Encouragement for people tempted to quit

Going deep, staying deep

sonnyholmes
May 28, 2020
3 min read

The Apostle Paul wrote many warnings about the temptations of yielding to shallow influences. His letters reference---

1. The temptation to please men and not God (Galatians 1:10; Ephesians 6:6;

1 Thessalonians 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:4).

2. The temptation to abandon the Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:9).

3. The temptation to be allured by inconsequential talk (1 Timothy 1:3-4;

1 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:14-18; Titus 3:9, and more).

4. The temptation of losing passion for mission (2 Timothy 1:6; Philippians 3:12;

and many others).

5. The temptation to cave in under opposition (Romans 16:17; 2 Timothy

2:25-26; 2 Timothy:8-9; and others).

There were, of course, many other distractions to on-point mission and an array of easier paths that Paul himself could have taken. Each route could have been justification for those under his leadership to take a less stressful approach to mission. Time after time, however, he instructed the leaders under his mentor-ship to go deep and stay deep. He taught them the value of operating from the zone of spiritual leadership, that is, personal depth, and being disciplined enough to remain there throughout their ministry. One especially provocative example is in his First Epistle to Timothy. He wrote---

Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set

the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I

come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to

teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy

when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse

yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on

yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both

yourself and your hearers.

1 Timothy 4:12-16, ESV

The pressure to deliver in this world is intense. While many church stats are in decline the need to engage a growing national secularism pushes many spiritual leaders to shallow expectations, church membership with little meaning, and spiritual pablum that just doesn't make or grow disciples. Evidently Paul saw these same tendencies in his younger apprentice, partner, and friend Timothy. So, his first letter is punctuated with action words meant to challenge Timothy about going deep and staying deep. Command, teach, set an example, devote yourself, and do not neglect the gift are power phrases written to ignite resolve in Timothy. But, there are four more with special significance regarding spiritual depth----

Practice: an emphatic command for Timothy to do what he had been taught. It is

the central core of spiritual depth, the union of hearing and doing.

Immerse yourself: this is a simple emphatic construction of the verb "to be" and

is often translated to "absorb", "give yourself wholly", "throw yourself into", or "be

committed". I love the "immerse" translation of the ESV because it so identifies

with the depth theme. It is to make these things the single objective of his

spiritual leadership.

Keep a close watch on yourself: as a guard against pleasing the wrong men Paul

expected Timothy to maintain a close personal accountability to what he had

been taught (see 2 Timothy 3:10).

Persist in this: Paul understood more than most people the seasons of leadership

effectiveness, the temptations always present in the rigors of mission, the

"anxiety for the churches" (1 Corinthians 11:28), and the need for persistence,

endurance, steadfastness, discipline, and the whole armor of God.

The outcome? "...for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers" (v.16). it is once again the important link between a spiritual leader and those entrusted to his or her care.

Are our times more critical than any other era in Christian history? Who knows. The drift that so characterizes the Western church just now seems strategic to those of us called to provide spiritual leadership in it. And, the trend is for shallowness! It's what feels good, resonates most readily, and draws crowds when presented in a way favorable to a secular world.

The challenge today is about going deep, and staying deep. It is about depth, the zone of spiritual leadership.

The mysteries of spiritual depth.

sonnyholmes
May 27, 2020
3 min read

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about the mystery of life (God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas (Westminister, John Knox Press, re-edit, 2010). It is a long reference but worth the read---

The lack of mystery in our modern life is our downfall and our poverty. A human life is

worth as much as the respect it holds for the mystery. We retain the child in us to the

extent that we honor the mystery. Therefore, children have open, wide-awake eyes,

because they know that they are surrounded by the mystery. They are not yet finished

with this world; they still don’t know how to struggle along and avoid the mystery, as we

do. We destroy the mystery because we sense that here we reach the boundary of our

being, because we want to be lord over everything and have it at our disposal, and

that’s just what we cannot do with the mystery…. Living without mystery means

knowing nothing of the mystery of our own life, nothing of the mystery of another

person, nothing of the mystery of the world; it means passing over our own hidden

qualities and those of others and the world. It means remaining on the surface, taking

the world seriously only to the extent that it can be calculated and exploited, and not

going beyond the world of calculation and exploitation. Living without mystery means

not seeing the crucial processes of life at all and even denying them.

The phrase "It means remaining on the surface..." struck a chord when thinking about spiritual depth and shallow living. Life without the mysteries of God is an empty life, a life lived on the surface, a life without depth. Modern sophisticates tend to exempt the mysteries of life from the agenda in two very specific ways---

1. Culture avoids the supernatural by downplaying the mysteries.

Rational, secular living is the result of pretending mysteries don't exist. A

culture bent on quantitative measurement, sharp definition, critical thinking,

and empirical data extract the supernatural from the seams of life.

De-mystifying Jesus, the Gospel, the New Testament, and other liberal studies

have raised doubt about the existence of a Creator God, providential leadership

in all things, and His sovereign guidance of life. Interestingly enough those

trends were the result of what historians have labeled "the enlightenment".

More like "dis-enlightenment" if you ask me. Still, they are the remains of a

liberal theology that makes much of man and little of God. As King David

wrote, this kind of life is vile and empty. He wrote, "The fool says in his heart,

“There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none

who does good" (Psalm 14:1, ESV).

2. Shallow living ignores the mysteries by making everything a mystery.

The modern pretense in shallow churches and spiritual leaders is that every

solution to the sinful nature of man is hidden in the mysteries of God.

Therefore humans cannot overcome the curse of that sinful nature and grace

gives us license to live the life destined for a fallen world. As a result, there are

no moral absolutes by which life is lived. They are hidden from us in the

mystery of His ways. You know how this plays out. God is love. God gives

abundant grace to sinners. We are all human. And, more. When everything is

mystery, nothing is mystery.

Daily I am reminded of the truth God gave Moses. He wrote---

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed

belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29, ESV

God has chosen not to reveal everything to us. But, He has revealed something. There are mysteries hidden from our view. There's revealed truth also, so that we can hear His Word and obey it.

An example? Here's the one I hear most often---

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV

These words are often quoted to people experiencing grief, tragedy, or some life hardship. We can't even imagine what God has prepared for us.

But, in the next sentence, God placed this mystery within the grasp of mere humans. The Apostle wrote---

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches

everything, even the depths of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10, ESV

See, there are revealed things too. Spiritual leaders live in the balance of what He has revealed and what is hidden in the mystery of his ways. And, they lead those entrusted to their stewardship by them and to them.

This depth of living and leading in the mysteries and revealed things of God is the zone of genuine spiritual leadership.

Living in the shallows.

sonnyholmes
May 26, 2020
3 min read

Not long ago I posted a profound quote to my social media sites. Author Malcolm Gladwell said, "Shallow communities are relatively easy to build." It was a comment made when he was interviewed by The European Magazine regarding his best-seller David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (Back Bay Books reprint, 2015). His point was that the digital world had created a distant activism---his name for it is slactivism---where people don't have to risk everything to build or be a part of a community of influence. In this new world hits on the like button are interpreted as gravitas, that is, weight in an opinion contest. His assessment may explain the growing numbers of Sunday believers whose depth is little more than a social media entry.

Jesus explained spiritual depth in clearly enunciated word pictures. In one brilliant teaching he exposed the reason so many people choose living in the shallows. It's the debate about hearing and doing that was so central to his mission and the epistle his brother James authored later. James expressed this truth in these words---

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if

anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently

at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once

forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of

liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will

be blessed in his doing.

James 1:22-25 (ESV)

Jesus had included a comment about spiritual depth in his teaching about hearing and doing.

Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes

to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is

like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not

shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do

them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When

the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was

great.

Luke 6:46-49, ESV

The well built house was laid on a deep foundation. And, that depth was the understanding that Christ's words were to be heard and then obeyed.

It's what makes Malcolm Gladwell's assessment so on point today. Living in the shallows involves hearing the word with little emphasis on the doing part. This kind of community is relatively easy to construct. The drawing power of clever presentation and funny stories and confessional preaching and teaching packs the house with followers hungry for a sound bite or well-turned phrase. The breakdown in the current spiritual milieu is that the words aren't making it to the pavement. There's little do-ology in the trendy equations of living the spiritual life. Incredibly, many spiritual leaders accentuate this hearing mentality as the norm for living the Christian life.

Jesus spoke about these kind of spiritual leaders too. He called the soft-core, big talk Jewish leaders hypocrites. In one segment he referred to them as "blind guides", and said about them and their followers, "And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" (Matthew 15:14, ESV). Let me add that in this instance, the "pit" wasn't a metaphor for deep spirituality. It was the image of a deep place, but a destructive one, not the aim of the spiritual life. It was the result of leaders glorifying life in the shallows, long on talk, short on action.

The Apostle Paul included the connection of spiritual leaders and their followers in his own understanding or spiritual leadership. He wrote---

But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we

speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 2:4, ESV

There it is, the zone of leadership again, the depth expected of spiritual leaders. They are "entrusted with the gospel" to build a genuine community of faith: believers who understand the depths of God, hearing and doing what Christ taught.

It isn't very popular these days. But the promised outcomes are staggering. One house couldn't be shaken while the other immediately fell.

And, that's what happens when we live in the shallows and lead people there: Christians and a church without influence.