Recovering Richard Lovelace: Why His Vision Of Spiritual Renewal Still Matters

In 2020, Tim Keller revealed one of his most influential inspirations for his long and fruitful ministry: “Anyone who knows my ministry and reads [this man’s] book will say, ‘So that’s where Keller got all this stuff!’” Who was Keller’s crucial influence? Richard F. Lovelace, late professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and author of the 1979 book Dynamics of Spiritual Life.

For decades, Keller said Dynamics was one of only two books he recommended all church planters read. In his biography of Keller, Collin Hansen says Dynamics shaped Keller’s “views of the church and directed the course of his ministry more than any other book beyond the Bible.”

But Keller wasn’t the only pastor or theologian influenced by Lovelace. Lovelace personally tutored Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson during his formative years. And Justin Taylor wrote of Dynamics, “Every page—agree or disagree—is worth wrestling with.” Ray Ortlund wrote that the work “is rarely far from [his] thoughts, ” and David Powlison, who read Dynamics multiple times in the 1980s, often recited significant insights from it even in his later years of ministry.

Lovelace’s influence is wide, but most pastors in the Reformed tradition are still unfamiliar with his work. Below, I explore to what degree Lovelace’s perspectives have penetrated the theology and practice of today’s Reformed churches. And I ask how recovering his theology could help revive spiritual theology, church life, and ministry practice in our movement.

Pneumodynamics: A ‘Unified Field Theory’ for Renewal

Lovelace believed that “a number of problems which have troubled the church in this century are only solvable if we return to the vital core of biblical teaching dealing with Christian experience, just as the uneasy struggles in the late medieval church could only be resolved when Luther struck through to their spiritual root in his doctrine of justification” (Dynamics, 16). While his Reformed tradition emphasized doctrine and leadership structure, Lovelace believed spirituality is no less substantial. He argued that spiritual theology is “the indispensable foundation [without] which all of these are powerless and fall into decay” (12).

Lovelace wanted to establish a complete and balanced guide to help Christians grow healthier and more effective in their faith. He intended his writings to operate on two levels: as “a general theory of individual and corporate spiritual health” and as a “plan for reformation and renewal in the Christian church” (12).

As a church historian, Lovelace naturally drew on the history of Christian experience, especially from the Protestant Reformation to his time of writing. His goal was to extrapolate principles of renewal and revival from the most positive eras of Christian experience—regardless of their denominational source or geographic location—for the sake of modern and future Christians and churches. This would allow for a “unified field theory” of spiritual renewal (17).

Lovelace’s goal was to extrapolate principles of renewal and revival from the most positive eras of Christian experience.

In his 1985 book, Renewal as a Way of Life, Lovelace demonstrates that the dynamics of spiritual death (sin, the world, and the Devil) distort our relationships with God and others. But a continuous state of spiritual renewal will lead to restored relationships with God (prayer), with those in the church (community), and with those outside the faith (mission).

Lovelace’s Renewal Dynamics

On the surface, what Lovelace proposes may seem to be the same practices any religious person may engage in. But they can only be sustained personally and congregationally when they’re products of spiritual renewal. Spiritual practices, properly understood, demonstrate rather than earn God’s approval. They’re “essential ways in which we must ‘abide in Christ’ if we are to be fully renewed by his Spirit” (Renewal, 160).

Among Lovelace’s most significant insights are (1) his understanding of the gospel, (2) his holistic view of spiritual renewal, and (3) his understanding of the integrated nature of personal and corporate spiritual renewal.

1. Gospel Centrality

For Lovelace, justification is a primary element in individual renewal. By his definition, justification is “freedom from guilt because Jesus’ righteous acts and sacrificial death have been credited to our account” (136).

He sees believers’ justification as distinct from their sanctification, which Lovelace defined as “freedom from bondage to sin through the inpouring of the life of Christ in our experience, leading to progress in actual holiness” (Renewal, 136). Following the Reformation, Lovelace says justification means “You are accepted in Jesus” while sanctification means “You are free in Jesus.”

Lovelace argues that many believers rely on their sanctification for their justification. They believe God loves them on the basis of “their present spiritual achievements” rather than on the basis of Christ’s atoning work. We become “radically insecure persons,” Lovelace asserts, even more insecure than non-Christians, because we lack a proper grasp of our justification.

In Keller’s words, Lovelace’s solution is “putting the gospel front and center.” Lovelace urges pastors to clearly proclaim the gospel with a strong focus on God’s love and the Spirit’s renewing work. For readers of The Gospel Coalition, this may seem passé, but he was writing more than two decades before the dawn of the mid-2000s gospel-centered movement. His holistic gospel-centered framework was well before its time.

Lovelace argues that many believers rely on their sanctification for their justification.

As part of my dissertation research, I interviewed several pastors educated at Reformed seminaries over the past three decades. I wanted to know how much of Lovelace’s understanding of gospel dynamics had sunk into young pastors and how it continues to shape their ministries. To my delight, Lovelace’s understanding—especially the justification-and-sanctification distinction—was easily described by every pastor I interviewed. Whether the leaders were directly influenced by Lovelace or not, it was clear the gospel Lovelace proclaimed has been widely received.

2. Longing for Renewal

Lovelace originally wrote on the heels of the Jesus Movement. Renewal and revival would’ve been top of mind for many Christians. For Lovelace, the terms “renewal,” “revival,” and “awakening” are nearly synonymous. In his use, each word means “deriving from the Holy Spirit” and alludes to “biblical metaphors for the infusion of spiritual life in the Christian experience” (Dynamics, 21–22).

He taught that spiritual renewal is available to both individuals and communities. When a fresh wave of spiritual renewal affects an entire community suddenly and surprisingly, it can be termed a “revival.”

For Lovelace, revivals are “broad-scale movements of the Holy Spirit’s work in renewing spiritual vitality in the church and in fostering its expansion in mission and evangelism” (21–22). Keller wrote in the preface to the 2020 edition of Dynamics,

Lovelace worked to discover what all revivals have in common. He reached a conclusion that has become a key component of my own writing and teaching: revivals and renewals are a necessary part of the life of the church. Because of the default mode of the human heart, revival is a pattern repeatedly used by the Holy Spirit to reconnect Christian communities with the power of the gospel.

Despite the importance of Lovelace’s work on renewal and revival for many leading pastors and theologians, most I interviewed couldn’t give a cohesive description of spiritual renewal, and few had given much thought to the pattern of revivals in history. Some seemed to think that praying for and teaching on revival could damage the church if expectations are created but not reached.

In Center Church, Tim Keller suggested true revival sees the ordinary means of grace (such as preaching the gospel, repentance, and spiritual community) intensified in a short period. True revival vibrantly renews believers, freshly awakens nominal Christians, and genuinely converts sinners. “Revival is not a historical curiosity,” Keller writes. “It is a consistent pattern of how the Holy Spirit works in a community to arrest and counteract the default mode of the human heart.”

3. Integrating Individual and Corporate Renewal

Lovelace not only taught on both the gospel and renewal but also saw personal renewal and corporate renewal as integrally related. Based on the conversations I had with pastors and leaders, it seems this aspect of Lovelace’s teaching is another that hasn’t been as widely adopted within the gospel-centered movement. It needs to be recovered.

We live amid an epidemic of loneliness, and the church hasn’t been unaffected. Christianity is a family of faith, and our community is rooted both in shared belonging and in our reflection of the triune God—yet loneliness has come to church, and divisions within congregations have become commonplace. For our time, Lovelace’s appreciation of the community dynamics of the Christian faith is indispensable. He refused to think of spiritual life and renewal in merely personal terms. Personal and corporate renewal flow together, so when one lacks, the other will soon run dry.

Many modern believers’ personal renewal has been stunted by a lack of understanding that faith is relational. While many Christians are eager to grow spiritually, they stunt their growth by adopting a lifestyle of individualism and busyness that makes formation nearly impossible. To be spiritually healthy, thriving Christians must meaningfully connect to others in their church community.

To be spiritually healthy, thriving Christians must meaningfully connect to others in their church community.

Lovelace believed the local church should be a place of continuous spiritual renewal. Both pastors and members are responsible for promoting church renewal. But Lovelace questioned how much this was happening in the American church. He believed most Christian congregations instead hold a silent agreement between their pastors and members:

Pastors gradually settle down and lose interest in being change agents in the church. An unconscious conspiracy arises between their flesh and that of their congregations. It becomes tacitly understood that the laity will give pastors special honor in the exercise of their gifts, if the pastors will agree to leave their congregations’ pre-Christian lifestyles undisturbed and not call for the mobilization of lay gifts for the work of the kingdom. Pastors are permitted to become ministerial superstars. Their pride is fed and their congregations are permitted to remain herds of sheep in which each has cheerfully turned to his own way.

For Lovelace, pastoral ambition and members’ lethargy could lead to a lack of renewal. And remember: Lovelace wrote these words in the 1970s, long before the internet, social media, and podcasts.

Lovelace deeply believed personal and community renewal were indissoluble. To miss out on one was to miss out on the other. If we want to cultivate space for spiritual renewal in our lives, we need to keep a close, committed connection to the church. And if we want to experience renewal in our churches, it must begin in the devoted hearts of its members.

What’s the Future of Spiritual Renewal?

When I set out to plant a church with a team of friends in 2017, I was convinced that Lovelace’s work gave a powerful theological framework and ministry philosophy. Our team read Renewal together and asked what it’d look like to implement Lovelace’s renewal dynamics in a new church.

In the eight years that have followed, we’ve seen much of what Lovelace longed to see. Through preaching the gospel, we’ve seen both conversions and the renewal of stagnant believers. Through emphasizing prayer, we’ve seen people rediscover life with God as a vibrant journey of delight. Through committing to small groups, discipleship, and outreach, we’ve seen the corporate dynamic of renewal spread through homes and schools.

We’re not in any way a perfect church, but our experience has been that Lovelace’s biblical vision leads to healthy, thriving churches. His dynamics highlight the gospel’s centrality, provide a framework for personal spiritual renewal, and deepen hope for corporate revival. His “unified field theory” has helped us see that preaching, worship, prayer, community, and missional outreach (through both gospel presentation and demonstration) are all meaningfully interconnected. Many other pastors and church planters in our family of churches have been field-testing the dynamics for more than a decade, and each of us has found a strong foundation for the fast-changing and multifaceted demands of modern ministry.

I’m convinced: We still need Lovelace’s vision of spiritual renewal today. His was the original source code for the gospel-centered movement, and its genius still needs to be fully practiced.