NOT VERY DEEP
Introduction: Quite often we see people making decisions; raising their hands for prayer expressing the desire for rededication; committing to serve, or responding to conviction for something in their lives. Immediately following these decisions, they are excited, enthused, and energized. But the decisions seem all too short lived. Why? In Mark 4:1-9 Jesus gave the parable of the sower and the seed. He spoke of seed that did not last because it had no depth of soil. So it is with these Christians who lack depth in their relationship with Christ. The problem is...
I. Shallow Christians want Inspiration without any Imitation
A. People want to be stirred up, filled up, fired up, charged up, and shook up as long as they don’t have to stand up, speak up, or give up; as long as they can stay the same as they are and don’t have to change.
B. Matthew 3:1 – 2, 7 – 8 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ….But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…”
C. State Senator David Johnson gave the following advice about public speaking to Mark Sanborn of Leadership Resources: “Always remember that people want to be entertained. Whether you’re giving a sermon, teaching a class or giving a speech, people want to be entertained.” – The Sanborn Difference, © 1995-2006, Sanborn & Associates, Inc.
D. 2 Timothy 4:3 (NASB) “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.”
E. Many like to hear teachers who give them mere pleasure and do not offend them with truths that are grating to their ears.
F. Dr. James Orr once told about Billy Graham flying on an airplane and the attendant making a big fuss over him. "Do you want some more coffee Dr. Graham?" "Oh, my mother prays for you everyday." "I must write to her and tell her about seeing you." About that time a big old Texan up front had a little too much to drink. He started cursing and making passes at the attendant and creating a big ruckus. Finally the attendant had enough and walked up to the big Texan and said, "Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to be quite. You see Dr. Billy Graham the evangelist is flying with us." The Texan responded, "Billy Graham, Billy Graham is flying with us?" The man stumbled back to where Billy was sitting and said, "Billy Graham, I’m so glad to meet you. I just want you to know how much your sermons help me to live the Christian life!" – Dr. James Orr 1981, South Carolina Baptist Evangelism Conference.
G. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
II. Shallow Christians want Deep Doctrine but without Deep Compliance to that doctrine.
A. The culture in which we live lends itself to the accumulation of knowledge. The cry is, “Preacher teach us the deeper things of God! Tell it like it is! Lay it on the line... As long as it hits someone else.
B. Someone has said, “The best sermons are the ones that hit their target –and the target is always someone else.
C. 2 Timothy 3:1 – 7 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
D. The reason they never come to the truth is that will not submit to that truth”
E. James 1:22 - 25 ... be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
F. The shallow Christian learns but never becomes truly convinced by the teachings of Scripture. The difference between the things we “learn,” and those we “become convinced of” is that we hold the former while the latter holds us! – 2 Timothy: "Call to Completion" - Dwight Edwards
G. Until the word of God becomes not just something we hold, but rather something which hold us, we will continue to be shallow Christians.
III. Shallow Christians want Energized without any Exercise.
A. Shallow Christians want to be spectators not participants. They want to be part of the pep rally but don’t want to be in the game.
B. They want instant gratification, instant spirituality, and instant power.
C. Pastor Kevin Tully gave the following insight into becoming a deeper Christian. He went out in the back yard, to pull a few weeds in his garden. And when he got close to the tomato plants, he saw it: a mushroom – or more precisely, a toadstool. And he thought, “that wasn’t here yesterday.” In one night it had sprung up. But it was about as tall as it was going to get. And then, he looked at the oak tree in the back yard. It’s never grown as fast as that mushroom did. But it’s at least 50 feet tall, and it’s big, and it’s strong. That seems to be God’s way. When God wants to grow a mushroom, it happens overnight. But an oak tree takes years. And it’s the same with people. There are just some things which take years. Patience, judgment, experience – you don’t get those overnight. Some things just take time and quite often effort. We can’t just sit around and expect to grow in the ways we want to grow. It takes effort. - www.stpaulsumc.net
D. Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
E. 1 Timothy 4:7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
F. A general principle: The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner shallow Christians tire in it…and get lazy – copied.
IV. Shallow Christians want the Worship Experience without Personal Commitment
A. Shallow Christians want the blessings, benefits, and privileges of the presence of God but fail to present themselves sacrificially to God.
B. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
C. They would sing, “Take MY WIFE and let HER be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. All that she has, Lord, I give to Thee”
D. Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
E. "The Christian way is different, harder, and easier. Christ says; ‘Give me All. I do not want so much of your time, and so much of your money, and so much of your work; I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I do not want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree cut down. I do not want to drill a tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked –the whole outfit, and I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself; My own Will shall becomes yours.’" (C.S. Lewis in "That Tremendous Love,"
F. Matthew 7:21 - 23 "Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ’Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"
V. Conclusion: Shallow Christians want inspiration without any imitation, deep doctrine without deep compliance, to be energized without exercise, and the worship experience without personal commitment and sacrifice. When the world, the flesh, or the devil raises their ugly head they struggle because they lack depth. Do any of these characteristics fit you? Is God calling you today to surrender to His leading; to make a lasting decision to deepen your relationship with God by total surrender? Will you show the depth of your faith through the demonstration of your faith?
Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
