I'm Not Being "Fed"

Have you ever had a spiritual “dry season” where things between you and God just aren’t on the same page? It seems like He is far off and distant, and no matter how badly you want to hear from Him again, nothing seems to change.

Anybody who has been a follower of Jesus for an extended period likely has this on their spiritual resume. And for many of us, we aren’t sure what to do about it. Who’s to blame? Often, people wind up blaming their church for these “spiritual dry seasons,” and go chasing greener pastures, looking for a new church and the next spiritual high. Attempting to “spiritualize” the decision to leave, people often argue their former church wasn’t spiritually feeding them. Sometimes, the reason for this argument is because they’ve been expecting some kind of “spiritual feel-good” at the end of their church, which hasn’t been happening for them. People who leave over this issue are failing to ask a greater question…what is the church FOR, anyway? Is the church always supposed to give me the “spiritual feel-goods?” Whose job is it to “spiritually feed” followers of Jesus?

I honestly believe that most people who allege their church isn’t feeding them levy this accusation without thinking out its implications. After all, scripture itself doesn’t support the claim that the Church’s #1 job is to give them a weekly spiritual high. Of course, Church often does operate to foster and nurture the spiritual life of Christians. To understand the real job of the church, I think Ephesians 4 should be one of our go-to places. Allowing the Bible to illuminate the relationship between us and the Church will keep us from misunderstandings, after all.  In chapter 4:11-16, Paul writes:

¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

What exactly is Paul describing here? Honestly, he couldn’t be clearer. Paul describes a twofold role for church leaders: 1) “equip” the members to go out and “do,” and 2) build up the body of Christ, the Church.

I think of it like this…back in my glory days, I was a college cross country and track runner. All of the “equipping” I underwent as an athlete took place at practice as Coach trained us to go out and compete in races. The equipping, while necessary, didn’t exactly put “gas” in my tank. Honestly, the equipping and the racing (which was the goal of the equipping) was strenuous. But who was responsible to “feed” me to be able to undergo the work of college athletics? I was. While Coach had the responsibility of educating me know how operate to achieve peak performance as a college athlete, I was responsible for implementing the knowledge he gave me. I had to maintain a healthy diet. I had to prioritize my sleep schedule. I had to schedule time for stretching, ice baths, and physical therapy to make it for the long haul. Any successful athlete lives a lifestyle commensurate with the athletic event in which they compete.

So if the Church is here to “equip” Her members and build them up, the members have a responsibility to live by the blueprint. Ultimately, that means it’s on us as individuals. Our pastors are not responsible for the choices we may or may not make with the teaching they deliver.

Consider the life of Christ. The Gospel writers continuously tell us Jesus woke in the predawn hours in order to hike a mountain—seeking out solitude and quiet—in order to pray. Then from those mountaintop moments, he could descend to preach and heal. Prayer in isolation on the mountain was where Jesus went to get spiritually fed. And although Jesus was unquestionably the leader, he spent lots of time with a small group of men—the apostles—which is echoed by the Church’s efforts to disciple through small groups.

When pastors hear of members who leave because they weren’t being fed, two thoughts generally come to mind. The first is that when someone alleges their church isn’t “feeding” them they’re doing exactly that: levying an allegation. And it’s accusing church leadership of not doing their job. This means that when people argue their church isn’t “feeding” them, what they’re really saying is that the pastors are doing a bad job. And as a pastor of over ten years, that accusation hurts…and it’s usually not true. Secondly, for someone to allege their church isn’t “feeding” them demonstrates there’s a high probability they might not be following Jesus’ example of seeking after God on their own Monday through Saturday nor seeking him in a small group of other believers, instead relying on one hour a week on Sunday to help them grow as a Christian AND withstand the onslaught of sin, temptation, and culture thrown at them the rest of the week. Those are some high expectations!

Now, of course there are exceptions to the rule. Some churches out there need assistance equipping and building-up their people. But I’ve yet to meet any pastor who simply doesn’t care about his flock and is indifferent to their spiritual well-being. Church, your pastors care for you deeply. They continuously think about you, pray for you, and build their ministries the best they can to point their people to Jesus.

So, if you feel like you’re in one of those spiritual dry seasons, take inventory. How often do you follow Jesus’ example of seeking God in solitude and prayer daily? Notice the lengths to which Jesus went in limiting distractions—he frequently awoke while it was still dark and hiked to a lonely place in isolation (Luke 5:16). If Jesus had to go above and beyond to limit distractions, so should we. Secondly, once Jesus filled his spiritual gas tank, he went out and ministered. Many of us leave out this part of our spiritual lives altogether. Once we spend time with God, we must be doers of the task for which the church exists to equip us: going into our daily lives and looking for opportunities to share our experiences of Jesus with those around us. Really, sharing the Gospel with people we encounter can be as simple telling our personal Jesus-stories. Sometimes, being able to pinpoint how Jesus has affected our lives and changed us is all we need to effectively do the work he’s set out for us.

In writing this, I know that there’s a good chance someone could be offended. But like we read in verse 16 above, we have a responsibility to speak the truth in love. So, if you’re in one of those spiritual dry seasons, consider if you are really pursuing God the way Christ did. I’m pretty sure all of us could do more in this department. After all, Jesus is our example of how to do daily life as a Christian. And remember, Jesus never said it would be easy…In fact, He told us to expect things to be hard (John 16:33).

In my own life, when I choose to be obedient to the mission of what Christ has called us to, His presence is far more tangible and real to me. In my head, I know He’s always there. But when I find myself in situations where I need to rely on the “equipping” I gained at church, in congruence with burning the fuel in my spiritual gas tank, God continually shows up and does what only He can do.