Nearly a
decade ago, Frederick Buechner in his book, Secrets
in the Dark: A Life in Sermons, made this observation about the church:
“Much
of what goes on in churches, I am afraid, is as shallow and lifeless as much of
its preaching and as irrelevant to the deep needs of the people who come to
church hungering for a sense of God’s presence that they more often than not
never find” (p. 284).
“Shallow and lifeless.” What a stinging
rebuke to preaching and church gatherings! I once heard another person say that
the spirituality of most Christians today is about an inch thick and mile wide!
The opposite of “shallow and lifeless” is “depth and life!” What gives sermons
and church gatherings “depth and life?”
Hunger and thirsting for a sense of
God’s presence is the place to start. I think that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was
right when he maintained that the presence of the risen Christ among his
assembled people was what made church gatherings different from any other kind
of assembly. Do we really believe that Christ is among us? Do we really believe
that Christ has and is providing “depth and life” to our preaching, praying,
singing, giving and encouraging one another?
If we as a congregation are not
helping others in their hunger and thirst for God, then we are failing in our
calling as God’s people. Jesus declared in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”(Matthew
5:6). Both old and young alike are “leaving church” because they see it “too
reflective of the American consumer culture” [Wendell Willis, (2011-12). “The
Erosion of Community: A Challenge to the Church.” Christian Studies 25: 11.]
More than ever, Christian leadership
(pastors, shepherds, ministers, deacons, teachers, parents, etc.) needs to
model “depth and life” in one’s Christian walk. Only when one’s walk has depth
and breadth will the gatherings, whatever form they take during the week, be
transformative. Christian leaders must be models of transformation that
demonstrate with boldness “one has been with the Lord” (Acts 4:13).
“Shallow and lifeless” or “depth and
Life”—which shall it be for us? As we build relationships to the glory of God,
may we help others to fill their hunger for God with depth and Life!
In Christian
love, Curtis
