I enjoy taking my children to the pool. My daughter loves the water and has recently become more of a swimmer, so much so, that she no longer has to wear a flotation device. However, my son must wear floaties because he cannot swim. He is no tall enough to stand up in the water, nor is he strong enough to keep himself afloat without some kind of assistance. However, I am a grown man who can easily support himself in the depths. I can swim out to the deep part of the pool with no assitance needed and keep myself afloat without any assistance.
I was thinking today, however, how absurd it would look if I were to put on a pair of those orange inflatable arm floaties with pictures of happy fish all over them and stay on the shallow end of the pool and play "Marco Polo" with all of the children. If you were at the pool what would you think?
The truth is that, spiritually speaking, there is a majority of us who are doing just that. We are hanging out in the shallow end of the spiritual pool with all of the children. We are wearing our little floaties, calling out "Marco" listening for all of the other children to say, "Polo". It's not that the shallow end is a bad place to be. It isn't at all. It's safe there; it's warmer there; it's where we have fond memories. God has called us to go deeper though. Swimming in the deeper water requires that we be stronger. It requires that we use muscles that we never would have used if we had stayed in the shallow end.
Ok...enough nonsense, let me get to the point. There are too many Christians who are comfortable with superficiality. There are too many shallow Christians, myself included. God has called us to move on, to go deeper. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this in chapter 6.
He says, "1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so."
We must move on. It is time to stop sitting in some sanctuary somewhere with our floaties on while someone else does the swimming for us. Now, I'm not saying that those who sit in sanctuaries are shallow. I'm saying as long as we are not willing to go deeper with God, we remain shallow. Unless we allow Him to speak to the depths of our hearts, we will remain shallow. As long as Jesus remains solely a man or a good prophet or just our friend, he cannot be our Lord. We must go deeper.
Richard Foster hit the nail on the head when he said in his book, Celebration of Discipline, "Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a spiritual problem."
God has called us to go deeper. We must swim out to the depths if we are going to use the spiritual muscles that God called us to use. Most importantly if we are to trust Him truly we must deflate the floaties and lean on Him as He takes us to a deeper relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ.
"I had rather exercise faith than know the definition thereof"-Thomas a' Kempis.
I have studied theology for a number of years, and I am not certain what a good definition of faith really is. I can't elaborate it. However, I can see it, have seen it, and praise God for it!
I have two new friends, Frank and Erica. Frank and Erica gave their lives to our Lord and Savior, Jesus about two months ago. I have often been impressed with the voracity that they have pursued Him. However, now I am even more impressed and encouraged. Today at about 11 am Erica will be having a very risky surgery. Doctors are hoping to repair a "pseudo-aneurysm" near her brain that is significantly limiting the blood supply to her brain. As I spent time with Frank and Erica last night I was impressed with their faith. It was not a faith that speaks "faith-type" words out loud but mutters fear below the surface. Theirs was a faith completely in God. Don't get me wrong. I know they are afraid, but I also know that they trust in who God is in the midst of not being certain of what He will do. The Lord gave me a picture of this last night.
My dog Shadow is afraid of storms. In fact, she is so afraid that if left alone she leaves a path of destruction. This happened this past weekend. It was a deluge outside and Shadow was in the garage. She completely tore up the molding on the door to the house and broke the garage door sensor trying to escape. So, finally when I let her in the house, the first place she ran was under my feet. She felt secure there. She was safe. The storm did not end when she was under my feet. She did not know when the storm would end, but she knew who I was and that I cared for her.
Frank and Erica have spent time in the garage. They have fought. They have wept. Yet, the storm has raged on. Now, however, they have come into His house and sat beneath the feet of the master. They are secure there. They are safe there. While the storm for them continues to rage on, and they are not sure when it will end, they know who He is and that He cares for them.
I am not sure how to define faith, but that is what it looks like in action.
Praise God for the faith of Frank and Erica!