Several years ago, I found my heart longing, lonely, and hungry for something authentic. In the depths of my soul something was awakening and being stirred by an unknown hand, an unseen Helper. My heart could barely stand the thought of another “unique teaching” or “keen insight” from one more “anointed” vessel. I was aching for Jesus, wanting Him and Him alone, undone by the piercing depths of His heart, life, and love.

For years in ministry, I fed on many other things, setting my hand to various missions. I have run enough leadership gauntlets surrounding the latest church growth fads and have had quite enough of three-year cycles of implementing the latest relevant approach to ministry. Enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources were spent on methods, applications, and “how-to’s.” During those years our churches grew by the twenties and fifties, but our people remained plundered by disease, debt, despair, doubt, and deception. In the midst of it all I ached for what the apostle Paul called “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3), wondering if somehow the Serpent had deceived me, just as he had Eve (2 Cor. 11:2–4).

Endless debates on methodology and incessant emphasis on practical preaching, with its how-to’s and down-to-earth applications, have swept us into the seduction of compelling need and the enticement to be “unique.” However, little mystery and majesty concerning the person of Jesus is preached. Our taste for the eternal and the glorious fades as we exchange the burning gaze of the seraphim for the unyielding boredom of Dr. Phils dressed in preachers’ garb. O God, save us from the insightful sages of our day, and give us the ancient once again. Give us that which, throughout the ages, has mystified the saints and terrorized devils.

 Could it be that we have lost sight of the one thing needed, the one thing that fulfills all godly and noble desires—Jesus Christ? . . . . Our vision statements, methodologies, and discipleship materials must once again be yoked to the chief cornerstone. We must build upon one foundation alone—Christ! Our greatest need and highest joys are found in Him. The knowledge of God in the face of Christ Jesus is our daily bread. It is our sustenance. Until our lives are rooted in the experiential knowledge of Him, we remain scavenging after food that perishes and drink that never satisfies. 

Much of the Church is presently consumed with many things other than Jesus. Scurrying around to address the needs of our day and expending great energy to build our visions, we forget the one thing necessary—sitting at the feet of the One who has the words of eternal life and contains all the mysteries of both God and man.