Reading Deep; Reading Wide

Recently I heard a leader say that if you choose not to read you are "intentionally stupid." That is a challenging statement. One I believe to carry a great deal of truth. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of reading, processing ideas, owning truths, then living them out.

A trend I see among my friends and colleagues is the tendency to read in only one direction. I know many whose reading is limited to personal development. They are constantly working to be a better leader, learn new ministry or business tools and paradigms, or improve their personal and professional productivity. By the same token I know many whose reading is intentioned to challenge their spirit and take them deeper in their walk with Christ. I like to refer to the former as reading wide and the latter as reading deep.

Much like Jabez's prayer that God would enlarge his territory, reading wide is the taking intentional steps to grow in areas God has given us influence in. We should want to be the best we can be at the things we do. Leaders should study leadership. Parents should study parenting. Communicators should study communication. We should constantly be increasing our knowledge, abilities, and experience in the roles God has placed us in. No matter what titles you carry pastor, director, spouse, or parent you should be working to grow in those areas.

That said, it is not enough for me to be miles wide and only an inch deep. I must also read to deepen my walk with Christ. The most obvious source of spiritual depth is the Holy Scripture. It is the truth of scripture which brings freedom to our hearts and takes us deeper into the reality of Christ. Along with the Bible, there are also many authors who have penned powerful works which challenge us to go deeper in prayer, deeper worship, deeper in our commitment to Christ, deeper in our discipleship process. These works spur us to take inventory of our relationships with Christ and make adjustments to the way live - laying down those things which beset and taking up those things which develop Christ in us.

I strongly believe we should be reading in both directions. To only read wide is like trying to grow an oak tree in a flower pot. You may get some reach and see some growth but there is no real roots thus there is no real strength and the tree will never reach its fullest potential. Using the same analogy, only reading for depth is a firmly rooted oak without any significant branches to speak of. Limiting our reading to only one direction is to be "intentionally small" or "intentionally shallow." However when our roots run deep into the greatness of Christ and our influence spreads wide as strong healthy branches because we are constantly developing every area our lives reach into, we begin to experience the transforming work of God in our whole being. But even better, we become catalysts for transformation on the lives of others as God uses us to lead, parent, love and live.