Devil's Dart: Shallow Christianity

"Let us not be satisfied with just the foundation, for it is from the upper room that we get the widest view."

Morning By Morning, Charles Spurgeon

Many years ago while I was in college, I went to Haiti on a mission trip. We were helping to build a medical clinic in a small village. At night we would hold a church service. Many of the Haitians started to attend the nightly service. But the local “witch doctor” decided that he also should attend and make sure that the Haitians did not get too involved. He didn’t mind them attending to get the free food and clothes that we gave out, but he could not risk them having a real encounter with God.

Shallow Christianity is a dart that Satan still uses. Don’t get involved in church. Don’t pray or read the Bible or if you do read the Bible, only read feel-good verses. But God wants us to grow deeper in Him.

"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5:12-14

Satan doesn’t want us to grow in Christ and be truly involved in a relationship with God. He tries

to tell us that it takes too much of our time to volunteer at church or read your Bible. He tries to tell you that the Bible is too boring or complicated to read. But the Bible can help us block the lies that Satan is telling. "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. " 2 Corinthians 10:5

The disciples sat with Jesus in the upper room. They initially discussed among themselves who was greatest. But Jesus wanted to take them deeper. Jesus was the greatest among them but He demonstrated the depths of love seen in service. They were fed by Him and He washed their

feet. They later received the gift of the Holy Spirit because they had faith in Jesus. The upper room became a symbol of intimacy with God.

"When they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying …

All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer." Acts 1:13-14

Don’t listen to Satan when he tells you to not participate or grow in Christ. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." Ephesians 6:11

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable

his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" Romans 11:33

By remaining shallow we miss out on the joy and peace of a life centered on Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Jesus warned about shallow faith in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13). We need to have deep roots so that the trouble of this life will not cause us to doubt. Put on the full armor so that you may stand when Satan tries to keep your faith shallow. "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming." Ephesians 4:14

We need to daily feed on God’s word. We can’t live the truth if we don’t know it. If we don’t know the truth, we can easily be deceived by Satan. We need a deep relationship with God, not a superficial one.

Satan tries to knock us off balance with his darts. But if we are grounded with exposure to the word of truth and guidance from the Holy Spirit, we can stand when Satan throws his darts.

Don’t miss out on the richness of life with God and a church family.