Superficial Ain't Sacrificial
Superficial ain’t Sacrificial
Many people don’t know this, but I actually have my diver’s certification. It’s been a very long time, but when I was younger, I took the classes, studied, took the test, passed, and received my diver’s certification. And only went a few times. I really regret not going more because life under the surface is truly a different world. I guess Sebastian really had it right when he sang his now classic solo “Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid.
I’ve always been envious (I know it’s a sin, get off my back) of those divers who have gone on deep dives, explored reefs, found boats of antiquity, and so much more. They say we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the depths of the sea. I’ve never been to either, but I know it’s a little easier to get into the water than onto the moon.
There really is this interesting connection and dichotomy to life in the deep and going deeper within your relationship with God. Respectively, there’s more and less pressure the deeper you go, and it becomes harder and easier to breathe too.
The one thing you have to give up to reach deeper levels… is oxygen. Yes, it is necessary for life. But if our breath simply comes from oxygen alone, then the words of Acts 17:28 will ring less true that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” To live and move is to require higher amounts of oxygen. It is not our breath that enables this but His breath in us.
The ancient Israelites believed that with every breath we take we speak God’s name. We inhale Yah and we exhale weh. So with every breath we speak Yahweh. We were designed to have deep community and relationship with God.
So where and when did things change? Why are there so many superficial and surface level Christians? Why isn’t sacrifice talked about more in Christian culture and circles? Where along the line did sacrifice become sacrilege?
I couldn’t begin to answer those questions, but I do have some thoughts to offer. I think a lot of it comes back to the comforts that our society has created. And with comforts comes the expectation to keep comforts. For example, many churches around the world have no electricity let alone AC. Would we here in our culture come to our home church on a Sunday if we knew the AC wasn’t working and/or was turned off? Some would. Some wouldn’t. I wonder how many.
Somewhere along the line we lost the ability to suffer and sacrifice for the cause of Christ. Somewhere along the line maybe we even lost the desire. Somewhere along the line maybe we even outright reject it because we had to give up some comforts that would really make us… uncomfortable.
So maybe these “comforts” keep us on the surface with the false sense of safety and security. Maybe these “comforts” have actually driven us like the current of a lazy river into the arena of complacent and idle. And this keeps us on the surface.
Superficial is shallow. Superficial is surface level. This isn’t just a figurative definition; this is literal. The first definition according to the dictionary app on my phone is “being at, on, or near the surface.” And superficial will never bring depth because it keeps us in the shallows of our faith and relationships. And the depth of your relationship with God is solely dependent upon you. God will get as serious with you as you get with Him. He will always ALWAYS match the depth at which you pursue.
That’s superficial. But sacrificial? Sacrificial will always bring depth because it costs you something. And if it doesn’t cost you anything, is it really worth anything? I mean, at the very minimum every relationship requires some level of time, right? And the deeper the relationship becomes, the more time is needed to get there. So why do some think they can read a few verses or chapters and think they are going to have a deep relationship with God? Somehow, those people have been fooled… or fooled themselves.
Christ never called us to a superficial relationship with Him, but a sacrificial one because that’s exactly what He did for us first. This is the dichotomy of the cross - it begins as a flotation device to save us, then slowly turns into an anchor to pull us into the depths of a deeper relationship with Him. Another dichotomy is that the cross saves you - then the Savior asks you to pick up your own.
Christianity isn’t asking so much of “what are you willing to take up” as much as “what are you willing to give up?”
If I’m being honest, there’s a scripture that I’ve been wrestling with lately. In Luke 14:26 the words of Jesus are in red and He says, “if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister- yes, even their own life- such a person cannot be my disciple.”
These words are harsh at the surface. But when we really think about it, it begins to make a little more sense. In comparison - if we are able to compare side by side - we should love Jesus SO much that it looks like we hate our own family. And if we don’t love Him that much, we cannot truly be His disciple because we won’t be able to say yes to the possible sufferings and sacrifices that may come.
And how is it that Jesus could even ask such a thing of us? Because He did it first. He will never ask anything of us that He hasn’t already done or given up Himself. Jesus willingly chose to give up His glory to take up our depravity. Jesus willingly chose to clothe His divinity in our humanity. So I think it’s a reasonable request that He asks us to love Him so much it looks like we hate everyone else. Because maybe then we might be able to have a small inkling of the love He has for us.
Superficial won’t bring monumental. Sacrificial will.
Just as in Psalm 42:7, deep cries out to deep. God is calling us deeper. Are you ready to leave the surface?
Many people don’t know this, but I actually have my diver’s certification. It’s been a very long time, but when I was younger, I took the classes, studied, took the test, passed, and received my diver’s certification. And only went a few times. I really regret not going more because life under the surface is truly a different world. I guess Sebastian really had it right when he sang his now classic solo “Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid.
I’ve always been envious (I know it’s a sin, get off my back) of those divers who have gone on deep dives, explored reefs, found boats of antiquity, and so much more. They say we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the depths of the sea. I’ve never been to either, but I know it’s a little easier to get into the water than onto the moon.
There really is this interesting connection and dichotomy to life in the deep and going deeper within your relationship with God. Respectively, there’s more and less pressure the deeper you go, and it becomes harder and easier to breathe too.
The one thing you have to give up to reach deeper levels… is oxygen. Yes, it is necessary for life. But if our breath simply comes from oxygen alone, then the words of Acts 17:28 will ring less true that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” To live and move is to require higher amounts of oxygen. It is not our breath that enables this but His breath in us.
The ancient Israelites believed that with every breath we take we speak God’s name. We inhale Yah and we exhale weh. So with every breath we speak Yahweh. We were designed to have deep community and relationship with God.
So where and when did things change? Why are there so many superficial and surface level Christians? Why isn’t sacrifice talked about more in Christian culture and circles? Where along the line did sacrifice become sacrilege?
I couldn’t begin to answer those questions, but I do have some thoughts to offer. I think a lot of it comes back to the comforts that our society has created. And with comforts comes the expectation to keep comforts. For example, many churches around the world have no electricity let alone AC. Would we here in our culture come to our home church on a Sunday if we knew the AC wasn’t working and/or was turned off? Some would. Some wouldn’t. I wonder how many.
Somewhere along the line we lost the ability to suffer and sacrifice for the cause of Christ. Somewhere along the line maybe we even lost the desire. Somewhere along the line maybe we even outright reject it because we had to give up some comforts that would really make us… uncomfortable.
So maybe these “comforts” keep us on the surface with the false sense of safety and security. Maybe these “comforts” have actually driven us like the current of a lazy river into the arena of complacent and idle. And this keeps us on the surface.
Superficial is shallow. Superficial is surface level. This isn’t just a figurative definition; this is literal. The first definition according to the dictionary app on my phone is “being at, on, or near the surface.” And superficial will never bring depth because it keeps us in the shallows of our faith and relationships. And the depth of your relationship with God is solely dependent upon you. God will get as serious with you as you get with Him. He will always ALWAYS match the depth at which you pursue.
That’s superficial. But sacrificial? Sacrificial will always bring depth because it costs you something. And if it doesn’t cost you anything, is it really worth anything? I mean, at the very minimum every relationship requires some level of time, right? And the deeper the relationship becomes, the more time is needed to get there. So why do some think they can read a few verses or chapters and think they are going to have a deep relationship with God? Somehow, those people have been fooled… or fooled themselves.
Christ never called us to a superficial relationship with Him, but a sacrificial one because that’s exactly what He did for us first. This is the dichotomy of the cross - it begins as a flotation device to save us, then slowly turns into an anchor to pull us into the depths of a deeper relationship with Him. Another dichotomy is that the cross saves you - then the Savior asks you to pick up your own.
Christianity isn’t asking so much of “what are you willing to take up” as much as “what are you willing to give up?”
If I’m being honest, there’s a scripture that I’ve been wrestling with lately. In Luke 14:26 the words of Jesus are in red and He says, “if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister- yes, even their own life- such a person cannot be my disciple.”
These words are harsh at the surface. But when we really think about it, it begins to make a little more sense. In comparison - if we are able to compare side by side - we should love Jesus SO much that it looks like we hate our own family. And if we don’t love Him that much, we cannot truly be His disciple because we won’t be able to say yes to the possible sufferings and sacrifices that may come.
And how is it that Jesus could even ask such a thing of us? Because He did it first. He will never ask anything of us that He hasn’t already done or given up Himself. Jesus willingly chose to give up His glory to take up our depravity. Jesus willingly chose to clothe His divinity in our humanity. So I think it’s a reasonable request that He asks us to love Him so much it looks like we hate everyone else. Because maybe then we might be able to have a small inkling of the love He has for us.
Superficial won’t bring monumental. Sacrificial will.
Just as in Psalm 42:7, deep cries out to deep. God is calling us deeper. Are you ready to leave the surface?
Recent
Archive
2024
January
February
May
August
September
Categories
no categories
No Comments