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Dear Friends,
In the first year of the new century and millennium
I have been writing to you on the issue of the
Reformation of the Heart which focuses
upon a vital, daily obedience to Jesus Christ
as the result of transformed personality. The
transformation of personality is essential, of
course, otherwise we will lack the power, the
moral habits, and the inclination to obey Christ
in all things and at all times. There are many
facets to such a transforming work, but from a
human standpoint it always involves both affirming
action (things we do) and abstaining action (things
that we do not do). Over the years a large percentage
of my writing and public discourse has worked
on the affirmative side of this equation, and
it is well that it should. But in this pastoral
letter I want to work on some of the abstaining
action we must undertake if we are to prepare
ourselves for a Reformation of the Heart.
I am concerned that we think together about the
idols of our day. Now, I know that this is
not a feel-good topic, and yet if we do not clearly
identify the reigning idols of contemporary culture
we will forever be at their mercy and unable to
obey the very first of the Ten Commandments, namely,
"you shall have no other gods before me" (Exod.
20:3).
The idols of modern society are legion, and in
this brief letter I must not even try to touch
on them all. But I do want to think with you about
three of the most pervasive in the hope that this
will enable us to look at the world with a view
to naming the many modern idols that vie for our
allegiance. And once the reigning idolatries of
our day are named (and thereby identified) we
can, in the power of the Spirit, defeat them in
the Name that is above every name, Jesus, the
Christ.
The
Idol of Personal Autonomy. For vast numbers
today the ultimate goal in life is personal autonomy:
the power to do my own thing, define my own future,
determine my own fate. "I've gotta be me," "I
did it my way," "watch out for number one," "if
it's gonna be, it's up to me" all characterize
this idolatry. The driving impulse of this unholy
trinity of Me, Myself, and I is freedom without
responsibility. It spreads throughout the land
by means of the numerous miniature, self-idols
that people carry with them every day: self-indulgence,
self-promotion, self-will, self-sufficiency, self-preservation,
self-gratification, self-service, self-aggrandizement,
self-righteousness, and more.
The
idolatry of personal autonomy pervades our entire
culture: from the New Age mumbo jumbo that "I
am God" to the self-help books that assure me
I can be and do anything and everything. (Which
brings to mind a corrective jingle: "They showed
him the thing that couldn't be done,/ And with
a smile he went right to it./ He tackled that
thing that couldn't be done./ And found out he
couldn't do it.")
How
very different the biblical and Christian vision
of personality and self-hood. Here we are called
to deny ourselves and take up our cross, to seek
first God's kingdom and righteousness, to "do
nothing from selfish ambition or conceit" (Mark
8:34, Matt. 6:33, Phil. 2:3). Here we are called
into a community life of mutual-love, mutual-care,
and mutual-responsibility.
Our
good friend and counselor, the Apostle Paul, puts
it well, "Let each of you look not to your own
interests, but to the interests of others" (Phil.
2:4). Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives us a contemporary
commentary on this reality when he speaks of Christ
as the "man for others," the One in whom all deliberations,
all decisions, all actions are based on relationship
to others. And we are called to be "people for
others," to live in "existence for others through
participation in the being of Jesus. The church
is the church only when it exists for others."
We
defeat the idol of personal autonomy by compassion
and service. Compassion turns us toward
the good of others. Service allows us to enter
the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves.
Together they draw us into the gospel paradox
of finding our life by losing it.
The
Idol of Pleasure. Closely tied to the idol
of personal autonomy is the idol of pleasure.
Pleasure, of course, has to do with good feelings
and there is nothing wrong with feeling good,
but that has to be brought to an easy place in
our life where it does not control us. Pleasure
becomes an idolatry when it becomes an absolute
right, demanded at all times and under all circumstances.
"I want what I want when I want it" becomes its
trumpet call.
In
Western culture (strangely enough) pleasure is
intimately connected with material possessions.
The irrational belief of modern society is that
masses of things will produce pleasure, and so
the pleasure god and the consumer god are found
to be two heads of the same idol. Our attachment
to things fuels in us an endless appetite for
more: more money, more power, more toys. More.
More. More. We can never get enough. Never.
This
lust for things has reached the level of psychosis
in contemporary culture. It is psychotic because
it has completely lost touch with reality. We
crave things we neither need nor enjoy. "We buy
things we do not want to impress people we do
not like," writes Art Gish. Where planned obsolescence
leaves off, psychological obsolescence takes over.
We are made to feel ashamed to wear clothes or
drive cars until they are worn out. Our lust for
affluence has convinced us that to be out of step
with fashion is to be out of step with reality.
It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity
to a sick society is to be sick.
In large measure the pleasure impulse is linked
to the consumer impulse because of our deep-seated
feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. Surely
a little more of this or a little more of that
will give us the security we desire or the status
we crave. But, of course, things can never deliver,
because insecurity and inadequacy are matters
of the heart and the soul, and we simply cannot
cure the heart or the soul by an ever increasing
accumulation of things.
We
defeat the idol of pleasure by sacrifice
and simplicity. Sacrifice empowers us to
surrender our rights for the greater good of the
kingdom of God. Simplicity ushers us into a way
of living that is free from the passion to possess.
Together they are able to dethrone pleasure and
put it, along with material possessions, into
proper perspective as simple goods to be enjoyed,
never demanded.
The
Idol of Efficiency. Of the three idols I am
discussing with you I view efficiency as the most
entrenched and pervasive of the modern era. And
the most destructive. The engine driving this
particular idolatry is modern technology. And
the technological advances of recent years are
impressive indeed: cell phones, laptop computers,
the world wide web, palm pilots, and much, much
more. And all these technological advances are
aimed at our hankering after efficiency.
Please
don't misunderstand. It is good to do our tasks
in a timely fashion, and advances in technology
have been extremely helpful in accomplishing many
tasks. (I am, after all, composing this letter
to you on a PC and you can even download this
Heart-to-Heart from www.renovare.org.)
But we have created our technological society
at an enormous human cost. Jacques Ellul, perhaps
the most astute contemporary observer of technique,
efficiency, and technology, writes, "the technological
society requires order and efficiency. Even people
must be reduced to being only machines . . . in
order to be treated technically by the hundreds
of techniques which converge on them."
This
is the great danger of technology–and the reason
it must be viewed as a contemporary idol. By its
very nature it dehumanizes people, turning them
into objects to be managed and controlled. In
the end it signals the triumph of means over the
end. All in the name of efficiency.
Also
dangerous are the excessive, god-like claims made
for technology. We're told that, given time, technology
will surely solve every problem, restore every
loss, deliver every good. The claims for the Internet,
for example, exceed all credibility– it is, in
fact, the new utopian movement of contemporary
culture.
Now,
I admit, it is nice to travel along "the information
super highway," as we call it. But I would like
to put in a word for "the information country
lane." The super highway does give us information
by the ton, but that does not particularly translate
into insight, discernment, or wisdom. In fact,
the sheer volume of information often mitigates
against insight, discernment, and wisdom. Sometimes,
instead of zipping along an electronic super highway
we need to meander through some of wisdom's back
roads, pausing now and then at a phrase from a
John Milton ("They also serve who only stand and
wait.") or an Evelyn Underhill ("Being, not wanting,
having and doing, is the essence of a spiritual
life.")
Then,
too, instant accessibility is not always what
we need. A day of quiet reflection is often far
more productive than a constant bombardment of
on-line services, e-mails, and faxes. If we want
to be genuinely helpful to people, we need the
perspective that can only come from solitude and
silence.
Another
caution I have about all this amazing technology–and
it is truly amazing–is that its very amazingness
can easily distract us from thinking. We can get
so intrigued with the process of information communication
that we miss the information, not to mention insights
from the information. As a result many people
never even ask the question of what information
is worth communicating. Again, all in the name
of efficiency.
The
kingdom of God, on the other hand, operates from
a pattern exemplified by Jesus on the cross. From
a human perspective the vision of life that Jesus
gives us is one of inefficiency, ineffectiveness,
and ultimately, irrelevance. After all, would
an efficient kingdom welcome in strangers and
seek out prodigals? How effective is it to preach
good news to the poor or to search for one lost
sheep? And would a relevant pastor really spend
time listening to individual human pain and sorrow
when mass media technologies that could reach
multitudes await?
Friends,
it is time to say, "No more!" No more time- saving
technologies, no more revolutionary ways to prioritize
our day, no more habits for highly effective people.
Rather let us give sustained attention to life-giving
relationships: relationship with God, relationship
with other people, relationship with all of creation.
We
defeat the idol of efficiency by holy leisure
and spiritual friendship. Holy leisure
tempers our everlasting itch to get ahead. Spiritual
friendship helps us to value people for who they
are rather than for what they accomplish. Together
they dethrone efficiency and free us from "an
intolerable scramble of panting feverishness."
Autonomy,
pleasure, efficiency–these are the three unquestioned
assumptions of our day. God give us the wisdom
to see through their idolatrous tendencies and
the strength to place them in their proper role
as servants rather than masters.
Peace
and joy,
Richard J. Foster
P.S.
Special thanks to Lyle SmithGraybeal for his creative
contribution to this issue of the Heart-to-Heart.
P.P.S.
In this brief, unobtrusive postscript we try to
let you, our friends and supporters, know our
financial needs. We see vast opportunities before
us but they all need financial undergirding. The
summer months are traditionally lean in terms
of finanical contributions, and your continuing
support between now and September is vital. Will
you consider a generous, sacrificial gift to Renovaré
today? Thank you. — RJF
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