HOW IS YOUR SPIRITUAL ROOT STRUCTURE?

Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.

                The thing that sustains any plant is its root structure. It is through the roots that a plant obtains the water and the minerals that it needs to grow and thrive. There are basically two types of root structures: taproot and fibrous. A fibrous root structure spreads out many small roots in all directions, but is relatively shallow. A taproot structure is based around a central taproot that goes deep within the soil. It also puts out smaller roots, similar to a fibrous roots structure, with some of these also penetrating deeper into the soil; kind of like mini-taproots. If we look at trees as an example, trees that have a taproot are more stable and able to withstand the forces of wind, while trees with only a fibrous root structure are more easily upended in a wind storm. If you have ever ventured into the woods, you have probably encountered an upended tree, with its massive root structure protruding high into the air.

                The book of Psalms opens by equating the righteous person with a tree with a well-established root structure.

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

                We live in a world that, in general, lives on the surface of life. Most people’s spiritual root structure is more akin to a fibrous root structure than to a taproot. Many people are content with a superficial, ill defined faith. We are a society of people with a wide breadth of knowledge, but little depth of understanding. When the storms of life come, our roots are not deep enough to sustain us and we are uprooted. It is not without reason that Bible portrays us a sheep in need of a shepherd.  

                Many professing Christians have a shallow spiritual root structure that can easily be shaken when the storms of life come. If we are going to genuinely persevere in the faith, we need to sink our roots deep into the soil of God’s Word. We also need to spread our roots wide into the soil of everyday life. A faith that can withstand life’s storms needs a root structure that goes deep into God’s truth and expands wide in practical application.

                Paul prayed for the Philippians that their love for Christ (their spiritual roots) would go deep and spread wide. He wanted them to have a growing understanding of God’s love for them. He also wanted that knowledge to guide them in making wise decisions that would produce the fruit of righteousness. So how do we build this spiritual root structure?

                The place where we begin is by sinking our roots deeply into God’s Word. God has given us the Bible as a spiritual resource to strengthen us for life’s journey. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The Bible is not a collection of interesting stories or a collection of moralistic life-lessons. It is spiritual food for our souls. It provides the needed nutrients for our faith. The more deeply we dig into God’s Word, the stronger our spiritual taproot becomes.

                We can also strengthen our taproot by learning from those who have gone before us. Most people find history rather dry and boring. This is particularly true of Church history. I can vouch for that. I have struggled my way through several Church history courses. But more recently I have become aware of just how essential it is for us to understand the foundation that has been laid for us by those who have gone before us. If we will take to the time to take a careful look at the past, we will discover that it can be an excellent guide for the future.

                When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he warned them to pay attention to the past so that they did not fall into the same trap as others did. He recounted the failings of Israel as a warning to the Corinthians to help them avoid the same pitfalls.

    Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

    These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11-13)

            The Nobel Prize winning philosopher George Santayana put it this way. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." There are many in the church today we want to ignore the past and, in essence, start from scratch. The outcome has been that some have begun to revive the heresies of the past. Others have re-fought battles that were decided long ago. To ignore the history of the Church’s faith journey is to foster a shallow faith.

                In addition to studying God’s Word and Church history, the classic spiritual disciplines can also help us to grow a deep spiritual root structure. Prayer, fasting, silence, solitude are all tools that can help us to form a firm spiritual root structure. But there is another dimension to developing strong spiritual roots. We have to spread our roots wide into the soil of everyday life.

                Paul brings these two dimensions of our faith together in his prayer for the church in Colosse.

    For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

                James warns us that it is not enough to just sink our taproot deeply into study. We also need to apply what we are learning in practical ways. Extensive study of God’s Word is essential, but it is not enough.

    Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)

                There are many sincere believers who are content to go to Bible studies and Christian conferences and to soak up more and more information. They are filled with good knowledge, but fail to apply that knowledge to life. James goes on to chide those of us whose faith tends to focus only on the intellectual. He states that if our faith doesn’t produce good works, it is dead. John echoes the same thing when he instructs us to turn our knowledge into action.

    This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)

                If we are going to develop a solid spiritual root structure, we need both a taproot that goes deep into the truths of God and a network of spiritual fibers that penetrate every aspect of our daily lives. Then when the storms of life blow, we will be able to stand firm.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit."