Preach the word...be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. -2 Timothy 4:2-3
Is it just me or has the deep end of the pool disappeared from most churches community life? The word study has fallen out of vogue in most circles and a "desire" focused programing model has replaced the the rigorous past of learning to love the Lord your God with among other things...your mind. Paul warns the Romans in chapter 16 of men who will come that deceive the "naive, simple, unsuspecting". The simple path is a wide path for sure. The heights of God are ascended out of love to know Him, to know His ways, His will, His heart and HIs character...so that we might enjoy Him first and foremost and then to spread that knowledge to those who do not know.
The primary means to accomplish this is through His word. We are called to "study" the scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15) not just be listen to them. Inspiration is important but impartation is critical in this day, especially since we live in a time where the tickle is the preeminent goal of most endeavors. Our desires rule and our "wants" are king...as a pastor, I see this all the time. It is laced through almost every conversation. Not what God desires or wants but what do we want. It is true that we should throw the new christian in the deep end because they have not learned to swim in the depths of God's mysteries. But we shouldn't remove the deep end for fear of such possibilities. The mature long for the depths of God.....deep calls unto deep.
The shallows are safe, rarely does someone drown there. The deep has taken many lives, the dangers are real...pride, arrogance, isolation, party spirit, insanity; but the the dangers do not outweigh the rewards. Let not the fear of the unknown deter us from swimming out to the places where we can no longer touch.
You might drown or you might discover a God who is waiting for you to leave the shallows.
2 comments:
I endorse this post, in fact I think it's AWSOME... just kidding. I finally saw the cowbell, and while funny not half as funny as the Bush commercial. That one has kept me laughing.
For me the deep end is fiding out what God wants me to do with my life and doing it. Knowing what God wants for me personally is not so easy for me. The deep end requires "great patience", and that's a big request for me. "Be ready in season and out of season", I'm pretty certain of where to be in season obviously, but out of season? I tend to go back to the shallows...
Matt, I like your last line --
"I'm pretty certain of where to be in season obviously, but out of season? I tend to go back to the shallows..."
I can relate,
Dad
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