Celebration of Discipline Week 5: Simplicity
We’re into week five of our 12-week series exploring Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
Join us as we journey through the twelve spiritual disciplines found in the book choosing to go deeper with Jesus and grow in our spiritual lives. It’s not too late to join us – so grab a copy and dive in!
Here’s last week’s blog where Helen shared her thoughts on study. You can also watch her video update too.
Discipline Five: Simplicity
If ‘keeping it simple’ meant what I thought it meant, I was wrong!
Richard Foster outlines in a deeply challenging way what it means to strip things back and keep it simple. For Foster, it’s simplicity in its strongest sense: simplicity as opposed to duplicity, simplicity in pursuing one goal over all else, simplicity as a single focus for every aspect of our lives.
‘The moment we make our lives focused on anything other than God’s kingdom we turn it into an idol’
For Christians, that goal is to seek God’s kingdom. Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,’ and that comes before everything else Jesus mentions in his most famous sermon. The moment we make our lives focused on anything other than God’s kingdom – no matter how worthy that thing might be – we turn it into an idol. But when the kingdom of God is genuinely placed first, ecological concerns, the poor, the equal distribution of wealth and many other things will be given their proper attention.
If you are still practicing the discipline of meditation, why not take up a psalm? For me it would be Psalm 139. It reminds us of God’s vastness and vested interest in us, culminating in David’s response at the end. I love the challenge to be searched and sifted and for anything that causes offence to be taken out!
The discipline of simplicity is an inward reality resulting in an outward lifestyle. What goes on inside our hearts impacts the world around us and who we are in it. Foster writes: ‘Of all the disciplines, simplicity is the most visible and therefore the most open to corruption.’
But what does this actually look like? Foster lists 10 outward expressions of Christian simplicity in this chapter – but this week I’m going to focus on the second one: rejecting anything that produces an addiction. For me, that’s my phone. Most days I feel like it controls me, not the other way round! Muscle memory is a dangerous thing. When my phone is next to me it gets picked up more than my children or my Bible...that is wrong! I need to learn to parent my phone and be in the driving seat.
What is it that you could do to simplify your life? Here are three easy steps you could follow in order to make it possible:
Step 1: Find something that needs simplifying. It could be going through your house and decluttering, or limiting your time consuming TV, radio, or gaming. Basically, it’s whatever you feel is getting in the way of making the kingdom of God your first priority.
Step 2: Take time to reflect and write down how you will embrace simplicity in that area. For me, I’m going to stop using my phone one hour before bed keep it outside the bedroom while I’m sleeping. I’m going to have to use an actual alarm clock – retro I know!
Step 3: Ask for someone to keep you accountable. This is hard, I know, but it will help. The things that are particularly attached to us will be harder to shift so we may need some assistance… My wife is keeping me accountable!
Remember – the idea of simplicity is more freedom not less. God is calling us to live a simple life as Jesus lived simply. I want to create more space and the mental capacity to allow the Holy Spirit to move in all areas of my life, for God to be present, and for me to listen from the beginning of each day to the end.
Have fun simplifying!
Richard Foster recommends these daily scripture readings as we explore Simplicity this week:
Monday: Simplicity as singleness of heart – Matthew 6:19
Tuesday: Simplicity as trust – Matthew 6:25–34
Wednesday: Simplicity as obedience – Genesis 15
Thursday: The generosity of simplicity – Leviticus 25:8–12
Friday: Simplicity in speech – Matthew 5:33–37, James 5:12
Saturday: Simplicity and justice – Amos 5:11–15, 24, Luke 4:16–21
Sunday: The freedom from covetousness – Luke 12:13–34
Video Update
Here’s an update from Chris at the end of the week!
Follow @onelifeleaders on Instagram to continue the journey.
We’ll be sharing blog posts, encouraging quotes and video reflections on each chapter of Celebration of Discipline.