William Knelsen As I wait in hope for the Lord.

Archive for the Richard J. Foster Category

The Discipline of Service: Part 2 of 2

June 5, 2008

I finally got around to writing the second part of this topic. Between preparing for two sermons, work being busy and trying to keep up with yard work, I have had little time for anything else (not to mention playoff hockey).

When we choose to be a servant, we give up the right to be in charge. There is great freedom in this. If we voluntarily choose to be taken advantage of, then we cannot be manipulated.

(From Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline)

Servanthood requires a great amount of humility. Not many of us are willing to become a servant to the point of allowing people to take advantage of us. Now, let me be clear about what I mean. I am not talking about involuntary and cruel slavery, rather, the type of servanthood in which a person chooses to engage in and allow people to make full use of the servant’s gifts and abilities. True servanthood means serving is constant and never ending, always willing and happy to be of service to another person, even when the other person is not grateful.

Humility is a virtue that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it, the more we move away from true humility. I can’t decide one day that I will be humble, however, I must decide to do good to others and put their needs before my own. Soon, without realizing it, humility will be built within my character and will be evident by the way I treat other people.

While studying and fasting can be done and moved on from, service is something that is ongoing and should be built within someone’s lifestyle.

The Discipline of Service: Part 1 of 2

May 19, 2008

This is such a broad discipline, it’s hard to summarize it in one post, so I will be using two posts for the discipline of service.

First, I would like to distinguish the difference between self-righteous service and true service. I will be using references from Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline as well as my own notes.

  • Self righteous service is mostly concerned with acts of service that will get noticed and are a big deal. It enjoys serving, especially when the service is titanic.
  • True service does not concern itself with acknowledgment or the size of the act.
  • Self righteous service acts based on moods and whims.
  • True service acts faithfully because there is a need, despite it’s mood.
  • Self righteous service is concerned about the glorification of an individual, fracturing community.
  • True service builds community. It quietly goes about caring for the needs of others without concerning itself with the glorification of any person.
  • Self righteous service comes through human effort and eventually wears out.
  • True service comes from a Divine Source and does not tire or grow weary of doing good.

When I first wanted to get involved in ministry, I wanted to do the things that were at the forefront of the ministry, that people would notice and give me praise for. I wanted people to notice that I was serving. I soon realized that I was not getting the acknowledgment I was seeking and quit serving altogether.

As I grow deeper in my understanding of Christian service, I try not to concern myself with anything but simply caring for others and pleasing God. Of course, I am not even close to having achieved this perfectly, but I keep trying and in doing so, God blesses me with more opportunities to serve in a way that will bring blessings to both myself and others.

In the next post I will write about humility and door mats.

The Discipline of Submission

May 15, 2008

Anyone who knows me well will probably laugh if they see that I am writing on the topic of the discipline of submission. I am not exactly known for how well I submit to others. However, the purpose of writing is not necessarily to tell others how to live, rather, to explain the discipline and, in turn, reminding myself of how I should be living.

I would like to focus on what Foster calls the seven acts of submission:

  1. Submission to the Triune God.
    We surrender our body, mind, and spirit into the hands of God to do with us what he pleases.
  2. Submission to the Scripture.
    We yield ourselves first to hear the Word, second to receive the Word, and thrid to obey the Word.
  3. Submission to our family.
    The primary deed of submission is a commitment to listen to the other family members.
  4. Submission to our neighbors and those we meet in the course of our daily lives.
    No task is too small, too trifling, for each one is an opportunity to live in submission.
  5. Submission to the believing community, the body of Christ.
    Most frequently, acts of submission are spontaneous opportunities for little tasks of service.
  6. Submission to the broken and despised
    Our first responsibility is to be among the “widows and orphans”.
  7. Submission to the world.
    Our act of submission is a determination to live as a responsible member of an increasingly irresponsible world

Please Note: I would strongly encourage you to read Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline to get the full message of these disciplines.

The Discipline of Solitude

May 13, 2008

The disciplined person is the person who can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done… most of us can get the ball into the hoop eventually, but we can’t do it when it is needed. Likewise, a person who is under the Discipline of silence is a person who can say what needs to be said when it needs to be said… if we speak when we should be silent, we miss the mark.

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

I chose to focus on speech when it comes to the Discipline of silence because that is an area of particular struggle for me. I find myself talking when I know I should be silent, and often get myself into a situation I could have easily avoided by simply remaining quiet. Keeping out of trouble is just one benefit of remaining silent. Another benefit is simply being disciplined. A disciplined person in one area often becomes disciplined in other areas of life more easily, especially if a person is disciplined in speech.

What a marvelous companion is one who listens and shows genuine interest in other people’s lives. Solitude requires me to hear before being heard and an attitude of gratefulness for every opportunity to be silent before God and others.

The Discipline of Simplicity

April 29, 2008

This discipline is a massive kick in the ass of Western Civilization. I will quote from several places in Richard J. Foster’s chapter on Simplicity:

Simplicity is freedom… simplicity brings joy and balance…

Contemporary culture lacks both the inward reality and the outward life-style of simplicity… We are trapped in a maze of competing attachments…

We crave things we neither need or enjoy… The mass media have convinced us that to be out of step with fashion is to be out of step with reality…

Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.

I am surely not the best person to be telling others to live a more simplistic life, and that is not at all my intention. This discipline is most definitely one I struggle with most. I do not blame my career or the culture I live in, rather I tend to use those things as excuses for a lack of discipline in this area. I enjoy owning the latest in computer technology and knowing all there is to know about the Web industry. I don’t think those things are negative, however, if my time is only dedicated to these things for the purpose of making my own life better and easier, I have missed the point of hard work.

God has given us gifts, and all of us are capable of using those gifts to fill our lives with more stuff. However, God intends for those gifts to be used for helping others and bringing glory to God.

May God give you-and me-the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the number-one priority of our lives. To do so is to live in simplicity

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

The Discipline of Study

April 26, 2008

As Richard J. Foster writes in his book, Celebration of Discipline, study involves four steps:

  1. Repetition.
    Ingrained habits of thought can be formed by repetition alone, thus changing behavior.
  2. Concentration.
    The brains natural ability to store and focus on information is enhanced when, with singleness of purpose, we center our attention upon a desired object of study.
  3. Comprehension.
    When we not only repeatedly focus the mind in a particular direction centering our attention of the subject, but understand what we are studying, we reach a new level.
  4. Reflection.
    In reflection we come to understand not only our subject matter, but ourselves.

One other thing that is important when practicing the discipline of study is humility. In order to make good and proper use of knowledge, I must approach the subject with a humble spirit. I cannot be teachable and arrogant at the same time.

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