publication except our own.)
We still suffer from this rejection of Jesus as
Teacher by both the left and the right. It is
a crisis in our spirituality. Without a way of
living patterned in its general outlines upon
the way Jesus himself lived when among us in human
form with disciplines appropriate for that life,
we simply will not be able to introduce people
into the abundant life Jesus welcomes us to experience.
Rethinking
Evangelism. A second major area contributing
to our crisis in spirituality has to do with the
way evangelism developed in our century. Without
wanting in any way to depreciate the sacrificial
efforts of myriads of evangelists and all the
good that has come from those efforts, we must
say that evangelism in our day has focused almost
entirely upon how to get people into heaven when
they die. As a result evangelism in our day has
reached the point of diminishing returns for thoughtful
people have to ask, "What am I to be converted
to?" And even in the more recent controversy over
"Lordship Salvation" (whether you "accept Jesus
as your Savior" or whether you must "accept Jesus
as your Savior and Lord"), the issue has remained
one of discovering what things are essential for
getting into heaven when we die. (1)
To be sure, getting into heaven is an issue of
great significance. But it is never the center
of Jesus' call to discipleship, and is, in fact,
cared for when we accept his call to be his disciple.
The good news of the gospel is, "Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand"; that is, "accept
Jesus as your life," be yoked together with him,
walking "in his steps," and imitating him who
is "the way, the truth, and the life."
This "eternal life" which is to "know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have
sent" concerns itself less with getting us into
heaven than it does with getting heaven into us.
And so we enter into this ongoing life, this life
"born from above," this life given by the grace
of God which is unearned and unearnable, this
life in which we are saved by his death and live
by his resurrection, this life that progresses
from faith to faith—from the faith we have to
the faith we are about to receive, this life of
growth in grace in which we are increasingly formed
and conformed into the image of Christ. When this
eternal life takes hold; when righteous, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit pervades everything;
when out of our innermost being flows love and
joy and peace and all the fruit of the Spirit;
we find that death becomes merely a minor transition
from this life to greater Life.
There are two great theological words that capture
what I have been describing: justification (dealing
with our acceptance and right standing with God)
and sanctification (dealing with our growth in
grace into the likeness of Christ). The point
I want to make here is that justification and
sanctification are like two sides to the same
door: you enter into the experience of both as
you go through the door. It isn't like we can
get one without the other. To say this does not
mean that we are perfect the moment we are yoked
to Christ in discipleship. Far from it. But it
does mean that we sign up for the whole deal when
we commit ourselves to Christ.
When Jesus gave us his "Great Commission" manifesto
he was not referring to evangelism as we narrowly
define it. He called us to make "disciples of
all peoples" and to "teach them to observe all
things whatsoever I command you." The best way
I have of describing the idea of "disciple" is
by our English word "apprentice." For a time I
was an apprentice electrician and my job was to
go with the journeyman and listen to what the
journeyman said and observe what the journeyman
did and try to do it the way the journeyman did
it. So it is in our life with Christ. We are yoked
to him, listening, watching, and doing.
In
this way we will develop what Thomas à Kempis
calls "a familiar friendship with Jesus." And
in so doing we will have a vital spirituality
that will welcome people into "the depths of Jesus
Christ." This is what people hunger for today.
This is what will revitalize Christians and bring
in the revival for which we all long. This is
what will overcome the superficial spiritualities
of our day that are groping for reality. May God
allow us to enter so deeply into this way of walking
and living that we will be like a city set on
a hill radiating his life and light.
Now,
To More Mundane Matters. So much has occurred
since I last wrote. In the spring I had an exhausting
and marvelous trip to England, Sweden, and Germany.
In each place I was touched by the receptiveness
of so many. I was particularly impressed with
the British Christian scene and their eager embrace
of the RENOVARÉ vision. It seemed like people
understood almost instinctively what I was talking
about. Perhaps it has to do with deeper historical
roots. At any rate we are actively discussing
a British RENOVARÉ that would be fully British
in leadership and expression. To accomplish this
will take a huge outlay of time and energy, especially
initially, so prayers for wisdom are in order.
This summer we made the move to Denver, Colorado—families
and office—and feel positioned well for ministry
here in the US and beyond, even with the new airport
still nonfunctional! Just in case you have yet
to write down our new office address: 8 Inverness
Drive East, Suite 102, Englewood, CO 80112-5609.
Donn Thomas and I had delightful times leading
RENOVARÉ Retreats. We were together in Colorado
Springs where people were incredibly gracious
as I was dealing with my brother's illness, and
then Donn took over at the retreat in Kansas City
so I could care for family matters in the wake
of my brother's death.
We have had some wonderful RENOVARÉ Regional Conferences
this fall. In Portland, Oregon, I was encouraged
by the vigorous efforts of schools like Western
Seminary, Warner Pacific College, and Western
Evangelical Seminary to incorporate serious Spiritual
Formation into their curriculum. In Hammond, Indiana,
I was touched by a wonderful contingent of pastors
seeking hard after God. In Edmonds, Washington,
I found Methodists in large numbers really seeking
the kind of life with God that was true of John
Wesley and his early societies. And in Salem,
Oregon, I saw a hungering for discipleship that
almost took my breath away.
And, speaking of taking away one's breath, I was
overcome by the power-filled worship at our recent
Board of Trustees meeting following the Salem
conference. As Donn Thomas led us in worship I
(who seldom cry) began weeping and wept even more
as Marti Ensign preached and was completely overcome
as Bill Vaswig led us in the Lord's Supper. Actually
we were all touched to one extent or another,
weeping and laughing and enjoying God. For me
something happened deep inside that I am still
coming to understand.
At this meeting we approved three new team members:
Gayle Withnell of Salem, Oregon (Christian Missionary
Alliance), Bob Howey of Denver, Colorado (Presbyterian),
and Emilie Griffin of New Orleans, Louisiana (Roman
Catholic). I am thrilled at the resources they
will bring, adding to the efforts of the seven
that are already in place.
We also approved the establishment of RENOVARÉ
Local Conferences where an individual team member
will come to a local church setting to work for
renewal. Hopefully this will help groups who are
not prepared to sponsor a Regional Conference
as well as groups wanting follow-up experiences
to the Regional Conference. Call or write for
more information.
Also, we discussed a National Conference . . .
and the need to develop new resources . . . and
growing staff needs to meet the demands . . .
and the open doors in various countries . . .
and . . . and . . . and . . .
We
are laboring with all our might to speak to the
crisis in spirituality that we feel so keenly.
To continue we need your financial support. Pray,
will you, about this ministry and what it means
to you. And out of an ever enlarged heart will
you give generously, joyously, and sacrificially.
Peace and joy,
Richard J. Foster
P.S. Want to have a RENOVARÉ Local Conference,
a RENOVARÉ Retreat, or a RENOVARÉ Regional Conference
in your area? Call us at 303-792-0152 and we'll
discuss it with you. P.P.S. We try to send materials
only to those who desire them, and so once a year
we give opportunity for people to request that
their name be removed from our mailing list. If
that is your wish, feel free to check the appropriate
box on the attached form and return it to us.
(1)
Dallas Willard explores this issue in detail in
a forthcoming book on the kingdom of God.
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