"I am sorry but I am not being fed. I am just not getting what I want to get from church anymore. I think I am going to do some church shopping and see if I like what some other places have to offer."
Pastors are flabbergasted when they hear this. We live in such a consumer society that some folks treat church like a restaurant. I'll go here for a while, but if I feel like something different, well I will just go there and try the lunch special.
I wonder what the early Christian leaders would have said if one of their members would have said, "hey, I'm not being fed?" First of all, there was no other place to go, no other church. No other cafeteria to try out. The church in your town was all you had. They were your family. They were the expression of Christ in your community. They weren't perfect, but they were following as best they could.
I think an early church pastor would have responded to "I'm not being fed" with, "you know, it is not about you. Keep your eyes on Jesus and spend your days loving people. That is what the church is about and that is what we are supposed to do. There is nothing else."
The moral of the story is this- when we are focused on God, and living the life that He asks us to live, we are filled. When we decide to become consumers instead of contributors to God's life in this world, then, well, then the preacher better have some really good stuff for us on Sunday.
Thank you to every one of you that knows that we are a family. We have some warts, but this is a great place to follow Jesus.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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3 comments:
God's ways are always higher than our ways. God's wisdom says that the givers are strangely the receivers. So if someone whines that they are not being fed, they need to try giving of themselves.
Reminds me of your recent post about dillution of truth. Not only are the scriptures not a cafeteria plan (pick and choose what sustains your misguided philosopies,) but doing "church family" is not a cafeteria plan (pick and choose what makes me "happy.") And when I get unhappy, I'll go find another church to make me happy.
Conventional wisdom says, about all of life, that if you're not happy where you are, you probably won't be happy where you're going. This "stuff" originates inside us, so it's nothing on the outside that will make us "happy."
Amen, brotha! I whole-heartedly agree. Church is a family, a community of believers growing and living in Christ together. If someone told me that they weren't being "fed," I'd tell them they probably need to do some cooking of their own and start feeding others. Then they might not be so hungry anymore. :D
R. Swanson
Amen. Hallelujah for the word of truth! Keep your eyes on Jesus.
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