Picture this: Tonight you’re watching the local news and you’re startled by the report: Every restaurant in your area is closing down. Not just your favorites, not just some, but ALL OF THEM. You would obviously be disappointed. Going out to eat is fun. And often the food you get in a restaurant is better than what you make at home. It’s also nice to have a night where you don’t have to make your own meal. And not having to pack your lunch everyday is a convenience you enjoy. So, of course you’d be disappointed.
But what if the next day a friend came up to you, “Did you hear that all the restaurants are closing?!? What will I do?!? I’m going to starve! I’m not kidding, I will die because of this! I can’t live without restaurants!” And you’re friend is serious. He’s not joking or exaggerating.
What do you think of your friend? That he’s got some serious problems, right? That he is ridiculously lazy, right?
Well, in my not so humble opinion, when a Christian says, “I’m not getting fed” this is truly what they’re saying. I mean, sure, it’s nice to go to church and get some bible fed to you. We all enjoy being lazy once-in-awhile. And most preachers can give you a better bible study than what you can do on your home at home.
So there’s nothing wrong with going to church and “getting fed.” But if you’re dependent on it, if it’s the only way you can get fed, if you don’t know what to do without it, you’ve got some serious problems and you are ridiculously lazy.
People who say, “I’m not getting fed” are lazy. Seriously, think about it. The people who say this only get 30 minutes with their preacher a week, but they expect their preacher to feed them. They have 167 ½ hours the rest of the week, but their spiritual sustenance is supposed to come from their preacher, in only 30 minutes. They can’t figure out some other way of getting spiritual nutrition the rest of their week despite living in a country where we can legally own bibles (and the average home has three!), where Christian bookstores are all over the place, and where the internet provides a never-ending supply of spiritual resources.
So, what kind of people say “I’m not getting fed”? Thumb-sucking babies, and pampered-pouting lazy Christians.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you how I really feel. Until then, save me the aisle seat.
- Featured on newchurches.com
Thursday, January 17, 2008
“Waaaaa. I’m Not Getting Fed” (Part 3)
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10 comments:
So maybe we should focus more on showing people how to feed themselves, if we don't then it's kind of like the guy who will starve without restaraunts. Are we teaching people how to feed themselves? Because if we are sucessful in doing so we are not needed as much and most Pastoes I know like talking on Sunday. Maybe we should examine ourselves and ask if we really want people able to feed themselves because we may not feel as valued if they do??
I definitely agree. We'll be talking about that some more...
I'm glad to hear you bring this subject up. I agree of course, if a mature Christian relies only on their home church for their growth they will most definitely be in trouble before long.
We do hope that SOMEONE is getting fed there though. If not the Spirit has surely departed. The unsaved and newly saved must be fed there or they will not progress and will be in danger of slipping away.
So, you're against "Waaaa, I'm not getting fed," right?
travis - is your question to me? if so ... yes!
Vince. You're too cool for school. Love this series and your passion.
I recently had a discussion with a Christian couple who told me they weren't "getting fed" at their current church. In fact, they had to go to a particular conference every year to "get fed."
Then they turned and asked me about becoming part of the church I'm preparing to plant.
My radar went off. Bells and alarms began sounding. Red lights began flashing. And I remembered this series of posts you wrote. Then I replied, "I don't think we're going to be deep enough for you."
Thanks for the timely series. It may have helped my antenna go off at just the right time and keep the wrong people from getting on the bus.
Good stuff vince! I think a lot of this also comes down to our western culture's fascination with reason and knowledge as a measure of maturity. "Feed me" usually equates to "give me more information". My reading of Scripture leads me to think that the growth in our lives comes from the "doing" of what we learn, not the intellectual acquisition (however important that may be) and hording of it.
so what happens when Christians that feed themselves learn that not everything being taught on Sunday morning is 100% biblical?
Or their "interpretation" of scripture doesn't line up with the "interpretation" of the head banana.
^^^^Exactly^^^^ then what does'nt that cause a whole new mess? I get the impression from alot of you that Speakers don't want to be challenged. The church in western civ acts very much like a business so why is it that they can't be accountable like one. Sometimes it seems like western churches want it both ways. This post is just to play devil's advocate. In fact I may register as such. Ya got to stir the pot sometimes to keep things fresh. I post to hopefully provoke thought. I love the V man
Great ideas being tossed about! Staying on the restaurant theme though I will have to agree with some of the other comments. If I am the preacher at a typical American church I am in the service industry like it or not or agree with it completely or not that offering that comes in every week does good things but it is also my income.Now maybe not all complainers are givers but a bet there are some, and in a way they are giving you a little chunk of them even if it isn't monetary. They are waking up on a day they have off and dressing and driving to sit and listen to you, It's not like you go to them(not talking podcasts here)So even if they aren't giving they are still in some respects investing in you. So back to the restaurant, if I am trying to have a sucessful eatery I need to cater to the ocassional hard to deal with customer and realize it comes with the territory. I could understand Ministry leaders griping and talking about how rough they had it a little more if theywere like Paul and continued with a day job and did ministry as service. This is what we do so take the good with the bad and learn to deal with it. Or better yet grow from it! Be able to look back in a few years and say "People who used to complain about not getting fed to me used to bother me, but now I have learned(insert lesson here)"
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