Francis Schaeffer
With a God-given inquisitive mind, Francis Schaeffer became very interested in the field of philosophy in his late teens.[1] He discovered that philosophy without the acceptance of the existence of God left more questions unanswered than it answered. Schaeffer was led to the Bible, and regarding the questions that had been plaguing him, he found that the “Bible was sufficient in and of itself.”[2]
Schaeffer was gifted in facilitating small group environments, and faithfully used his gifting in opening a study center, L'abri Fellowship, nestled in the Swiss Alps. Though this was a somewhat quiet and secluded environment, Schaeffer was anything but uninvolved with challenging the culture in ways which are still relevant today.
True Spirituality
In True Spirituality, Schaeffer compares and contrasts justification with sanctification, acknowledging both as critical and necessary. Justification occurs only once, and reflects Christ's death as central in the Christian faith. "Christ died in history; Christ rose in history; we died with Christ when we accepted him as Savior. This, too, is a historic thing. It is something that happened (past tense) at a point of history."[3]
Though justification happens once, sanctification involves a continual dying to the self, and reflects "how central and fundamental is our individual and continuing death by choice as Christians."[4] Schaeffer approaches spirituality as the completing piece to Christianity, as opposed to the optional continuation after our justification, as certain cultures sometimes portrays it as. "There is a new birth, and then there is that Christian life to be lived... [it] means more than being justified and knowing I am going to Heaven."[5] Though justification has dealt with the metaphysical reality of sin separating us from God, the effects of sin in the fallen world are continually being faced by justified believers. Sanctification deals with the ever apparent power of sin in lives of Christians. However, the process of sanctification cannot even begin based solely on the strength of the believer. "In sanctification, we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength, or in our own goodness."[6] We are called to obedience and to be available, however we are in no way actually doing the sanctification of our selves. We demonstrate "active passivity."[7]
Caught in the midst of two competing views on Spirituality, that of legalism or perfectionism and that of apathy, Schaeffer challenged both in light of Biblical teachings. Christians should not be consumed with striving towards perfection, especially when "to worry about it is to do despite to the infinite value of the death of the Son of God."[8] However, believers must acknowledge specific sin as sin if there is to ever be hope of a restored relationship with God.[9]
The effects of sanctification and of the lack thereof, run “from the internal to the external." [10] This is evident in Biblical examples such as the story of Joseph and his brothers selling him into slavery. They were "perfectly willing to kill their brother and break their father's heart. All these things arose in the internal world of their thoughts - in their hatred, in their envy." [11] The good news is that this same internal to external truth goes for restoration: as we become sanctified in our spiritual or internal life, there will naturally be external results. As God relates to the Christian in a personal way in the internal life, the Christian should be an external demonstration of the existence of God. [12]
The same goes for the Church as a whole. "The church as the body of Christ should be Christ's means of communication to the external world."[13] In addition, the sanctification process is a tangible way to strengthen the unity of the body of Christ. "In the absence of present perfection, Christians are to help each other on to increasingly substantial healing on the basis of the finished work of Christ."[14]
The same goes for the Church as a whole. "The church as the body of Christ should be Christ's means of communication to the external world."[13] In addition, the sanctification process is a tangible way to strengthen the unity of the body of Christ. "In the absence of present perfection, Christians are to help each other on to increasingly substantial healing on the basis of the finished work of Christ."[14]
Application
As believers in the twenty-first century, we should heed the wisdom of Francis Schaeffer, and seek ways to reach our own culture in ways similar to his. Much of what Schaeffer believed has relevance to our current culture, and we should be letting our own spirituality affect our external actions as they did his. We should be living a life reflective of our inward Christian spirituality, portraying a continual death to self as we call others to embrace the life-giving death of Christ.
We should not be as focused on formulas or programs for the masses, as we should be on actual individuals. We should follow Schaeffer’s example in conversing with people "always with great sympathy and gentleness but penetratingly because of his acute intellectual gifts."[15] We also must, therefore, be continually striving to become more intellectually competent and conversant.
As believers, we have the answers to so many of life’s unanswered questions. As Schaeffer puts it, "how beautiful Christianity is - first, because of the sparkling quality of its intellectual answers, but second, because of the beautiful quality of its human and personal answers."[16] The questions to which these intellectual answers support are inescapable as humans created in the image of God. How refreshing and joyous an opportunity we have to share the answer to people who are undoubtedly asking. When we "begin with the Christian worldview…everything makes sense: Start elsewhere and nothing does."[17]
As a believer myself, I conclude with the eloquent lines of Schaeffer in light of the sometimes painful sanctification process that I myself face, and to what I am calling others.
"But thank God, now I can move; I am no longer running on ice...It does not need to be the old, endless circle. It is not any longer the dog chasing his tail. The light is let in. Things are oriented, and I can move as a whole man, with all the rationality I possess utterly in place. I will not expect to be perfect...but there now can be substantial overcoming of this psychological division in the present life on the basis of Christ's finished work."[18]
Bibliography
Macauley, Ranald. “What Can We Learn From Francis Schaeffer?” The Pearcey Report, (2007), http://www.pearceyreport.com/archives/2007/10/ranald_macaulay.php (accessed February 18th, 2004).
Schaeffer, Francis A. True Spirituality. Carol Steam: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2011.
[1] Ranald Macaulay, “What Can We Learn From Francis Schaeffer?,” The Pearcey Report, (2007), http://www.pearceyreport.com/archives/2007/10/ranald_macaulay.php (accessed February 18th, 2004).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Francis A. Schaeffer, True Spirituality, (Carol Steam: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2011), 35.
[4] Ibid., 23.
[5] Ibid., 4, 14.
[6] Ibid., 76.
[7] Ibid., 77.
[8] Ibid., 92.
[9] Ibid., 89.
[10] Ibid., 100.
[11] Ibid., 99.
[12] Ibid., 135.
[13] Ibid., 145.
[14] Ibid., 158.
[15] Macaulay, What Can We Learn From Francis Schaeffer?
[16] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 144.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 116.
