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BEING FED?
As a reminder, we must go back to the basics. Babies or the sick get fed (this is needed and legitimate). Healthy mature adults feed themselves. The church of our culture has done great disservice to the body of Christ by normalizing "spoon feeding" to those who should be feeding themselves. In the last couple of years of pulpit ministry, I discovered that the same individuals who went "head over heals" for a great teaching would not even remember the topic 1 week later. They were simply hungry again! Feed me! Feed me! they cried..... But what was the food they were looking for? Jesus fed the multitudes bread. He used it as a illustration for His being the "Bread of Life". The problem was, they were more interested in the natural bread. He even vented His frustration once and said "you are only here because you want the bread". They were driven by their natural desire and consequently overlooked the spiritual food that was available.
One "bread" of our church culture is entertainment. Roman culture taught us to appreciate and be entertained by great oration. The resulting monologue has hijacked Christianity and formed how we "do church". Conversely, Hebrew and Greek cultures used dialogue for education. A good teacher in those cultures was one who could moderate a discussion and draw out the conversation of the participants. This dialogue becomes a staple of simple church
Then there is music. Our Christian culture is addicted to music. I am a musician and enjoy music from both sides of the guitar. The entertainment factor has dictated that only the big flashy shows will survive. After one gathering with His disciple we learn this of Jesus - "and after singing a hymn, they went out". No worship team, no rock-n-roll band, no expensive sound systems... Jesus could not compete in today's music market. Another "bread" of our church culture is instant gratification. It is much easier to run by McDonalds and pick up fast food than it is to prepare a meal. Jesus sent Peter and John to "prepare" the Passover meal. This meant they had to deal with the lamb, bread, bitter herbs, wine, charoset, etc. Now we would just order "take out" from the restaurant with the Big Fish rotating in the sky (or order it from Passover.com). Churches are full of people who depend on a leader to eat for them and just regurgitate it to them (like a bird feeding its young). The leader studies for them, prays for them, visits for them, and consequently, grows for them - until he burns out.
Feed the spiritual infants & the spiritually sick as needed, but give special attention to teach them to feed themselves. They must learn to feed themselves if they are to be healthy spiritual adults!
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