God created us to grow. However, too much of the wrong kind of growth can actually be disastrous.

In 2006, Jim Picariello launched Wise Acre Golden Treats. Picariello began in a humble schoolhouse kitchen, but soon, his organic popsicles garnered national acclaim. It seemed that growth could only go up for the business.

With success in the air, Picariello began hiring more employees, and purchased a 3,000 square-foot building. Yet within one year, he was bankrupt and out of business. Why? Unfortunately, Picariello grew too wide too fast, without first growing deep.

Whether in our families, churches, businesses, or influence, like Picariello, we can easily be tempted to pursue exponential or wide growth before growing deep roots. 

Today, we’ll look at three reasons why we often settle for wide over deep growth. We’ll also discover how we can have both, in the right order.

1. Growing Wide Is Much Easier Than Growing Deep

Jesus’ ministry stands in stark contrast to moderns obsessed with numbers. For 3 and a half years, Christ poured into 12 ordinary guys, who often weren’t the fastest of learners. Yet when Christ’s work on earth was finished, and He ascended to heaven, these men changed the world.

Growing wide without first going deep is like building a tower without laying a foundation. While the tower might look impressive for a while, it will inevitably crack and crumble. Indeed, the farther it went up, the more doomed its failure would be. 

In his poem, The Builders, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reminds us that we cannot afford to bypass critical life foundations: 

“Nothing useless is, or low;

Each thing in its place is best;

And what seems but idle show

Strengthens and supports the rest.“

2. Growing Wide Is More Instantly Rewarded Than Growing Deep 

In our impatience to obtain immediate results, we can seek to short-circuit the divine laws of growth. However, those with wisdom see through instant rewards, knowing that they often don’t last.

Rather than being flattered by the fickle crowds, Christ saw straight through to their motives. He knew that they weren’t true followers—they just followed Him for the temporal things He could do for them, not because they actually believed He was who He claimed to be. Therefore, when they wanted to make Him king, He slipped away. 

Psalm 1 describes the blessed life as the one rooted by the river of God’s Word. No one but God can fully see the roots of such a life, but everyone can see the fruit. The danger comes when we seek the fruit first, before the roots. 

For example, in a family, parents could focus on leading their children to “get saved,” and then mistakenly think their work was done, neglecting the work of discipleship.

3. Growing Wide Goes Faster Than Deep, But Not Farther

We’ve all read the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. What the tortoise lacked in speed, he made up in singular focus. As Steve Ferrar writes, “It’s not about how you start; it’s about how you finish.”

The parable of the sower describes those on the stony ground, “who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended” (Mark 4:16-17). 

It takes time to go deep. But those who put down roots in Christ and His Word remain stable. As Psalm 1 describes, the who meditates daily on God’s Word is “like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Conclusion: Wide Growth is a Natural Byproduct of Deep Roots

God created and called us all to produce fruit. But in every sphere of life, lasting fruit only comes when we seek first to become the men and women God designed us to be.

May we daily seek to be “Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith” (Colossians 2:7). May abiding in Christ produce firm roots that lead to eternal fruit.

Question: What do deep roots in God and His Word make possible?