Pinning Down Depth
I had a really productive time at the Threads Connect Conference last week in Austin. The second of these conferences is in Nashville this week. For both of these conferences, I’m leading a breakout session that is trying to find the practical implications of one of the 4 key markers of Threads.
Those key markers, the things we believe should characterize young adult ministry are as follows: Community, Connection, Responsibility, and Depth.
My session? Depth.
First of all, let me say that I recognize how presumptuous it is to lead a breakout session about depth. You better bring your A-game for something like that, and pray to God for Him to say something through you, because who is really qualified to lecture about something like that?
Nevertheless, the main idea of my session was that depth is not necessarily about the level of the information; it’s more about the encounter you have with the information. That is to say, depth isn’t achieved by including a certain number of Greek and Hebrew verbs. Rather, it’s achieved by providing an encounter with biblical truth that engages people in every area of life—spirit, emotion, intellect, and even body.
I argued that the only way to create such an atmosphere is to have first encountered that truth yourself in a way that engages your whole person. Once you’ve been there yourself, you can lead others to do the same. So I really tried to provide 7 steps to finding depth in your personal study, and then putting that forth to others.
What do you think? Is there a better way to define this tricky subject?
About the Author
Michael lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Jana, and kids, Joshua, Andi, and Christian. He grew up in Texas and earned a Master of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He has written The Tough Sayings of Jesus Volumes I & II, travels throughout the year speaking to students and young adults, and blogs daily at michaelkelleyministries.com.
There have been 2 replies so far
no, i think you’re on track there…
depth is achived when the individual interacts with the material in such a way that there is no denying the interaction. you have collided with the reality of what is being read or discussed and change must take place in order to cope with what just happened… depth cannot be forced, but it can be forged. does that make sense? froced depth comes off, like you said, presumptuous.
but when the person doing the presenting actually takes the time to fold the infomation around the listener (showing that they care about the subject and the listener), making it intersect with all avenues of their life (bringing practicality home). finding those cracks and crevices that normally get glossed over (by being thorough), and bringing the material home to the point where learner and lesson come together to begin creating something new(with a sense of conviction), that is where depth happens. sometimes you can try to plan for it, but the connection isn’t yours to create. that is one area where we have to depend on the power of Scripture and the work of the Spirit on the heart to accomplish what we cannot on our own.
There are definitely key areas to hit, and your picks of spirit, emotion, intellect, and body are all great starting places. because they are easy to grasp and encompass so many other topics.
1 | benhedgspeth
Tuesday, August 26, 2008, at 2:58pm
Hey Michael, I enjoyed it and took away some insightful stuff. The thing that really hit me in the head was that I have got to do a better job in constructing my questions. I spend a lot of time putting together my content and too little time working on creative questions. Thanks for the tips.
2 | Rod Carroll
Wednesday, August 27, 2008, at 12:35pm
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