The Difference Between Activity and Progress

I am reading a book right now called "Buck-Naked Faith". At first I got it because of the title--it fits in to how our Wednesday night Bible study group has been discussing faith.

The book is written by a Vineyard pastor who also teaches Human Sexuality at a college. He has a number of intetesting metaphors for faith such as "bonsai Christianity" (stunted growth that otherwise has the outward signs of maturity), a "cheese-puff Christian" (all volume but no substance), the "Borg" church (a church that believes its mission is to assimilate as many members as possible into an unthinking collective),and "binge and purge Christianity" just to name a few.

The idea that he brings up that fascinates me today is his discussion of the difference between activity and progress. He tells the story of an explorer looking for the north pole. He sets his instruments and keeps walking north in the Arctic. Yet, everytime he checks his instruments he seems to be both heading in the right direction as he walks, but getting further and further away each day from the North Pole. What was happening? He was stuck on a very large, southward moving iceburg. He was walking several miles a day, but making no progress. The author of the book suggests we do the same thing in our personal and spiritual lives. We are really active doing things that we think are important, but are we making any personal and spiritual progress?

This makes me think about certain Christian communities. We seem to be full of activity, but are we making any real progress? Or are we just doing "church things"? Are we walking in the direction we are told to, only to be drifing further and further away from where we want to be? Are some churches like the iceburg?

How does this concept speak to this or other areas of your lives, or does it?