Spirit of the Disciplines By Dallas Willard Review by Jason Souza

Of all the books written on the subject of spiritual disciplines, The Spirit of the Disciplines and Celebration of Discipline are two of the best. I only mention both at the outset of this review because it is best if they are read together as companion pieces. While Willard covers the “why” (the psychology, history and theological basis) of the disciplines in “Spirit”, Richard Foster focuses more on the “how” of the disciplines in “Celebration”. When read together, the truest picture of spiritual disciplines is revealed.
For too long, spiritual disciplines have been absent from the Christian life. For the most part, prayer, the reading of Scripture and tithing are the only disciplines one ever hears about in mainline, evangelical churches. All to often, it seems Jesus’ easy yoke is presented as equivalent to being a spiritual couch potato. It appears this thinking is based on the premise that asking too much of believers will drive them (and their checkbooks) from the church rather than bringing them in.

Dallas Willard understands what it means to live with God in His Kingdom as few others do. In The Spirit of the Disciplines, Willard calls all believers to a disciplined life. Every field of endeavor in the human experience has aspects, which require constant practice in order to achieve mastery. The same is true of the spiritual life. In that regard, spiritual disciplines are weight lifting for the spiritual life. Only through discipline can we remove the obstacles that prevent Jesus from being not only our Savior, but also our Lord.

Willard looks at the psychology, history and theology of spiritual disciplines, laying a foundation for the practice of the disciplines themselves. Once the foundation is set, he moves on to a discussion of two different types of disciplines; Disciplines of Abstinence (solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, and sacrifice) and Disciplines of Engagement (study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission). In keeping with the overall format of the book, the discussion of each discipline is more of a why than a how-to. Willard ends the book with a chapter on the spirituality of poverty and a discussion on the life grounded in discipline versus the world around us.

Overall, the book was an excellent read, but not a light one. As is often the case with Willard, the book seems to be written for consumption by his peers (the academics) causing the need for much verbiage to be spent making points the masses would otherwise cede. Often, even the simplest ideas are developed in such depth that they must be read two and three times over. A good chunk of time should be set aside to not only read the book, but to subsequently re-read it. In the end, it is an investment, which pays off many times over.

<<< Last Book