April 2007
The Complexities of Simplicity are Resolved by Walking in the Spirit
Editor’s Note: To kickoff the theme of this issue, “Rediscovering the testimony of simplicity in a throw-away society,” I decided to contact Richard Foster, a person who has thought through the implications of this Friends testimony for more than twenty-five years.
Richard’s publishers graciously allowed The Voice to excerpt his book, Freedom of Simplicity, which was revised and updated in 2005. Richard comments that his certainty about how simplicity works may not have increased much over the years, but that he is more clear than ever “on the Center that animates all life.”
Please enjoy the following excerpt from the updated version of Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster.
Contemporary culture is plagued by the passion to possess. The unreasoned boast abounds that the good life is found in accumulation, the “more is better.” Indeed, we often accept this notion without question, with the result that the lust for affluence in contemporary society has become psychotic: it has completely lost touch with reality. Furthermore, the pace of the modern world accentuates our sense of being fractured and fragmented. We feel strained, hurried, breathless.
Christian simplicity frees us from this modern mania. The witness to simplicity is profoundly rooted in the biblical tradition, and most perfectly exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. We do not need to be left frustrated and exhausted by the demands of life. The Christian grace of simplicity can usher us into the Center of unhurried peace and power.
While simplicity provides an answer to the modern dilemma, it does not provide an easy answer. Christian simplicity lives in harmony with the ordered complexity of life. It repudiates easy, dogmatic answers to tough, intricate problems. In fact, it is this grace that frees us sufficiently to appreciate and respond to the complex issues of contemporary society.
If simplicity were merely a matter of externals, things would be quite easy. We would then need only to formulate the system that defines the boundaries: Christian faithfulness would allow us to live in this income bracket but not that one, to purchase this house but not that one. We would have a clearly definable arrangement, even if it would need periodic adjustment to keep abreast of inflation. It would be clear who is in and who is out, who is faithful and who is not. Sometimes I genuinely wish it were that way.
The outer expression of simplicity must flow from the inner resources. It is learning to walk in the Spirit that builds the life of purity, unity, and grace. There is an inwardness that is central to our task; without it, all is lost. We delude ourselves, however, if we think we can possess the inner reality of simplicity without its having a profound effect upon the way we live.
Models of simplicity are desperately needed today. Our task is urgent and relevant. Our century thirsts for the authenticity of simplicity, the spirit of prayer, and the life of obedience. May we be the embodiment of that kind of authentic living.
—Richard Foster, who maintains membership in a participating EFI-NA Friends church, is the founder of RENOVARÉ and author of six bestselling books, which promote personal spiritual renewal. From his base near Denver, where he lives with his wife, Carolynn, Richard travels throughout the world, speaking and teaching on the spiritual life.
