Discipleship - Treading Shallow or Going Deep? (Part II)
December 13th 2011 15:09
One of the churches greatest treasures is its deep people. Most of the emphasis in today’s church is upon seekers, young people, and those who are diverse in race, culture and gender - which are all important elements in the life of a church. However, if a church is missing a solid core of deep people, it may be in trouble.
Deep people do not just happen; they are discipled and equipped. Yes, they may even be forced to grow up, become responsible and be worthy of trust. Unfortunately, our objective seems to be that of helping people avoid any level of personal pain. God has always worked though pain in order to accomplish His purposes, but our fickle society would rather be delivered from pain than fulfill God’s purpose. We have gone so far as to associate any level of pain with being outside of God’s will.
In recent days, I have talked with a number of older pastors (some retired), who are lamenting the shallow condition of the church and the dysfunctionalism that comes with it. While there is the recognition that we must be effective in our outreach and evangelism ministries (including seeker sensitive); there is also the recognition that we may have become so seeker sensitive, that we are unintentionally training people to remain seeker sensitive long after they have come to Christ and should be growing in spiritual depth and maturity.
We could think of the church as a swimming pool with a shallow end for the young, in-experienced swimmers, and a deep end for the older, more experienced swimmers. In the shallow end, it is possible to actually walk on the bottom while keeping one’s head above water. One could actually stay on the shallow end and never learn how to swim. The problem comes when something or someone tosses the unlearned swimmer into the deep end, which life has a tendency to do with us.
In the deep end, if one does not know how to swim, he will be consumed by the very water that will soon bring about his demise. He will not know the pleasure of diving from the heights to the depths and hanging out in the depths without his feet touching the bottom. If an unlearned swimmer finds their way into the deep end, the swimmer in the deep end may even have the unbelievable experience of saving their life.
With this picture in mind, how many spiritually deep people do you know? Are you a spiritually deep person? Or would you rather hang out in the shallow end of the pool where your feet can stay on the bottom, allowing you to remain comfortable and in control? Do you think the church has been content to leave you in the shallow end or has it pushed you into the depths?
Coming next - Part III
Deep people do not just happen; they are discipled and equipped. Yes, they may even be forced to grow up, become responsible and be worthy of trust. Unfortunately, our objective seems to be that of helping people avoid any level of personal pain. God has always worked though pain in order to accomplish His purposes, but our fickle society would rather be delivered from pain than fulfill God’s purpose. We have gone so far as to associate any level of pain with being outside of God’s will.
In recent days, I have talked with a number of older pastors (some retired), who are lamenting the shallow condition of the church and the dysfunctionalism that comes with it. While there is the recognition that we must be effective in our outreach and evangelism ministries (including seeker sensitive); there is also the recognition that we may have become so seeker sensitive, that we are unintentionally training people to remain seeker sensitive long after they have come to Christ and should be growing in spiritual depth and maturity.
We could think of the church as a swimming pool with a shallow end for the young, in-experienced swimmers, and a deep end for the older, more experienced swimmers. In the shallow end, it is possible to actually walk on the bottom while keeping one’s head above water. One could actually stay on the shallow end and never learn how to swim. The problem comes when something or someone tosses the unlearned swimmer into the deep end, which life has a tendency to do with us.
In the deep end, if one does not know how to swim, he will be consumed by the very water that will soon bring about his demise. He will not know the pleasure of diving from the heights to the depths and hanging out in the depths without his feet touching the bottom. If an unlearned swimmer finds their way into the deep end, the swimmer in the deep end may even have the unbelievable experience of saving their life.
With this picture in mind, how many spiritually deep people do you know? Are you a spiritually deep person? Or would you rather hang out in the shallow end of the pool where your feet can stay on the bottom, allowing you to remain comfortable and in control? Do you think the church has been content to leave you in the shallow end or has it pushed you into the depths?
Coming next - Part III
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