The Shallow Christian

Here's an excerpt from Laughing with Sarah: Chapter 10 - "Getting Deep."

"I want to go deeper."
"I wish my pastor would go deeper in his preaching."
"That church is shallow. They don't preach the whole gospel."

I've heard comments like these for years – especially since the contemporary church movement began a couple of decades ago. Contemporary and seeker-friendly churches are often accused of preaching a watered-down version of the gospel. Heavy on grace and light on sin. The promise of heaven but not a peep about hell. Liberal with love and little judgment.

Several times a year, someone will approach me and say, "Pastor, I want to go deeper." My response is usually, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean you want to get in over your head? That could be dangerous."

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So what does it mean to live a deep Christian life? We may get all kinds of answers to that question. Maybe it helps to ask, "What is a shallow Christian?"

A shallow Christian is one who claims to know Christ and who can point to a time in his life when he understood the basics of the gospel and internalized it and even publicized it (through baptism and church membership), but he has not taken the necessary steps to grow up in Christ. Instead, the shallow Christian has learned enough of the gospel to know how he should act in public but has no passion or desire to know Christ at an intimate and personal level. The shallow Christian fills a pew each Sunday. He serves, and even leads, some of the church’s committees. He gives regularly to the church. He attends the church’s special events and supports all the ministries of the church. He may even brag to his associates and friends about his church. He is a churchgoer, but he is not a "God-goer." He does not pray intimately much, if at all. He does not carve out time in his schedule to study his Bible. His efforts at personal and corporate worship are minimal at best. He makes little spiritual impact on those around him, and he has never personally shared the gospel with another person. He may know Christ as Savior, but he does not allow Christ to be Lord of his life. His life may be filled with church activities, but it is not filled with the Holy Spirit.

Sad but true. Our churches are full of shallow Christians. Each Sunday, church pews are occupied by millions of believers who have little or no interest in living a fully devoted life to Jesus Christ.

Hey! Maybe that is the definition of the deeper life. A life fully devoted to Jesus Christ. A passionate follower of Christ. Spiritual depth comes when you make loving and serving Christ your everyday mission. Going deep means living every minute of every day with the awareness that Jesus Christ is Lord and Ruler of your life. Getting deep means totally relying on, trusting in, and depending on God's Spirit to move and work in every area of your life.

There is no magic formula to living the deeper life. This is not something that you are going to accomplish by the time you finish reading this chapter. It is work. It is time-consuming. It is a lifestyle. It's a journey.

Find out what it means to "get deep" here.