If you haven’t heard it yet, you likely will. And it always comes from “seasoned” Christians–those who came from another church to your church plant to see if it would “meet their needs” (though they don’t acknowledge this).
What do they say?
“It’s just not deep enough.”
They may be talking about your sermons or the content of your small group studies. Perhaps both. And what they mean is crystal clear: You’re not much of a preacher or this isn’t much of a church.
But what are they really saying?
Maybe your messages don’t have enough points (with rhymes or alliteration). Perhaps you don’t give enough emphasis to the biblical content (you don’t show your knowledge of the literal meaning of the Greek and Hebrew). Or it’s possible they don’t have enough blanks to fill in on their handout (or that you didn’t provide a handout!).
Basically they aren’t getting enough information. And in their minds, more information = deeper Bible study.
Consider a normal week for “CC” (the committed churchgoer) in many churches in the USA. CC gets a lot of information in Sunday School class (even if the teacher has to rush to “get through all the material”). CC then gets more information (something different) during the sermon in a worship service. On Sunday evening CC gets more information (different again) from the sermon in the evening service. If CC goes to some type of discipleship study mid-week he or she gets even more information. And perhaps in an accountability group (or a men’s or women’s weekly study) CC gets even more information.
When you compare what’s provided in your church to the information available in the “normal” church in the USA, it seems like an appetizer compared to an all-you-can-eat buffet!
The “deeper” comment often comes from someone who has been involved at your church plant for a while–serving, giving, and helping in a variety of ways. But often they are on their way out–they are looking for another church. Thus it makes their comment even more gut-wrenching, because it leaves you wondering if perhaps you should cater to their wishes so that you will have more “committed” Christians who can help you continue to develop and support the fledgling church.
Don’t give in! Don’t fall victim to the “deeper” trap.
Why not?
Because information alone is useless to change lives. There’s no lack of information for any of us; in fact, most of us suffer from information overload. That’s especially true in many churches, where many Christians think God is pleased with what they know.
But just knowing means nothing. (Disagree? Consider James 2:19.) God is only pleased with what we DO with what we know. Jesus said it a number of times: In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:24, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice…”) and in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20, “Make disciples…teaching them to obey…). Jesus’ words are echoed by others in the New Testament–Paul (Eph. 2:10); Peter (1 Pet. 2:12), James (Jas. 1:22), John (1 John 3:24).
This is the “less is more” principle. It means in your sermons/messages or in Bible studies, you stick with one main point. Not that you only teach for 5 minutes, but that you keep finding ways to illustrate and emphasize the main point. (To understand this better check out Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones.) Not that you don’t offer other groups or studies beyond your worship service; but that you think about and coordinate the information “portals.” (Did you know you can develop small group discussion questions based on your weekly sermon? Or what about developing and sending out daily devotional thoughts that follow up your weekly sermon?)
What we do with what we know is God’s greatest concern. For instance, when Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39), the most important thing is not understanding what Jesus meant. Rather it’s actually getting outside our comfort zones and showing love to others–accepting people when they are unacceptable, forgiving them when they don’t deserve it, providing for them when they are in need (even when they “made their bed”), and so forth.
That’s application that comes from information.
And that’s really deep!
Agreed. I believe the saying is, “Knowing is HALF the battle.” You’ve still got to apply that information. That is deep. That means taking Sunday into Monday-Saturday.