Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church by Donald S. Whitney
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1996. 216 pp. $14.99. Purchase at Amazon
Introduction
Don Whitney is president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality and also serves as the Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and as Senior Associate Dean in the School of Theology. Before becoming a professor, he had pastored for more than 24 years and though he does not currently serve as a pastor, he still teaches and preaches most every Sunday in various churches across the country. He also enjoys (not too sure that is a strong enough word) repairing and using vintage fountain pens.
Summary
Whereas The Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life is concerned with personal spirituality from a biblical perspective, Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church (SDWTC) is concerned about corporate spirituality from a biblical perspective.
He writes in his introduction that he wants to invite people to enjoy the church as it declares the glory of Christ. He also wants to see the church pull away from the consumerism that has controlled her in recent decades. In twelve chapters, Whitney details twelve disciplines that should be found in the church body. Some of these are individual by necessity (researching the church) while most are meant to be done at a corporate level. The list of the disciplines found in the church include:
- going to church–obedience to Hebrews 10:15
- seeking baptism–a public display of faith is tantamount to a wedding ceremony (Eph. 5:31-32)
- joining a church–there is a measure of accountability in doing this (Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5)
- listen to preaching–God’s chosen means to spread the gospel (Romans 10:14-17)
- worshiping with the church– Heb. 10:25 applies here
- witnessing–corporate witness is stronger than individual witness
- serving in the church–Jesus modeled a servants attitude, so should we (Mk. 10:45)
- giving to the church–Paul discusses sacrificial giving for the poor and the ministers often in his letters
- attending the ordinances–Both the Lord’s Supper and baptism were meant to be public in the church
- fellowship with the church–this is modeled in Acts 2:42
- praying with the church–corporate prayer allows for the church to join together in unity to pray
- learning with the church–1 Tim 3:15 explains that the church is the pillar of truth
- researching the church–You need to know what the church believes and does before joining
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of Spiritual Disciplines found in a church, but each chapter details why it is important to seek these various disciplines. There is a study guide available for download as well.
Review/Recommendation
What I most appreciate about the book is that Whitney seeks to root each of these disciplines in solidly in Scripture. He writes of these disciplines with a humble heart and the mind of one who has pastored for over 24 years. While these disciplines may not be directly commanded by God in His Word, though all can be found either by command, implication or in principle in Scripture. Based on those, Whitney shows that a healthy church will be involved in all of these at some level.
When I served as an associate pastor, pastor of youth, I took my students through both of Don’s Spiritual Disciplines books to show them methods by which they could walk closer with God. Four years later, I have talked with some of those students and have been told that these disciplines have impacted their lives and have helped them find biblically sound churches as they have moved around with college and such. More importantly, using these disciplines has helped them to avoid some negative church situations while looking for a local congregation to join in worship.
I would recommend SDWTC to any minister wanting to cultivate a love for the local body of believers, Christ’s bride, in the congregation that the Lord has made him the undershepherd. Unfortunately, in this day of watered-down spirituality, the glory of God found in corporate Spiritual Disciplines has been lost on many. I pray that through Whitney’s book, this glory might be revealed once again in churches across the land.
It’s not the list above that’s bad (going to church, praying with the church…), but that the foundational understanding of ‘spiritual disciplines’ itself isn’t Biblical. Here are some good articles that address this topic. I’m afraid Whitney takes his cue on ‘spiritual disciplines’ from Richard Foster and Dallas Willard (he quotes both in his book “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), although he attempts to make them more Biblical.
Michael,
I appreciate your comment and thank you for reading my review on Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. I do, however, wonder if you have actually read Dr. Donald S. Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life or if you have only read what Pastor Bob DeWaay has written. For example, DeWaay says more than a few times that Whitney endorses both Willard and Foster but never actually quotes or cites an endorsement by Whitney. It is one thing to quote someone and recognize the fact that they have been influential in the area of Spiritual Disciplines and something completely different to actually support and approve of all of their teachings even in a specific area.
If you’ll compare the sample chapter from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that’s on Don’s website with the same chapter in the book, You will see that the references to Foster and Willard in the book have been removed from the website version. Whitney has told me he intends to remove all the handful of quotations from Foster and Willard in the next edition of the book. And incidentally, the book was written in 1991. Foster and Willard weren’t recognized for their errors twenty years ago as much as they are today. For instance, did DeWaay write about them then? Moreover, I believe Whitney has matured and sharpened his thinking on the subject since he was in his mid-30s. One place to see this is in an article written last year by Don entitled “Do I Have to Keep a Journal?”
Second, I would ask if you have read anything written by Whitney that addresses this exact issue? It is available on the Internet. For instance, you can read Don’s paper delivered at the Evangelical Theological Society in 2001 entitled “Defining the Boundaries of Evangelical Spirituality.” This is of note because DeWaay uses a subtitle in his blog dated March/April 2009 with the following words “Spirituality Without Boundaries.” It is also interesting that Don’s address at the ETS predates DeWaay’s blog by 8 years.
Third, Don has also addressed these issues (mysticism) at length in the book The Compromised Church edited by John Armstrong published in 1998. His chapter is entitled “Doctrine and Devotion: A Reunion Devoutly to be Desired.” He addresses both Foster and Willard’s mysticism in this article and has the same issues as DeWaay with their teachings. The difference being that Don is willing to acknowledge that where they agree with Scripture they have said a few things worth noting.
One other thing, evidently DeWaay admires John MacArthur and sees him as like-minded on these issues. I know that Whitney’s book has been held up in the pulpit of Grace Community Church and everyone was encouraged to buy it. Whitney has led a retreat for MacArthur’s church, and MacArthur wrote a foreword for the book Whitney wrote after Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Perhaps MacArthur–who knows Whitney personally–knows something about Whitney that DeWaay does not.
I would ask that you read these articles and compare what Whitney writes to what DeWaay charges. I believe you will find that DeWaay makes some fairly sweeping and unsubstantiated charges in his review.
God bless, brother.
Terry,
Sorry, that I had never responded. I do own a copy of Whitney’s book (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), so what I wrote was only partially based on what DeWaay wrote. In reading the book, and reading about the writings of Foster and Willard, it is obvious that Whitney was influenced in his understanding of spiritual disciplines by these men. He gives Foster credit for introducing him to the concept of ‘spiritual disciplines’ on his website.
Years ago, I went to Whitney’s website, not knowing who he was at the time, and read Chapter 10 from his book, which was posted on-line. After reading it, I emailed Whitney via his website and asked if he was aware that Willard (still quoted in the chapter at that time) had ties to contemplative mysticism. I also said that I had questions regarding some of what he taught and his use of Scripture in that chapter and asked if he still held to what he had written. He didn’t respond. About a month later, I decided to go back and re-read the posted chapter and in doing so, I was surprised to see that the quotes and reference to Willard had been removed with no comments. I emailed him again noting the quote removal, but said that I still had some problems with what he had written in that chapter, and pointed out that the books being sold still contained the removed quotes (actually, I had a lot of problems with Chapter 10). Whitney did respond after another email, where I said that I did not think he was promoting mysticism. He said that he had grown since he wrote the book, as we all probably had, and wanted to update the book to “tighten up the wording”, but his publisher wouldn’t let him do so at that point.
I am aware that Whitney is currently updating the book (he may have finished by now) and intends to remove all quotes from Willard and Foster (and maybe a few others). My point is that if that’s all he does (remove quotes), the book will still have much of Foster’s and Willard’s understanding of spiritual disciplines (which I don’t think is biblical) as its basis. This needs to be addressed. I also think Whitney needs to address his use of Scripture, which I think he misuses at times. In other words, it will take some re-writing, not just tightening up the wording or removing quotes.
Yes, I agree that Whitney has grown beyond his initial understanding from what he wrote 20 years ago. I have heard him say to not practice emptying the mind, and to not practice contemplative mysticism, and I have read the article (Defining the Boundaries…), but I’ve also never heard him say that he doesn’t agree with much of what he wrote in his book, nor tell people to not buy it until he can do a re-write. I have heard him continue to promote the book and spiritual disciplines (i.e. silence and solitude). Note, I am addressing what he wrote in his book, which he still promotes and sells. I guess, until I see different, in the updated book, I’m not sure how much he has really moved.
Yes, I understand that people weren’t as aware of the errors/mysticism of Foster and Willard 20 years ago. DeWaay says that in 1978, when Foster’s book came out, he was actually living in a ‘Christian commune’ and practicing much of what Foster wrote about; however, you can’t dismiss what he wrote, just because he didn’t write it in the ’90′s. Also, I think DeWaay was addressing just the teaching in “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life”, not other articles or seminars by Whitney.
I am aware the MacArthur knows Whitney personally (so does my pastor). It has been my experience that those who know him and/or read his book 10-20 years ago, (i.e. when the errors of Foster/Willard weren’t quite as recognized as you pointed out), don’t want to go back and re-read it with a more critical eye. Dr. Thomas Schreiner told me that he read it years ago and didn’t have a problem with it then, but admitted that he would probably have some problems with it now. If I had read it years ago, I would not have picked up or understood the unbiblical aspects of Foster/Willard and how Whitney had brought them to his book, although I hope I would have caught some of his misuses of Scripture. Many I have spoken with do admit to seeing some of this and having some other problems with what he wrote, but they are still willing to sell/promote his book because they know him. As I said, I am going on what’s written in the book. Is it biblical? I think in many points, it is not.