Going Deeper
There has being something stirring me in recent weeks about going deeper. Creating space to go deeper in my relationship with God, creating space for us as a church to go deeper when we gather. There is something about "going deeper" that speaks of slowness and contemplation and peace and identity and character that really resonates with me.
This line of thought was kicked off by a conversation with Stu a couple of weeks ago. When asked about his two and five years dreams for a church he was being interviewed to lead, he answered something along the line "in two years I foresee no numerical growth, but hopefully we are deeper people. In five years hopefully that depth is translating itself into a worthwhile contribution to our community". (I cant really remember his exact words, and the punk is having a well earned break overseas sometime soon but that was the general gist of it).
Which is why I love this post.
"Dave Johnson—pastor of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, Minnesota—says our desire for external impact should take a back seat to internal transformation."
"When God empowers us with the skills to powerfully carry out his purposes it is like a weight being put upon us, and it takes real interior strength to carry it for any amount of time. This interior strength is a character formed in the image of Christ."
"The reason many of us ignore the formation of our character, says Johnson, is because it will slow us down. Many ministry leaders want success, a big church, or a crowd. But how many of us want a real life? How many of us want a life in God? We can have that, Johnson believes. We can have a character that produces love, peace, patience, kindness…but it will slow us down. It might mean the church won’t grow as big as quickly. It might mean the crowd will get smaller.
But the alternative is both devastating and all too common. The alternative is a ministry of high impact but shallow character. As only Johnson could say it, “In the bible it was a miracle when God spoke through an ass. Now it happens everyday.”
But the alternative is both devastating and all too common. The alternative is a ministry of high impact but shallow character. As only Johnson could say it, “In the bible it was a miracle when God spoke through an ass. Now it happens everyday.”
And on another tangent altogether, I thought this was a great post by Mr Ritchie on the coming Benny Hinn crusade.
Thank you for reading this ass
Labels: quote, rant, stu mcgregor
This entry was posted by Sam, on
Monday, June 11, 2007.
You can leave your response.
11 June 2007 at 8:20:00 pm NZST
Mr harvey,
thanks for remembering! and also, those weren't my words, but they're better so i'm going to claim them anyway.
that church is voting for me this sunday! but i'll be on the gold coast spending some retirement funds. i'll let you know how it goes.
i totally agree with the first part of your post though: the idea of slowing down...now that's the thing we're missing in many contexts. and i'm not sure what the rush is...actually, what is the rush?
it's only when you consider the depth of the iceberg, that you realise how dangerous it really is.