Books You Should Read: Celebration of Discipline

This post represents the beginning of a new series of articles on this website that will feature one book per week that I think you will find worth reading. These will function both as reviews and recommendations. My goal is to provide a wide swath of works dealing with many different subjects from authors of various different backgrounds. Some of these works are longtime favorites of mine, others are works that have been introduced to me more recently, and even others still are yet to be determined. I hope you will find this weekly series to be a blessing.

My Initial Contact and Reception

I received Richard J. Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth for Christmas in 2018 from my brother-in-law, Jeff. I had never heard of Richard Foster, and I had never picked up this particular book. I began reading just a few days later and was immediately impressed with it. I have read plenty of books dedicated to various aspects of spirituality, but I had never read anything as useful as what I found in Celebration of Discipline.

The copy Jeff gave me in 2018. Thanks, Jeff!

I ended up using the book as an outline for a weekly sermon series to begin 2019. I did not highlight everything present in the book, and there were some things I omitted outright (Foster is a Quaker, so there are a few points of contention I have with the book, though not nearly as many as you might think), but Celebration of Discipline proved quite helpful in delivering a series dedicated to improving spirituality. The series seemed to resonate with the congregation here at Bridge Creek, as the presentation of what Scripture has to say about practical spirituality challenged everyone - myself included - to reevaluate our day-to-day walks with Christ.

The first sermon from this series: Meditation.

A Practical Guide to Spirituality

Foster, in writing Celebration of Discipline, has created something that many Christians sorely need: a biblically grounded, practical way of approaching and improving spirituality both in the lives of individuals as well as in the life of the Church. The twelve disciplines discussed - Meditation, Prayer, Fasting, Study, Simplicity, Solitude, Submission, Service, Confession, Worship, Guidance, and Celebration - are all developed in two main ways. First, each discipline’s biblical foundation is displayed. Foster generally does this by connecting the discipline to the life of Jesus, though other passages are used throughout, also. I greatly appreciate the thoroughly biblical foundation Foster offers for every single discipline. Second, Foster takes the time to instruct his readers as to what these discipline should look like in the life of a Christian, as well as providing practical steps on getting started in a particular discipline. The chapter on “Fasting” is worth the price of admission alone in this regard. Foster expounds on how someone new to fasting might acclimate to the process, carefully laying out an expected timeline of progression, while also being careful to note some of the practical challenges and struggles associated with fasting. This sort of focus on the implementation of the discipline is characteristic of the book as a whole.

Evaluation and Recommendation

I think every Christian will find something useful in Celebration of Discipline, but I think those who feel a disconnect between themselves and their spiritual lives stand to gain the most from picking up Foster’s seminal work. Christians who have become disillusioned with their own spirituality can be reinvigorated by Foster’s practical methods of reengaging an active spiritual lifestyle. As was previously mentioned, I have used the book as an outline for a sermon series with some success. Wherever you are in your walk with Christ, there is something for you here. Read this book.

(HarperSanFrancisco, 1998; 228 pages)