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Are You a Rock Or a Bubble?

Orginally published on Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 1:02 PM
by Todd Rhoades

We were taking in lunch with family at the Bulloch House in Warm Springs recently. Out in their well-appointed yard, there was a busy bubble machine, spinning out hundreds of bubbles to the delight of customers. Someone in our group said she felt like she was on the Lawrence Welk Show (he was known for his champagne music with accompanying bubbles).  Then a funny name for a church hit me: Bubble Baptist Church or even Bubble Bible Church. Take your pick. Of course, our Bubble Church would have its own bubble machines giving the grounds and perhaps the auditorium the ambience of bubbles. Certainly, and without any doubt, the church would be known far and wide as that “bubble church.” People would want to visit at least once…

Then, another thought hit me and a more serious one: just how many folks want a church that’s just a bubble with no substance, no demand, no expectation, and no responsibility. Of course, not too many would admit it, but I, like the Apostle Paul, think that many folks want a church where their ears are tickled and then they can be on their way.

You have to admit that there’s just not much substance to a bubble. Yes, it has a certain spherical beauty catching the colors of the rainbow, but its airborne life expectancy is very limited. Children will even take after a bubble to catch it for their own only to pop the life out of it. Adults want to have their photograph made with the bubbles swirling around.

Consider the bubble church and the spiritual life it suggests compared to the dynamic and demand of the church of the rock. Jesus said if you would chase after him, you would need to deny yourself, take up your own cross, and follow him. Paul said he died daily. Paul also said Christians were to commit themselves to reconciling others to God in much the same fashion as God had reconciled us to him. Paul identified followers as ambassadors for Christ.

Throughout my 34 years in the ministry, I am discovering more and more that the average life of a committed follower of Christ may be longer than the life expectancy of a bubble, but not a whole lot. People are becoming more fickle in their longing for the tickle, a la, the bubble.

Large churches may be boasting about their memberships, but national surveys report that Christianity has not kept up with population growth. Christians are known more and more known among pastors for their church hopping and church shopping. Wal-Mart has proved there is no such thing as loyalty to the small “mom and pop” hardware and retail store. People are gong to go where they can get the best deal for themselves. Churches included. “If you can offer something to take my yelling kid off my hand for three hours, you are the church for me. But if you are asking me to give up some of my precious time and energy, forget it.”

I suppose what I am trying to say is that Jesus called us to be rocks, not bubbles. You can count on a rock to keep it form and substance for a long time. You can build great things on bedrock. But, bubbles? What’s your faith more like: a rock or a bubble?

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About the author:  John Hatcher is the founding pastor (1991) of Outreach International Center in Fayetteville, Ga, a multi-cultural congregation. He graduated from UGA in 1969, Southern Seminary with MDiv in 1975 and D. Min in 1988. born in southwest Georgia, raised in Columbus, Georgia and ordained by First Baptist Church of Columbus, Georgia. 


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  1 Person Has Commented:

  • Posted by
    Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 5:13 PM

    Can I play with this metaphor a bit more???

    It’s true that bubbles, as they float around in the air, are not all that helpful.  But neither are they hurtful. 

    Rocks are indeed what our churches should be built upon.  With this point I fully agree. We can reflect on Jesus’ words to Peter and “the wise man built his house upon . . .” (singing along with me??) Yes, following Jesus requires picking up a cross.  I agree that to some degree our western culture has made following Jesus pretty easy, sometimes little more than “the American Dream with a Jesus overlay.” (John Perkins, Beyond Charity).  But I fault our society for this much more than the church.  Not that the church can be completely let off the hook . . . just that I don’t feel good blaming them for what is largely a societal issue.  We are consumer Christians because we live in a consumer society, not because our church made us that way.  Yes, churches are influenced by society just as individuals are, and we must guard against inappropriate influence.  But not all influence is bad.  For heaven sake, we use all kinds of technology to the glory of God . . . technology use which was influenced by society.

    Now back to the metaphor.  Rocks, if they are tossed around in the air like bubbles, will hurt people.  Just ask the woman caught in adultery that Jesus saved.  Sometimes in our efforts to counteract “easy believism” we toss rocks around as if they were bubbles.  Such tactics don’t help . . . they only hurt.  The essence of our faith is not simple pretty bubbles without substance that do no good as they float around us.  But neither is it made of rocks that, when tossed, will hurt when they land on someone’s head.  Rocks, tossed around, are weapons.  And I think too often we (myself included) have treated our faith like a weapon that we need to throw at our enemies (or those we’ve made out to be our enemies).

    So I submit that while the church is to be built on a rock, our faith should be neither a bubble nor a rock.  But what then?  Is there a better metaphor that works here?

    Wendi

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