What's Beneath the Surface?

During my ministry in New York, I spoke for a men's retreat sponsored by a church on Long Island. I enjoyed the fellowship, but there was one problem: the entire retreat took place on a sailboat.

Now, you must understand: where I grew up, the main bodies of water were my dad's farm pond and a little stream called White Oak Creek. I've learned to enjoy the ocean, but water sports leave me seasick. Nevertheless, during breaks in the retreat, I was there on deck with the rest of the men while the skipper showed off his skill by maneuvering our sailboat around the choppy waters of Long Island Sound. Some of the men laughed with delight when sharp turns nearly tipped the boat over. Others (including me) clung to the mast, yelled a lot, and prayed not to be lost at sea.

The skipper reassured me. It's almost impossible to capsize a sailboat, he said. Even if the wind or waves push the vessel onto its side, a sailboat usually rights itself again because of what sailors call ballast, the unseen weight beneath the water, which balances and steadies the boat.

"Thanks for the interesting information," I told the skipper, "but if it's all right with you, I'll keep my life jacket securely fastened while we talk!"

In The Life God Blesses, Gordon MacDonald uses sailboating as a parable for life. Like sailboats, healthy believers need to carry more spiritual weight "below the waterline" than above it. Unfortunately, as MacDonald points out, until life's storms come, we often pay little attention to what's beneath the surface of our lives. We get by on our talents and strengths, or we simply avoid dealing with problems. But when life gets tough, we need some spiritual depth to keep us from capsizing. In MacDonald's words, we must learn to live "at the level of the soul" instead of skimming along the surface.

Thirsty souls won't find satisfaction in surface-level conversations that never go beyond today's weather or the latest sports score; in sermons and Bible classes that never address the hard questions; in shallow relationships where forced smiles mask deep hurts; in fake fellowship that substitutes a Sunday morning handshake for a real friend.

Jesus must have shocked his audience when he said, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). On the surface, no one looked more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees, but theirs was a fake faith, a religious masquerade. By one account, the Pharisees identified 365 prohibitions—one for every day of the year—enough to fill an entire pharisaical Prohibition-a-Day Calendar. (Did a Pharisee get up in the morning and wonder, "Let's see, what can't I do today?")

Jesus, of course, did not tear down God's law. He obeyed and fulfilled it. But in the process, he reminded his followers that faith isn't about keeping up appearances; it's about loving the Lord with our whole selves and loving our neighbors as ourselves. It's about walking with God and growing in grace. It's about acts of service, not surface acts—motivated by love for the Lord, not human approval.

Life can be as challenging as navigating a sailboat in choppy waters, but God will help us stay afloat. How much weight really lies beneath the surface in your life? What will you do this week to deepen your walk with God?