As I begin, I already know that this post will be longer than I imagined when I gave it a placeholder, and I plan to break it into two parts. Bear with me as this series may take a while to complete, and also, thank you for sticking around after last week’s post. You should know that while I am a teacher and consider the work I am doing here to fall under the requirements of a “teacher” that James writes about in James 3:1, I’m giving myself, and hopefully you, permission to mess up and say things imperfectly. If I write here weekly, I’m not likely to say exactly what needs to be said perfectly. While I don’t want to invite harsh criticism on the reg, feel free to push back or invite me (kindly) to a different point of view. Rest assured, I would do that to those I read. :)
This is a summary of faith traditions to contextualize things I want to explain later, mainly about evangelicalism. I’m writing specifically to people in evangelicalism who may feel stuck. But knowing about all the streams is helpful formation-wise.
Faith Streams
I am using Richard Foster’s book Streams of Living Water: Essential Practices from the Six Great Traditions of Christian Faith to define the faith streams.1 I highly recommend this resource. I will share some brief information on each one below, but his book will give greater depth and understanding.
The Contemplative Tradition - the prayer-filled life
The Holiness Tradition - the virtuous life
The Charismatic Tradition - the Spirit-empowered life
The Social Justice Tradition - the compassionate life
The Evangelical Tradition - the Word-centered life
The Incarnational Tradition - the sacramental life
Each one of these traditions paints a picture of what Jesus is like. I am the sort of person who would hold stock in biblical numerology. In the Bible, seven is the number of completion, and I find it interesting that Richard Foster did not find seven traditions. I think seven is the ecumenical community, which means all of these are necessary to paint the complete picture of Jesus. Each builds off the previous one yet stands on its own, and I’ll explain as we go along.
The Contemplative Tradition:
Foster has this tradition dating back to Jesus and the early church. Some notable figures from this tradition are John the Apostle, Clare of Assissi, Julian of Norwich, John of the Cross, and Henri Nouwen (a more modern figure).
My thoughts:
Spiritual directors and most spiritual formation programs (the words ‘spiritual formation’ are used differently among different traditions) lean heavily on the contemplative tradition. While I will not say that spiritual direction or spiritual formation programs lean on mysticism, as that has a different connotation than intended here, mystical Christianity has its roots in this stream. Often, men and women in this stream focus on “union with God,” and the historical figures mentioned seem to have mystical moments of union. However, union with God doesn’t have to be mystical. These mystical experiences often sound similar to experiences common to the charismatic tradition, but different language is used for each.
Foster describes this tradition as “beautiful of soul.”
Where can you experience this tradition denominationally?
2 This tradition is typically woven into various denominations that choose to make an effort toward the contemplative lifestyle or spiritual formation itself. I’ve seen it in Methodist and Anglican churches in my area, but I may be unaware of others. While I’ve never personally attended a Friends gathering, I imagine you would find this tradition easily at a Quaker gathering.
Strengths:
3“fans the flames of our ‘first love’”
“forces us beyond merely a cerebral religion” and “insists on the insufficiency of intellectual formation alone”
“stresses centrality of prayer”
“emphasizes the solitariness of our life with God”
Weaknesses:
Note: Foster says potential “dangers are caused by the distortions of the Tradition; they are not essential ingredients in it.”
“the tendency to separate it from ordinary life”
Many from this tradition were Desert Fathers and Mothers, known for separating themselves from the church and developing monastic traditions. It “keeps some people from serious engagement with the pressing social issues of our day.”
“a kind of ‘consuming asceticism’”
an example of this may be fasting for fasting’s sake
“devalue intellectual efforts to articulate our faith”
“tendency to neglect the importance of the community of faith”
The contemplation tradition is about focusing on who God is in everyday life. “Contemplation leads to, or rather is an experience of, transcendence — that is, of forgetfulness of self and of everyone and everything else except the contemplated object.”4 The object we are contemplating is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Holiness Tradition
Foster dates this tradition back to the early church as well. Some notable figures in this tradition are James the Apostle, Tertullian, Thomas a Kempis, Ignatius of Loyola (who could also go in the contemplative), Blaise Pascal, John Wesley, Hannah Whitall Smith, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Foster writes, “The contemplative tradition … forms the foundation for holy living. It is through an ever-deepening intimacy with God that we are enabled to enter into an ever-deepening re-formation of heart and mind. The Holiness Stream … focuses upon the inward re-formation of the heart of the development of ‘holy habits.’”
My thoughts:
This tradition highly values holiness, discipline, and “purity of heart.”
Where can you experience this tradition denominationally?
I see it in very fundamentalist churches. Independent Baptists, some Baptist, some Methodist churches, Free Methodists, Reformed churches / Presbyterian, and perhaps churches choosing to engage in spiritual formation.
Strengths:
“constantly holds before us the ultimate goal of the Christian life: an ever deepening formation of the inner personality … to reflect the glory and goodness of God”
“intentional focus upon the heart, the wellspring of action”
“hope for genuine progress in character transformation”
“tough-minded, down-to-earth, practical understanding of how we ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ (2 Pe 3:18)”
Weaknesses:
legalism
“works righteousness” or “attempting to attain righteousness by means of our own works.”
perfectionism
The Holiness tradition is about learning to be like Christ. “How wonderful to think that as we become partners with God, participating in this ongoing work of Christian perfection, our little light (which is not the source of light but only a reflection of the Light — and often a distorted and faint reflection at that) might lead others all the more fully to see Jesus, the Light of the World.”5
Charismatic Tradition
Foster dates this tradition also from the early church. Some notable figures are Paul the Apostle, Gregory the Great, Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, George Fox, Charles Wesley, Oral Roberts, and John Wimber.
Foster writes, “While the holiness tradition centers upon the power to be, the charismatic tradition centers upon the power to do,” and “these two traditions are most healthy when they refuse to function independently of one another.” This tradition focuses on “gifts of the Spirit and the nurturing fruit of the Spirit.”
My thoughts:
This stream is moved by God's presence right now wherever the persons in this stream are, and it wants to see God's fullness move in the church today as it did in Acts. As Foster writes, “There are no ‘noncharismatic Christians.’” Every Christian walks in the Spirit.
Where can you experience this denominationally?
I know some churches are considered “charismatic,” but this stream is found in churches that are not purely charismatic. Vineyard churches, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, non-denominational, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Church of Christ, etc. (I’m not versed on all denominations).
Strengths:
“offers an ongoing correction to our impulse to domesticate God”
“constant rebuke to our anemic practice”
“continuing challenge toward spiritual growth and development”
“offers a life of gifting and empower for witness and service”
Weaknesses:
trivialization - “focus on the gift rather than the Giver”
“rejecting the rational and the intellectual”
“divorcing the gifts of the Spirit from the fruits of the Spirit”
“linking our walk in the Spirit to highly speculative end-time scenarios that lack theological foundation”
This stream is not afraid to ask for more - more of God, more fruit, more of all that God requires. Many revivals have started as a result of this stream. We may not see miracles daily, but then again, we may not yet have eyes to see the already existing miracles. This stream reminds us that we are indeed connected to a great source of power that is not our own.
Leave me a comment and let me know what resonates or doesn’t, and how you feel about where are going. Am I going too fast? Too slow? Let me know in the comments!
Remember this post is part of a series called SF Deep Dive:
Most quotes will be from this book unless otherwise noted.
Foster does not give any denominational thought to the streams, so I am guessing where I have seen it play out to help you better understand it. I also use his context clues to do so.
Just so you know, all strengths and weaknesses listed here are not all-inclusive. These are just the ones Foster chooses to list.
Barry & Connelly. The Practice of Spiritual Direction. p. 49.
Streams, p. 96