People are out there, searching for deep waters and seeking deeper roots.
And what do they get?
A puddle of water and a broken flower pot.
How do we expect the souls entrusted to us by the Lord to take deep roots in shallow flower pots. We feed milk to grown men and expect them not to stumble by the wayside, like children.
What we have today is more of a user-friendly gospel rather than the pure undiluted truth. We hoard life-saving truths because we don’t want to hurt feelings and sometimes because we fear the powers that be. Not to mention those who are too lazy to actually study and research the word for themselves let alone for others. How would they when they themselves are on the precipice of doubt and unbelief.
So many are falling away from the faith simply because their faith had no deep roots.
5 “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.”
6 “But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”
20 “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;”
21 “yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”
Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21 NKJV
When we preach a user-friendly gospel, all we do is feed people with excitement but leave them ill equipped to stand the test of time let alone to defend the faith.
People need to dig deep into their heart questions and plant the answers only the Word can provide in those depths. We cannot scratch the surface of the dirt and expect to plant a cedar tree. And that’s the bulk of what mainstream Christianity is today – answering insignificant questions and dismissing the very cogent ones.
We think that by silencing the questions that come from the deep recesses of people’s heart we have silenced the doubt that it represents. No, all we have succeeded in doing is suppressing the question. With time, the question explodes into a full blown rebellion and a falling away of many who are without roots.
It’s high time we wake up and start leading people into deep waters where they can take roots deep down and bear fruit upwards.
Adams Allison.