Thirty years ago Richard Foster wrote Celebration of Discipline, and things have proceeded from there: the weathered saints who call CT the magazine of evangelical conviction with a straight face have published an edited version of a talk Foster gave to celebrate its birthday.

Bit of a hiccup, though. "Finally, a general cultural malaise touches us all to one extent or another." I must giggle at this point. Evangelical "culture" has been flat-lining for decades and Dr. Foster writes malaise on the patient's chart.

"We"—and by we I take it he refers to himself and the doddering chatterboxes at CT—have "become accustomed to the normality of dysfunction". They—and by they I mean not me—needed to "revive the great conversation about the formation of the soul" and "incarnate this reality into the daily experience of the individual, congregational, and cultural life".

(Usually when I am dealing with this much gas I like to have firemen standing by with their hoses all connected and their helmets strapped on, but today I'm feeling pretty lucky.)

It appears to Richard that this Thirty Years' Chat has been somewhat more successful than the actual incarnation of the reality into the daily experience of the individual, congregational and cultural life.

So, what they're asking you to do for the next thirty years is roll up your sleeves and give it a bit more wiggle. The trick, Foster thinks, can be found in what he calls "fellowship gathering power".

If in our churches we do not do the hard work of spiritual formation, we will not get spiritually formed people. So this is a vital arena of labor, and I am speaking of both congregations as traditionally understood, as well as newly emerging forms of our life together.

This will involve three things. Naturally.

First, you'll just have to do something about your "hurry sickness". Second, you have a Christian entertainment industry masquerading as worship. And finally, the consumer mentality dominates your American religious scene.

So there you have it! The "spiritual formation agenda" as articulated by Richard Foster in the pages of Christianity Today.

An agenda, for those who might have forgotten, is a list or program of things to be done or considered. We should remind ourselves, every thirty years or so, that spiritual maturation is not achieved by following an agenda. An agenda is the very last consideration of a genuine pilgrim.

The first refreshing thing about reading the Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs on the topic of spiritual formation is that they don't write like Richard Foster and they don't write for CT. Real prophets, apostles, and true witnesses of the disciplined life have a much firmer grip on reality.

So rather than suffer this symbiotic relationship between the piffle-mongers, movie reviewers, church growth witch doctors, and incessant advertisers on 465 Gundersen Drive, why don't we get down to brass tacks here?

Let's dump the dysfunctional prose, put forward a clear statement of orthodoxy and acquire a reputation for moral rectitude.

It'll surprise everybody.