What's Bubbling Up

The election is over.  But the debate continues.  When will something finally trickle down?

We've been hearing a lot about “trickle-down economy.”  The winning candidate warned that his opponent wanted to create a nation in which all the money goes to the hands of stock brokers on Wall Street.  Then, the rich will get richer to the point of overflow, and it will trickle down to the rest of us.  This notion, he claimed, was a pipe dream.  It would lead to droughts on Main Street.

We then heard about “trickle-down government.”  The opposing candidate warned that the President wants to create a nation in which all the money goes to the hands of power players on Capitol Hill.  There, the rich will be taxed at the point of excess, and it will trickle down to the rest of us.  This notion, he claimed, was also a pipe dream.  It would lead to deserts instead of Fruited Plains.

It felt that we’d be left there either way—sitting under the pipes, waiting for something to come down and transform our situation.  Are we to stand with hands cupped, hoping for something or someone to be filled to the brim, so we receive the benefits of what trickles down?

Jesus, the One who did come down from heaven to transform our hearts, doesn’t just speak about what’s trickling down.  Rather, he is very clear about what’s bubbling up.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  (John 7:37-39)

I wonder if we’re also clinging to an idea of “trickle-down church.”  That is, if we just build big enough buildings – we will have room enough to pool our resources and build our stages.  From there, we will find the ultra-gifted and the uber-holy, whom we will lift high on pedestals and place on holy hills.  And we will go each week and stand beneath them, waiting for his faith…her hope…their passion to trickle down to the rest of us.  This notion, I fear, is a pipe dream.  The Church will be left thirsty.

You see, if you’re thirsty in the desert, you don’t look up for the answer to the problem.  You may never see a drop of rain.  Instead, you look down.  You search for what may be coming up out of the ground below you.  You may have everything you’ve needed all along, right under your feet.

Likewise, Jesus is saying – “I have put My Spirit in You.  You have access to the Source.  If your life is dry, and you need grace to flow, no need to look outside of you.  There is a powerful river inside of you.  You always have access, by faith in Me.”

In all our mega-churches, mission conferences, weekend experiences, and camp highs, many of us are still waiting for the trickle-down effect.  We get a drop of something, and we leave happy.  But it doesn’t satisfy for long.

In fact, it may be a well-kept secret these days – but the same Spirit who lives in that person standing on our stages also lives in us.  We have access by the same Spirit, to the same power and glory.  Why settle for droplets?  We have a roaring river.

Desire love?  Need joy?  Long for peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control?  The Spirit has this, and more.  And He’s here, in us.  No need to wait for the perfect circumstances. The Spirit in us uses all things to perfect our character. And His character bubbles up in us, and flows out of us, to effect change around us.

Don’t buy into trickle-down church.  It is not Biblical faith.  Any leader who tells us that he or she has something we don’t, but neglects to help us grow in our understanding of the Spirit and access to the One inside of us, is setting us up for spiritual poverty and dependence.

Look down.  Pray to the Spirit who bubbles up, who comes from the heart.  Everything you need is there: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

Next time we show up for church, let’s be Rivers.  Not empty wells.  When we are all Rivers, we flow together as the Church, and reveal the ocean that is Truth.  Otherwise, the lost will just stand with us, waiting for something to trickle down.  And that, my friends, will leave us all parched.