Posts
Scripture tell us that. "...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". (Mat. 4:4) With that I must agree, especially as it comes from the mouth of Jesus. The thing I've been thinking about is this. How and by whom are we to be fed spiritually?
In my last post I was honest with you. I haven't been in church much lately. Some Christians have asked me this question when they learn this, "If you're not going to church, how are you being fed?" I usually respond with my own question, "If you saw someone feeding a twenty year old man, what would you think?" My guess is that you would assume that he (the one being fed) was mentally challenged or perhaps had some neuromuscular desease like MS. But, what if there was not one thing wrong with this man other than he had never been taught to feed himself or was perhaps just to lazy. If you were the type of person who spoke his or her mind I expect you would castigate him in no uncertain terms. You might even have a few choice words for the one doing the feeding. Surely you would not see this as normal behavior!
And yet there are an untold number of Believers whose only "feeding" is when they go to church on Sundays and are spoon fed by the pastor. And this is the accepted norm. There are a fewer number who each morning turn to their favorite devotional writer to be fed. And finally there are those, fewer yet, who pick up the Word and feed themselves, wrestling with scripture, allowing the Holy Spirit to do as he promised. (John 16:13)
Now, before you call me names like "heretic" or "troublemaker" or close this blog in disgust, allow me to clarify. The intent of this post is not to down play the importance of preaching or to negate the writings of men and women far more spiritual and learned than I. Both have their place and I am grateful for both. As a matter of fact, in my blog Doing Life Different, I write of how much some of the great men of our time have impacted my life. It is instead to challenge you, Believer, towards maturity. Learn to feed yourself. It was right and proper when you were "newborn" in the Kingdom to be fed by someone, but now put away childish things and feed yourself. Then when you have become mature you can teach others to feed themselves. It's called discipleship.
It is also a challenge to pastors. Close the laptop, open the Word. Stop getting your messages from E-Sermon and start getting them from the Spirit. If you are guilty of plagiarizing someone else's thoughts, writings or sermons in your messages, fess up and confess. Be willing to humble yourself and acknowledge that rare person who actually spent the time necessary, on his knees and in the Word, to receive the message. (Here's a great link on this subject.)
So here's the question, "Are we a nation of physical gluttons, but spiritual anorexics?"
In my last post I was honest with you. I haven't been in church much lately. Some Christians have asked me this question when they learn this, "If you're not going to church, how are you being fed?" I usually respond with my own question, "If you saw someone feeding a twenty year old man, what would you think?" My guess is that you would assume that he (the one being fed) was mentally challenged or perhaps had some neuromuscular desease like MS. But, what if there was not one thing wrong with this man other than he had never been taught to feed himself or was perhaps just to lazy. If you were the type of person who spoke his or her mind I expect you would castigate him in no uncertain terms. You might even have a few choice words for the one doing the feeding. Surely you would not see this as normal behavior!
And yet there are an untold number of Believers whose only "feeding" is when they go to church on Sundays and are spoon fed by the pastor. And this is the accepted norm. There are a fewer number who each morning turn to their favorite devotional writer to be fed. And finally there are those, fewer yet, who pick up the Word and feed themselves, wrestling with scripture, allowing the Holy Spirit to do as he promised. (John 16:13)
Now, before you call me names like "heretic" or "troublemaker" or close this blog in disgust, allow me to clarify. The intent of this post is not to down play the importance of preaching or to negate the writings of men and women far more spiritual and learned than I. Both have their place and I am grateful for both. As a matter of fact, in my blog Doing Life Different, I write of how much some of the great men of our time have impacted my life. It is instead to challenge you, Believer, towards maturity. Learn to feed yourself. It was right and proper when you were "newborn" in the Kingdom to be fed by someone, but now put away childish things and feed yourself. Then when you have become mature you can teach others to feed themselves. It's called discipleship.
It is also a challenge to pastors. Close the laptop, open the Word. Stop getting your messages from E-Sermon and start getting them from the Spirit. If you are guilty of plagiarizing someone else's thoughts, writings or sermons in your messages, fess up and confess. Be willing to humble yourself and acknowledge that rare person who actually spent the time necessary, on his knees and in the Word, to receive the message. (Here's a great link on this subject.)
So here's the question, "Are we a nation of physical gluttons, but spiritual anorexics?"
I have often wondered about this subject. I have met so many Christians who think you have to sit in a church for every service with "good preaching" in order to be doing whats right. So what, is there something so special about a person who is called to be a missionary? Are they somehow exempt from this rule of church attendance? Who feeds them? They feed themselves! An amazing concept. If you can't feed yourself you can't help others. If your life is dedicated completely to feeding yourself physically, with entertainment, relationships, food, etc then where is the time for spiritual food?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment David. So would you agree that being able and WILLING to feed yourself is a sign of spiritual maturity, just as it is physically? One mored thought...being able to feed oneself goes far beyond just picking up a fork and putting it to your mouth. There is work involved. One must work to buy the food, take time preparing it, etc.
Delete