Thursday, January 31, 2008

Feed Yourself; or, Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Last week I read another church leadership guru's rant about Christians who "complain" they aren't being fed in church. I won't link to it. It sounded the same as all the other orders to "grow up" and demands to "feed yourself." And it's not so much the person I have a problem with anyway; it's the sentiment.

As I said in an earlier post, For I Was Hungry and You Told Me to Self-Feed, "There are some lazy, consumerist, adultolescent Christians whose 'I'm not being fed' is nothing more than a whiny excuse for growing bored with their church's programs and not serving, but there are also some mature, self-sacrificing, wise Christians whose 'I'm not being fed' is a sign a church has gone off the rails."

As I read this latest indignant polemic against the beggars for bread, a verse came to mind. It is not just Jesus' command to Peter "If you love me, feed my sheep" that is in play here. "Feed yourself" strikes me also as an echo of Cain's "Am I my brother's keeper?"

2 comments:

Brian Vawter said...

Jared, This is so good and right. Thank you. How are we to create a community of close like-minded people if we don't help one another?

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I think that one of the largest and most significant duties of those holding the Pastoral grace is to "feed the flock."

In truth, if more Christians would show up on Sundays demanding something fresh from the heart of God, we might spur our leaders to a new level of spiritual commitment and connection with God.