From Toe-Dippers to Head-Divers: Growing Your Faith

As the temperatures begin their climb into summer, thoughts of sitting poolside or along the shores of a sandy beach begin to entice us.  I can hear the calming sounds of the ocean waves crashing into the shore… Now that you’re there, how do you approach the water?  Are you a toe-dipper or a head-first dive-right-in kind?  Hold that thought for a minute while we take a look at the second chapter of John as it causes us to think about the difference between response (toe-dipping) and commitment (head-first diver).

This chapter spans the bridge between a quietly performed first miracle of Jesus changing water to wine in the presences of a few servants and his disciples to a very public display of temple cleansing of those selling animals and money-changers.  In both instances it is noted that the disciples “believed” (v.11) and “remembered” (v.17).  As the chapter closes though, it is noted that while many believed as a result of the “the signs that he was doing” (v.23) Jesus “did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.” (v.24)

When we look at this chapter with the signs and miracle of Jesus as a backdrop and ask ourselves what his purpose was in using them, we can begin to see who were the toe-dippers (responders) versus the head-divers (committed). People who simply encountered Jesus were awed and amazed at the miraculous nature of his signs.  They responded to them and wanted to follow him to see what else he could and would do.  However, Jesus has always desired a more meaningful commitment from those who seek him.  The fact that the author of John noted that Jesus “knew what was in man” (v. 25) tells us that there is a difference between awe and action.

The writer of Hebrews acknowledges that there is a continuum of growth from response to commitment.  We may start out as toe-dippers into the waters of salvation as we respond to the Gospel message, but as Hebrews 5:12-14 expresses, we must grow our faith into a committed walk with Christ and desire to dive head-first into the word.

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.