Richard Foster: Simplicity principle #6

“Sixth, develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 93.

“Fifth, learn to enjoy things without owning them.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 93.

“Fourth, refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 92.

“Third, develop a habit of giving things away.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 91.

“Second, reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 90.

“First, buy things for their usefulness, rather than their status.”

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 90.

“The central point for the discipline of simplicity is to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of the kingdom first and then everything necessary will come in its proper order….Everything hinges upon maintaining the first thing first. Nothing must come before the Kingdom of God.

To describe simplicity only as an inner reality is to say something false. The inner reality is not a reality until there is an outward expression. To experience the liberating spirit of simplicity will affect how we live.

Every attempt to give specific application to simplicity runs the risk of deteriorating into legalism. It is a risk, however, that we must take, for to refuse to discuss specifics would banish the discipline to the theoretical. After all, the writers of Scripture constantly took that risk.

And so I follow their lead and suggest ten controlling principles for the outward expression of simplicity.”

Foster’s ten simplicity principles will follow over the next ten days.

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 86-90.

“We should not show favoritism and discrimination in our dealings with one another, since all gifts ultimately come from heaven as a display of divine generosity (cf. James 1:17; 2:1-7).”

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

1My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
 5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? James 2:1-7

Kelly Kapic in God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 116.

“Reshaping the stewardship culture of your congregation and reversing the trends that keep it from reaching its full potential may need to start in your own heart.”

Richard Borg in The Chief Steward: How to Lead Your Congregation to Excel in Financial Stewardship (2008) 109.

“What is the basis of our security? When we start thinking about that question, we may give many answers: success, money, friends, property, popularity, family, connections, insurance, and so on. We may not always think that any of these forms the basis of our security, but our actions or feelings may tell us otherwise. When we start losing our money, our friends, or our popularity, our anxiety often reveals how deeply our sense of security is rooted in these things.
 
A spiritual life is a life in which our security is based not in any created things, good as they may be, but in God, who is everlasting love. We probably will never be completely free from our attachment to the temporal world, but if we want to live in that world in a truly free way, we’d better not belong to it. “You cannot be the slave both of God and of money” (Luke 16:13).”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in Daily Meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society on 19 February 2012.