Superficiality In Religion

Teachers know about proneness to superficial hearing, of "selective hearing" and reading. It is hard to keep the attention of students and audiences. Many hearers but "half listen" to the words of others. To be amused is far more prized than to muse. People habitually let things heard go through one ear and out the other. In other words, people hear what they want to hear. They are not good listeners.

People will listen more attentively to what they are interested in. How few are interested in God and divine things! How little serious attention do they give to what God has said and done! As respects divine things people are "hard of hearing." Of this malady the bible has much to say. People are described as "deaf" to the things of God. 

"To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it." (Jer. 6: 10)

"Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears." (Isa. 42: 19-20)

"But they refused to listen, and gave a stubborn shoulder, and made heavy their ears from hearing." (Zech. 7: 11)

‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.”’ (Acts 28: 26-27)

"Selective perception" is what it is called. It speaks to that process by which individuals perceive what they want to hear in a message while ignoring opposing viewpoints. Simply put, people hear what they want to hear and ignore the rest. To such people the exclamation is often made "are you deaf?" Jesus also used such language when he asked (probably with sarcasm) "why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my words?" (John 8: 43) It is similar to the language of God in Isaiah. "Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see." (Isa. 42: 18)

What an insult to the Deity to half listen to what he says! To give more attention to lessor things, to things of no great importance! So the record is of some that they "turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." (II Tim. 4: 4)

It is no surprise therefore that we hear the Lord advise, saying to those who heard him speak - "Let these sayings sink down into your ears." (Luke 9: 44) In other words, don't just hear superficially. It is no good to simply hear the words of others, especially God, without contemplating them, without becoming in deep thought about them. Again, the Lord Jesus said: "Take heed therefore how you hear." (Luke 8: 18) How do we hear our teachers? Others who converse with us? Are we listening with full attention? Or, are we "dull of hearing"? Solomon said: "My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings." (Prov. 4: 20)

Such superficial hearing is seen in the shallow ground hearer in the parable of the four soils. 

"Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away...But he that received the seed into stony places (shallow ground), the same is he that hears the word, and anon with joy receives it; Yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while: for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended." (Matt. 13: 5-6; 20-21)

Here is a picture of "shallow" believers. They are shallow in the way they hear the word of God. Everything about the shallow ground hearer is superficial, without depth and root. The word heard does not penetrate into the inmost soul, does not take deep root. The shallow hearer is one who is superficial in his religion. He is well described by the Lord in Isaiah.

"Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men..." (Isa. 29: 13)

Superficial religion focuses on the mere externals of religion and sacred knowledge. Jesus addressed these same type of religious folk when he denounced the hypocrites in Matthew 23. Of them he said - "all their works they do to be seen by men." (Matt. 23: 5) But, how God sees and judges things is far different than how men in general see and judge. "For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (I Sam. 16: 7) 

Worldly religionists focus on the externals, on appearances, but not on the substance. These are well described by the apostle who said that they "have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof." (II Tim. 3: 5) It is "lip service" from people whose hearts are far removed from the Lord. In such superficial religion there is nothing but pretense. To the same hypocrites Christ says: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers." (vs. 14) These are they who "profess that they know God but in works they deny him." (Titus 1: 16) Again, to these hypocrites Christ says further:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (25-28)

As you cannot judge a book by its cover, so you cannot judge the condition of the heart by mere external appearances. Things are not always as they seem. People may appear righteous outwardly but be inwardly wicked. Hypocrites are they "who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart." (II Cor. 5: 12)

There is "no depth" of earth (or heart) to shallow ground hearers of the word. Their understanding and faith lacks substance. Superficiality deals with the externals, not the internal. There is plenty of "shallow thinking," especially in things pertaining to religion and morals, in the world. There is little real "deep thinking," and many "shallow minds." They are concerned only with "surface knowledge," with the externals of wisdom and knowledge. There is no serious meditation. We see such shallow mindedness in people who make judgments about someone's character based on their looks, or in how they react to situations without much thought into consequences. It is seen in the simple minded, who believe and accept everything they hear and read from any source without checking it for accuracy.

Superficiality and hypocrisy are intimately connected. This is not only seen from Matthew 23 but also in these words from Ezekiel:

"They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them." (Eze. 33: 31-32)

Notice both the superficiality and the hypocrisy. Notice how they are dull of hearing, how they are lazy in hearing truth, in hearing God speak. 

Notice this rebuke against the superficial hearers of the word of God:

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable." (Isa. 40: 28)

"Have you not heard" is a question spoken with some sarcasm. It is certainly a strong criticism. Men are not ignorant today because they have not heard but because they have heard only superficially and were shallow in their thinking about God. The indictment is against lazy listening, against failing to give proper attention to what has been heard. God is asking "are you deaf?" 

Said Spurgeon (Sermon No. 237):

"This age is full of shams. Pretence never stood in so eminent a position as it does at the present hour." 

So very true! Spurgeon said:

"A hypocrite may be known by the fact that his speech and his actions are contrary to one another. As Jesus says, "they say and they do not." The hypocrite can speak like an angel, he can quote texts with the greatest rapidity; he can talk concerning all matters of religion, whether they be theological doctrines, metaphysical questions, or experimental difficulties. In his own esteem he knoweth much and when he rises to speak, you will often feel abashed at your own ignorance in the presence of his superior knowledge. But see him when he comes to actions. What behold you there? The fullest contradiction of everything that he has uttered." 

"Ah! believe me, my hearers, talk is easy, but walk is hard: speech any man may attain unto, but act is difficult. We must have grace within to make our life holy; but lip-piety needs no grace. The first mark of a hypocrite, then, is, that he contradicts by his acts what he utters by his words. Do any of you do so? If so, stand convicted of hypocrisy, and bow your heads, and confess the sin."

In another sermon he said (2846):

"Now, my dear Hearers, I do feel intensely concerned that every work of Grace supposed to be worked in this house should be real and, therefore, permanent. We are thankful that we are constantly having conversions, but we are very grieved that we also have some perversions. It is a comparatively easy thing to increase the Church roll, but it is only God's almighty Grace that can preserve to the end those whose names are written in our Church records. Oh, for sure work! It is better to have only one convert who will endure to the end than 20 who only endure for a while and in time of trial fall away. We have so much of the superficial, the merely topsoil work, in these days, that I feel that I am not laying too much stress upon one point if, three times in succession, I preach on this same subject, taking these three forms of expression indicating different phases of the same evil—no depth of earth, no moisture and no root in themselves."

"Now, mark this, with a genuine Christian, there is always as much underground as there is above ground. That underground work is often very much neglected, but it is exceedingly important. Indeed, it is essential. One of the roots of a true Christian is secret repentance—and secret prayer is another—those are roots that run down far into the soil. He who has not got them has no root. Secret communion with God, the talking of the heart with the great Father. Secret love pouring itself out in fervent fellowship and praise. The inside life, of which none of our neighbors can see anything—all that is the most important part of us."

In another sermon he said (1158):

"Such persons still exist all around—they are superficial in nature and in general character. They say good things, but they never feel what they say. Their pious expressions come from as low as the throat, but never from the abysses of the heart. They are of the stony ground order and have no depth of earth. The hard, barren rock is barely concealed by a sprinkling of soil. They may accurately be styled externalists, for they have the notion that when they have attended to the outside of godliness, the whole matter is fully discharged. For instance, if they sing with their voices, they conclude that they have praised God—and that when the hymn is uttered to melodious notes—worship has been presented to God, even though the heart has never praised Him at all." 

"When they bow the head and close their eyes in public prayer, they consider they are doing something very right and proper—though they are very likely thinking of their farm, their garden, their children, or their home—casting up their accounts and wondering how they will find trade and the money-market on Monday when they get to their shops. The externalists are satisfied with the shell of religion whether life remains or not. They have a form of godliness, but they are strangers to its power. If they read a chapter every day, they feel very self-complacent and think they are searchers of the Word, though they have never entered into the inner sense, but merely allowed the eye to run over the verses and lines."

Let us make sure we are not superficial in our religion and in our knowledge.

"And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward." (II Kings 19: 30; Isa. 37: 31)

To bear fruit upward one must make sure that the seed "take root downward."