Surface Christianity!

Surface Christianity!

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how  unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Rom. 11:33

Today we have too much superficial Christianity. Many Christian have a very shallow relationship with Christ and a rudimentary understanding of his word. We are not quite at the point of a falling away yet, but many could easily head in that direction.

Jesus gave the Parable of the Sower and four soils. The seed was the same, which is the Word of God, but the different soils hindered the seed to flourish. Only one soil was good ground and the others did not allow growth. Though the rocky ground, thorny ground and the wayside were all different, they all had one thing in common. There was no depth. The wayside seed could not even penetrate the soil so was eaten by the birds. The rocky soil had little moisture and allowed a little growth but soon withered away because the rocks prevented the seed from taking root. The thorny ground likewise choked up the roots and prevented them from digging deep into the soil and thus became “unfruitful”.

A plant without deep roots will not flourish and can easily be uprooted. I remember living in Miami when Hurricane Andrew hit. We were fortunate with little damage to our house and it seemed like every third house in the neighborhood suffered great damage. After a horrid night with family staying at our house because it was further inland, some of us went and drove around the neighborhood. The soil in Miami is very sandy and many of the trees had shallow roots and were upended. One man the night of the hurricane, thought it would be safe to chain his trash cans to a large tree outside his house but the tree was completely uprooted and turned upside down. Now his trash cans were hanging in the tree 20 feet up in the air. Another neighbor had a huge tree uprooted and it fell on his house and a large branch penetrated his roof and it now looked like a tree growing out of his living room!

Depth is essential for a tree, plant or even a building to survive in a storm! Most architects will agree that the taller the building the more necessity for a deeper foundation. This is also true for Christianity. The bible talks about being Christians “rooted and grounded (Eph. 3:17).”

Another interesting aspect of the importance of depth is the fact that though the plant, flower or tree is visible, the roots are invisible. That is, they are often hidden.  Its like an iceberg. What you see on the surface is not indicative of what lies beneath! On the surface many Christians can appear to be flourishing. They can go to church every Sunday and be involved in many church activities and yet the rest of the week on the job, home and in all the other areas you don’t see, there might be a different story.

The parable of the sower is not just about a sower, but is also about what is being sowed, where its being sowed and how its being sowed. First Jesus explained the seed is the word of God and this is the starting place. Surface Christianity unfortunately is a product of a superficial gospel rather than the Gospel of Christ and the word of God. Preachers often preach life inspiring stories, self-help sermons, motivational messages or comedic dialog without good Biblical teaching! Entertainment has often replaced edification and rocky worship instead of inspirational devotion. Encounter groups have replaced Bible studies and social issues have replaced the scripture. The Bible says to pray for the laborers for the harvest. Many have plowed the ground but they no longer have the pure seed of God’s Word but instead, a seed that is GMO (Gospel of Mans Origin).

So now we have a threefold problem. A shallow gospel that portrays a superficial Christianity that produces only surface Christians. To produce depth in Christ we must dive deeply int the Word of God. We must instill deep relationships with Christ and we must get his people out of the shallow end of the pool and teach them to navigate the deep waters of the real power of the Holy Spirit!

 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10

Jesus confronted the superficial religious system of his day and sought to bring the people out of the temple and into the kingdom. The prophet Ezekiel records the Angel of the Lord measuring the waters that flowed out of the temple (Ezek. 47:1-12). First it was to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his loins and finally so deep he could not cross it. I pray we don’t lose a generation to being a surface Christian but that we would restore the Church and its people back to the depth of God.

 

The Parable of the Watchdog!

 

The dog barked at an inconvenient time and the owner arose and scolded his dog then went back to sleep! The dog barked again a second time even louder and the owner arose and beat the dog and then went back to sleep. The dog was relentless and barked a third time louder and harder and the angered owner arose and muzzled the dog and threw him out. The dog struggled to bark but could not and an invader broke in and robbed the house and killed the owner. Three times the dog tried to warn his Master and three times he was reproved. Three times he sounded an alarm and three times he was scolded, beaten and muzzled and finally thrown out. The faithful servant sought to protect his owner of danger, but his master played the fool and dismissed the warning and lost all he had, including his life!

 “But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into!” Luke 12:39

 

Pray for those in Authority!

 

History proves that hardship and suffering of the masses are usually due to the decisions of the leadership not the populous! War, economic difficulty and social suffering are usually the results of the direction, policies and decisions of those at the top and those who lead, not those who follow. Leaders have the ability to lead the people into prosperity or poverty, success or failure, peace or war and happiness or hardship. The Bible says:

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." James 3:1, (KJV).

Some versions say “teachers” and “judgement”. This is talking about leaders and their responsibilities. They can teach the truth or a lie. They can lead wisely or oppressively and thus will ultimately receive a greater praise or greater judgement and condemnation. We see the parallel of this truth today both in politics and the Church. God holds the shepherd more responsible than the sheep; the leaders more than those who follow!

It breaks my heart to see the suffering of those who can barely afford gas or food because of the economy created by the present leadership. It pains me to see the death and fear that ravishes the people of Ukraine who suffer because of one man in Russia who hungers for more power.  Most people suffer at the hands of their oppressor, whether domestic or abroad and sadly most Christians suffer too because of both secular and church leadership. We are to pray for the comfort and strength of the people, and we are also called to pray for leaders and those in authority as causation will determine effect.

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;” 1 Tim. 2:1-3

We are instructed to pray for “all men”, that they might be saved; that they may be blessed and comforted and encouraged. We are also told to pray for those who “are in authority” that they might do right by the people, that they lead in a godly fashion so that the people “may lead a quiet and peaceable life”

The Godless create their own environment but the righteous must pray for theirs! God hears and in due time will answer! The children of Israel were once blessed by Egypt and given the best land and lived a quiet and peaceable life under Joseph and Pharaoh. But Joseph died and a new Pharaoh arose and then the Israelites became slaves and cruelly oppressed for 400 years! When the people had enough and cried out to God, He sent Moses to deliver them from their tyranny!

The pattern of the old Testament is clear. When Israel had a righteous and godly king, the nation did well and was blessed and at peace with their enemies. But when the king was wicked, the people fell into sin and compromise and they soon were oppressed by their leaders and their enemies.

God raises up Kings and deposes kings (Daniel 2:21). He is sovereign and does all things according to His will, but often he waits until his people repent and turn from their wicked ways and then hears from heaven and responds to their prayers. Now is a time for us as the church to get right with God and to pray for pastors and elders to quit playing silly religious games and then we can turn our effectual, fervent prayers towards those who lead the nations that the oppressors be brought low and that the righteous step in. Pray for Biden and Putin, that they either lead rightly and responsibly or be replaced by those who will. God has put a simple condition on the welfare of our lives: “If my people Pray”!

 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death, and keep them alive in famine. Psa. 33:12-19