Lynn Jones: We need a deeper Christian life
By Lynn Jones
In the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong. I went with a group of other Christian leaders to try to strengthen the churches there and to reach people for Christ. It was a great experience for me. I enjoyed the opportunities to serve and see this part of the world.
During my time in Hong Kong, we took two side trips. On one of these, we crossed over from Hong Kong to a small port on the southern coast of China and then went to visit Canton (or, Guangzhou, as it is now called). On another trip, we crossed the same body of water to go to Macao. I carried some medicine to one of our missionary doctors in what was then a Portuguese colony.
One of the interesting things about both trips was that we made them by hovercraft. A hovercraft is a unique boat that “hovers” on the water’s surface. Giant fans force air down onto the water’s surface so that it forms a cushion between the boat and the water. The craft does not churn the water; it skims across the water’s surface. Since the boat does not encounter much resistance, it can travel faster than a conventional boat.
In some ways, many travel through life like a hovercraft. They just skim across the surface of life. Artist Andy Warhol summed up that approach to life. He said, “I am a deeply superficial person.” Unfortunately, that phrase could describe different dimensions of our lives. We become “deeply superficial.”
You take the area of our relationships with others. We are often afraid to share with them on anything more than a superficial level. We skim along the surface with polite exchanges and do not share on deeper levels of life.
Or take our Christian life. After coming to know Christ as Savior, unfortunately we often then skim along the surface with Him. So many things beckon us to go deeper. We need to go deeper in our devotional lives. We must explore the depths of His Word. We need to come to a deeper understanding of our beliefs. Instead of doing so, we often settle for what Earnest Campbell called a “fortune cookie theology.”
Once, Jesus issued a challenge to Peter along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He said to Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Peter resisted at first, but when he finally followed the instruction of Jesus, he caught a large number of fish.
That’s what we need to do. We need to quit skimming the surface and go into the deep water to let down our nets. How about you? Do you want to go deeper in your life, or are you content with a hovercraft faith?
