“Your ministry (teaching, preaching, Bible studies, curriculum, small group, etc.) isn’t deep enough.”
It’s a critique I hear from time to time. Not usually from participants. But from onlooking ministry leaders.
I’ve wondered, what do they mean by “deep”? When I’ve probed, “deep” seems to mean dense information, lots of historical detail, many Bible verses, theological complexity, and a dose of Greek.
I often wonder how today’s depth-finders would have critiqued Jesus’ ministry. Would he have passed their tests?
I suspect the depth Jesus sought was less about information and more about personal transformation. What he really craved were deep personal relationships with him and the Father.
Personal relationships—including and especially relationships with Jesus—are just that—personal. They’re not mass-produced as in a factory. Or a lecture hall.
Jesus-style depth comes when a person experiences the very presence of God, reaches deeply within, reflects, makes a personal ah-ha, and grows.
Jesus went deep with his colorful stories, with his probing questions, and with his fully engaging experiences.
Do you want a ministry that goes deep?
• Tell a good story . . . without always revealing your own spiritual interpretation.
• Ask open-ended soul-searching questions, ones that each individual must plumb deeply within to individually address.
• Involve people in captivating experiences. Wash their feet. Engage all of their senses. Allow God some space to act.
Think like a scuba divemaster. You don’t help your divers go deep by standing on the surface and spraying them with a big hose. You help them go deep when you allow them to go beneath the surface to personally discover the wonders of God’s creation.
Thom,
Your application thoughts were profound and you closing illustration is a gem I’ve tucked into my memory bank.
I’ve been reading your blog for several months and observe that you’re on the edge repurposing the church. Thank you for your courage. May your tribe increase!
Thom,
Actually, though Jesus had great stories and illustrations (which is a pattern we should employ, as you say), they were based on the culture and knowledge of the Scriptures, which his audience, particularly the Pharisees, had been steeped in. Our disadvantage is that our audience is not steeped in Old Testament knowledge, and often is spoon fed application without being taught the important backdrop to that application. The result, predictably, is that people don’t interpret Jesus’ sayings and stories in the context of the existing Scriptures of his time, and they end up mis-applying and misinterpreting those stories as a result. The subjective question what does that mean to you? does not often lead to correct interpretation and application, whether with high school,college, or adult folks I work with.
Paul and others in Acts and the various NT letters gave the Gentiles Judaic historical background to their teaching and conclusions.
I am afraid many teachers sell their students short when it comes to their learning to interpret and gain critical insight from the Scriptures on their own.
Jesus said My words are life. You can’t eat vicariously through another person, even if they are a great teacher.
Finally, a critique of one of your statements:
I suspect the depth Jesus sought was less about information and more about personal transformation. What he really craved were deep personal relationships.
Paul, the apostles, and by extension Jesus (whom Paul claims to get his insight directly from) does seem to state that personal transformation is directly related to information, which is contrary to what you said. Of course, not information only-humility towards God is required- but renewing of the mind is all about learning to think completely differently about your identity, the people around you, God, the universe, evil, etc. I would like to understand your logic in implying that information is the antithesis of either personal relationships or personal transformation.
Without knowing too much about your ministry, I suspect you rightly succeed in re-establishing personal relationships as the foundation of church life and personal transformation, but I exhort you not to minimize the place of truth (correct information).
I love what you have to say here. I think just preaching is not enough. We have all seen the person in the back falling asleep. Yes we need to indulge their senses. Preaching the word will bring conviction but application must be learned by going deeper.
Preaching is one of the discipleship tools and a very important one, but you are right by itself it will not produce complete disciples. Some people need milk and some need steak. The greatest accomplishment preaching can achieve is to get the disciple into the word for him/her self.
When it said and done, the last word is
Immanuel- God-With-Us.
Isaiah 8:10 THE MESSAGE
Thanks, Jim. You mentioned Jesus’ audience was comprised of those steeped in scripture knowledge. What strikes me about Jesus’ revolutionary approach was his intentional embrace of not only the scribes and Pharisees, but the Gentiles and those outside the religious elite. He crafted a deep ministry that moved people regardless of their academic prowess.
I love your observation that many teachers sell their students short.
I’m not implying that information is the antithesis of relationship or transformation. I’m advocating that we pursue ministry depth in ways that Jesus modeled for us.
Have you read Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas – you’d like it Thom.