Recently, during the "Small Group Summit" webcast, Dr. Bill Donahue, Pastor of Small Groups at Willow Creek, made the comment that "we default to content because it's safer than going deeper."
Though he made this comment in the context of small group ministry, it certainly has broader application in church ministry. For don't pastors place enormous value on the content of a sermon in bringing change to the lives of the men and women in their congregations? And what about our church sponsored classes, Bible institutes, Sunday school gatherings, Christian bookstores, etc.? Church members are swimming (drowning?) in content.
What would it look like to lead a congregation to a new "default setting"? One that invites men and women to venture out of the shallow end of the spiritual formation pool, beyond the safety of information and into the deeper waters of transformation? How can we begin taking steps beyond a content dump?
