Feed me!
There is this debate. On one hand, there are millions of people who sit in pews. On the other, are figures as large as Elevation church’s Steve Furtrick, and I became a Christian and all I got was this Lousy T-shirt’s Vincent Antonucci. What the debate is about is this: Should the church feed it’s members.
Many, many people in the pews say “yes.” Perhaps there are famous folks who use this language to. I’ll invite my readers to drop me a comment if they want to let me know. The above-mentioned hot shots say “No.”
Me? I say it depends.
The obvious place to turn at a time like this is scripture. Scripture is bursting at the seems with imagery and discussions of eating and food. But I couldn’t find much about the issue of feeding and a church’s obligation. The closest I come is Hebrews 5:
Hebrews 5
Warning Against Falling Away
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
I think that a lot of the reason we get in such intense fights about this issue is partially because the word itself is a bit slippery. Notice that the word “feed” has two distinct but related meanings. If I asked you to feed my toddler, notice that the image is quite different (hopefully!) than if I say “if I come over will you feed me?”
If you fed a toddler I hope that you would cut the food carefully. I hope that you would place it in her mouth. I hope that you would cheer if she swallows something nasty like beets.
If you fed me, all I’m asking is that you throw some stuff on the table. Cutting, placing food in mouth, and cheering are unnecessary, and frankly, probably a bit wierd.
It is absolutely right for pastors to raise the bar. It is perfectally appropriate for them not to cut up the spiritual food of the spiritually mature and make train noises on the food’s way in.
It is furthermore appropriate for spiritually mature believers to expect that spiritual food will be placed on the spiritual table.
This is all metaphorical, of course. Unpacking what the metaphor means will take some discussion and debate and maybe even arguing: just how easy the church makes it to get our nourishment, how much of a burden is on us as the priesthood of believers, that’s still an open question.
But the thing is that we’re not even going to get to that real question if we’re hung up on whether or not the church ought to be feeding believers. And I think that if most reasonable people are operating on the same definition of the word “feed” most people will be in general agreement: the church should not treat us like toddlers, but it does have a feast which it ought to put out on the table.
June 9, 2008 at 7:30 pm
What? I have a strange desire to eat chocolate chip cookies while reading my bible…
June 10, 2008 at 1:22 pm
To me the problem isn’t people wanting to be fed. It is more where and when they are looking to eat.
If you have been a christian for a bit than Life Groups are the perfect place to be fed, you are usually surrounded by people that care about you and are looking to work through things together. On Sunday Mornings is where you take your bib off and put your apron on and you serve.
I think we can safely assume that not everyone that walks through our doors is a christian (lets call them homeless.) They are coming to our church (”soup kitchen”) looking for food and someone to serve them (us, Christians.)
Picture us when we are standing behind the counter eating all the soup and not serving it to those that are starving for it. This my be the only meal they eat this week, this my be the only meal they eat! And here we are with stocked pantries at home being spiritual gluttons. stuffing our already fat faces with more and more.
The worst part is when we open our fat chubby faces and complain that we aren’t being fed, or that we are “starving.” All the while our shirt is soaked with the soup that you allowed to just drip right out.
On the other side of the coin you have the “church” that isn’t teaching there people how to feed them selves. Have you ever given a baby a spoon and a bowl of baby food carrot and pea medley??? they may get some to there lips but the vast majority ends up splattered on every surface within 10 feet and the baby eventually gets frustrated and flings the bowl across the room and screams.
Personally I get fed through serving… but that is how I grew up. For others they need to learn where to find the nourishment when it is right there in front of them.
June 10, 2008 at 1:24 pm
that shouldn’t be a smiley face in my previous comment.
June 10, 2008 at 1:25 pm
that stinks my comment disapeared…
To me the problem isn’t people wanting to be fed. It is more where and when they are looking to eat.
If you have been a christian for a bit than Life Groups are the perfect place to be fed, you are usually surrounded by people that care about you and are looking to work through things together. On Sunday Mornings is where you take your bib off and put your apron on and you serve.
I think we can safely assume that not everyone that walks through our doors is a christian (lets call them homeless.) They are coming to our church (”soup kitchen” ) looking for food and someone to serve them (us, Christians.)
Picture us when we are standing behind the counter eating all the soup and not serving it to those that are starving for it. This my be the only meal they eat this week, this my be the only meal they eat! And here we are with stocked pantries at home being spiritual gluttons. stuffing our already fat faces with more and more.
The worst part is when we open our fat chubby faces and complain that we aren’t being fed, or that we are “starving.” All the while our shirt is soaked with the soup that you allowed to just drip right out.
On the other side of the coin you have the “church” that isn’t teaching there people how to feed them selves. Have you ever given a baby a spoon and a bowl of baby food carrot and pea medley??? they may get some to there lips but the vast majority ends up splattered on every surface within 10 feet and the baby eventually gets frustrated and flings the bowl across the room and screams.
Personally I get fed through serving… but that is how I grew up. For others they need to learn where to find the nourishment when it is right there in front of them.
June 10, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I just read the following here http://www.leadingsmart.com/leadingsmart/2008/06/open-letter-to.html
and thought it fit to perfectly not to make a 3rd comment.
Dearest Career Church Hopper:
I met you again on Wednesday, the same person smiling at me through a different face, telling me that you’ve been shopping for churches for months now, and that darn it, you “just can’t find one (you) like.” The music’s too rocky at this one, you said; the preacher too funny at that one. The latest one might make the cut, though: you’d had the pastor and his wife over the previous evening for a little “dinner audition” — your words, not mine — and he said things that made you feel good and comfortable, things that you already agree with, so you’re thinking about sticking around. At the very least, you could get your teaching from this church and your worship from that one.
I’m sure we’ll run into each other again, but before we do, I’d like to suggest some things you could perhaps think about before you move on to the next church, as I’m sure you will, whether this weekend or next year:
Christ didn’t bleed for the Church so you could treat your search for one like an episode of Survivor, deciding who to vote off the island this week.
The Church was not commissioned by Christ to meet your needs. You ARE the Church, and you’ve been commissioned to meet the needs of the world.
Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:25). Quit treating his bride like a Jesus buffet where you can pick and choose what you like, hedging your bets against the pain and sacrifice of making a commitment.
Per scripture’s instructions to use your gifts in service to the Body of Christ — and its lack of instruction to search for a church that scratches you where you itch — you might want to consider what the Church you’re visiting needs from you, rather than the other way around.
If you only want to hear things you already know and agree with, save your Sundays and talk to yourself in the bathroom mirror.
Sincerely,
The Preacher’s Wife
June 19, 2008 at 8:03 pm
You seem to have a good point about the differences between the feeding of toddlers and the feeding of adults. Many times when pastor stops putting the food in a person’s mouth, they will start to complain that the pastor is not feeding them at all. The real problem in our current time is constipation in our church. When we are fed, we do not go out and feed others. We become constipated because we have no outlet for what we have been taught. When we have been taught something, we need to go out and begin to teach others. This constipation of our church seems to be the real problem. The pastor should not worry about whether he is feeding his congregation or not, he needs to concern himself with the training of his members to be feeding others. If he is doing this then he will be feeding them. And the members who are feeding others never start complaining about not being fed themselves.
(I did appreciate the little shop reference)