October 21st, 2010 
alandanielson People in church like to sound spiritual by saying, “I want to go deeper”. To me, this is the most over used and often overrated comment people make in church. Why do I say this? Because, more often than not, it means “Bible Study” and it reflects a person’s desire to be thought of as pious or spiritual. Yet, rather than throw this statement out, I want to reclaim and redefine it.
So what does “go deeper” mean to me? It means three things:
- Going deeper into my commitment to God’s Church. I can’t be committed to Jesus (the head) without being committed to the church (his body). Thus, I must love God’s people with the same fervor and passion that I have for Him. I can’t say I love and serve Jesus if I don’t also love and serve his Bride.
- Going deeper into my commitment to the world. The world is dying and lost without Jesus. If I am to “go deeper” I must dive deeper into the muck and mire of a broken world in order to reach people. Pontificating about theological mysteries doesn’t save people from Hell. Only the Holy Spirit, through passionate, loving evangelism can do that.
- Going deeper into my commitment to being mastered by Christ. I’m a work-in-progress, and the more God works on me, the more progress I realize I need. Continually working to allow Jesus to be Lord of my money, my attitudes, my eyes, my mind, and my words feels like a never-ending process. Thus, I must go deeper into submission to Jesus every single day.
Does Bible study play a part in these three commitments? Yes. Is Bible study enough by itself? No. Deepening knowledge is not enough, it must accompany deepening commitments!!
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Can’t wait to ask our leadership team what does it mean to them because your three pionts hit it right on the nail.
Great post, Alan. Totally agree. I think this is another important element in (re)defining what discipleship in small groups means. The early church was committed to the 3 values you mention here, which caused them to make a huge impact on their wolrd.
This is great. Thanks!
My experience is that people aren’t getting REAL bible study in their churches, some by their own will, others by the leaders who don’t actually teach the full authority of the Scriptures…and that is why they aren’t stepping out on faith to be active in the church, the world, and being mastered by Christ. What they need is real correction and training in righteousness (bible study) that motivates and convicts, transforming a right heart, and causing a person to go out into the world to be committed to God’s church, the world, and being mastered by Christ.
Or its possible they are interested in learning the Word of God. The easist thing to do is go after ones’ motives. Serve more. Bring more $$. Honestly, what does that say about motives? You saying some of the right things, but its a balance.
Thanks for the reply Scott. I’m glad to have your input. My experience seems to have been far different than yours. In my 39 years of church experience I’ve known too many people who have studied the Bible for decades, yet still don’t live it out. My intent is not to downplay our need for God’s Word. Rather, it is to emphasize the gross lack of living out what we’ve studied.
Not sure I’m following you, Mark. Flesh this out a little more and help me understand what you’re saying.
Sorry, I wasn’t able to expand… Let me say that I do agree with you Alan. But it seems you’re reaching too far when you try and determine the motives of why people want to study more. Scott’s comment makes my point. Also, you mentioned $$ and serving, but the flock always hears that, so theres nothing new there. You can imagine that folks who go toe to toe and face to face day in, day out with the world at their jobs, market place and family are in the muck and junk of the world already, so equipping becomes more of an issue than ‘go out there and get them’.
Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying, Mark.
The real problem isn’t that we need more information but rather more impartation. I think we should become students of the Word but more importantly I think we should do what Jesus has told us to do-Love Him more than anything and love our neighbors as ourselves. Oh yeah, there’s that “making disciples” thing Jesus said too…that’s a big one. When someone says something to me about going deeper I ask them how are they doing in the basics…let’s master the basics first and then let’s talk about going deeper.
I’m certainly not as experienced as it sounds like some of you are, but my take on this is that there is too much focus surrounding Jesus and not enough focus on Jesus. Folks seek the approval of those around them instead of focusing on having the approval of Christ.
I think Alan’s points attack this comment head-on. Our job is first to love Jesus with everything we have. With that focus, we’re equipped and ready to do Christ’s work. We’re able to show the lost Jesus through our words and actions. We’re ready to train those who are eager to learn how to disciple others.
My thinking is that Christians are really good at dramatically over-complicating the issue. We need to step back and allow ourselves to the conduit for Jesus’ work to get done.
Its like those people that will tell you they are “classy.” People who really want to go deeper just go deeper, They get sucked into the study and the commitment, it just happens when you get serious about the kingdom. You see a need and you meet it, then you see that there are a lot more needs (for your life and others’) and you see that its going to take a lot more than you have been giving to get the job done.