I have said for some time that my goal is not to feed but to lead.  The objective of my preaching is to lead people to Christ, to discovery, to character, to maturity, to mission… The objective of the Body is to be the place where equipping happens.  I often tell people that if the are not growing it is not my nor is it our churches fault Everything you need to grow is being provided. 

One question I ask about 4-6 times a year through my preaching is; “what did you come here expecting?” Expectations have much to do with development of relationships.  I then tell them, if you came expecting to be fed, I am sorry because I rarely prepare a sermon with feeding in mind.

It’s one thing if people who are trying to serve and reach out don’t feel like they’re hearing what aids them in doing so, it’s another if “gourmands” are sitting idly in the chairs (or pews) playing sermon critic. The claim could be justifiable for one and hot air for the other.

I believe that the “I am not being fed” syndrome is possibly connected to one of the precepts of modernity, in which the acquisition of knowledge is considered the highest pursuit. Of course, people seem to think that knowledge is learning, with very little influence on how one actually lives. I have been thinking a lot lately about how people learn and grow spiritually. From my experience, the times of greatest spiritual growth have come through either a crisis in my life or when faced with an opportunity that exceeded by perceived abilities. Even though I have heard and delivered hundreds of sermons in my life, and they do play a role in my spiritual development, how I live my daily life in Christ and apply spiritual truths to those situation is the primary factory in determining whether I am growing in Christlikeness.

I am going to get flamed for this.

My church IS a social club… with all the attending love and community that a true social club should have. The problem with that criticism of church is that it downplays that the whole reason we come “together” is to BE “together"… and the “social club” aspects of that are GOOD. Sharing meals is GOOD. Small talk is GOOD… Deep friendships that often result from this are VERY GOOD!

Wendi, you are so right.

Peter,

Certainly a true Christian community should include the best of the social club. We are given all of these ONE ANOTHER commandments (love, forgive, pray for, care, encourage, bear the burderns of...one another) to do in community.

The “social club” that my friend talked about was where Christian community becomes an ingrown and the community exists purely for itself. These kind of communities become stale, stagnant and closed communities where evangelism becomes impossible.

Our church was there once.

Derek

This may sound off topic but isn’t really…

Made me think of what happened when we went to our clubhouse here in our highly secure gated community for the Mother’s Day brunch this year.

As soon as I told the hostess what name the reservations were under… She immediately had us shown to a private dining room instead of in to the main dining hall. There were many individuals dining there who were literally ticked off that they did not get their own private room. That they had to sit in the main room just like everyone else… except for “THOSE people in the private dining room.”

Henry Blackaby seems to agree. Here are a few quotes from his devotional site this morning:

“There is no secondhand spirituality. No one else can develop Christian maturity on your behalf. “

“Paul had a powerful walk with God.  Paul’s ministry was so impressive, in fact, that others tried to duplicate it.”

“They could imitate Paul’s words, but they could not duplicate the power that was his through his personal relationship with God. “

“Christian maturity takes effort; it comes over time. If you ignore the place of prayer and if you neglect your relationship with Christ, you will not grow in your faith.”

“Only as you nurture you own relationship with Jesus will your life be filled with spiritual maturity and power.”

Don,

also, too often we pastors and those who work in the church actually LIKE being put on some kind of spiritual pedestal… We have to tear that down and let people know we are ordinary folk. Rediscover the priesthood of all believers…

Don and Peter,

Totally agree. As in the story I was relating… individuals thought we were given the private room because of who we are.. Nope. We were given the private room because money talks. People had been throwing money at the club due my dad’s passing. We (hubby and I and our boys) would have prefered to not be in the private dining room at all. We would have prefered to be in the kitchen or serving those in the main room or eating along side of them. In fact, clubhouse dining is not my first choice on how to spend mother’s day lunch… but it was for other mothers in our family.

And Don.... great to hear how God continues to work in your life!

Camey!  Hey there.
I would agree, here is where real feeding takes place-- get out and serve.  Get out and be the hands and feet of Christ.  Maybe the real problem is that many (not included any more if I may) is the intellectualizing of Jesus and the lack of any serving and living out His life.  Really.  I hate to pontificate on this thing… but… until “christians” get past the heady stuff...because they really think its all about what you “know” rather than what you do with what you know, we just have heady christians that want more head stuff in the meantime not much gets accomplished… i.e., serving, loving, social things (look out) and all that Jesus was about… it is so easy to be full of knowledge (puffs up) but that is what has happened over the years… just sit in a “pew” get more knowledge and watch the world go nuts.  Complete opposite of what is important.  Great read-- Ray S. Anderson “Christo Praxis” The shape of practical Theology and Lead Like Jesus… get em.  Finally, C.S. Lewis speaks about “men without chest” essentially people without the heart or passion, instead its all about the head… we need more followers committed to heart stuff, and let the head stuff come as they (same people) need more to keep living out their passions-- then they will go to the LIving Water for their needs instead of paying some guy to feed them.
Peace and Joy
Don

With all this agreeing going on I hope I don’t sound to negative ...but… Peter we must be careful not to create a power struggle between the words of Jesus and the words of Paul who did say to study the word.  We need to understand that a good portion of Jesus commands to follow were physical as well as spiritual.  “I am right here so leave your nets and follow me right now.”

Too many leaders spend too much time feeding instead of equipping.  too many leaders spend too much time coddling sheep instead of leading sheep. 

Too many sheep make themselves victims of their churches “lack of depth” and develop excuses for not growing, loving, sharing Christ, giviing, serving… and then say; “I am not being fed.”

Churches that have leaders who are leading usually are growing.  Those that do not usually are not.

HOW HAVE YOU COMBATTED THE “I’M NOT BEING FED” CRY AT YOUR CHURCH?

I had this comment from a few people in the first church I pastored (some 20 years ago) after I changed the way I preached from sequential exposition to primarily a topical approach that focused on felt-needs.

I didn’t like the comment because it hurt my ego and I reacted much like a few of the pastors mentioned above in the article did. Because of my pride and insensitivity, I lost the ability to minister to many of the people in that church. I subsequently, and mistakenly resigned that pastorate and went off and planted a church where I could do things the way I wanted to.

I had a few very mature and loyal believers help me with the church-plant and we grew quite a bit in the first couple of years with many new converts. I preached on many “relevant topics” and people seemed satisfied. But, after about three years, we lost some really mature and capable people and guess what - I found out that they felt they were not being fed! These people were doing a lot of ministry in and out of the church. They were the teachers and leaders. But they were hungry for the deeper teaching that their I wasn’t giving them.

I was really devastated and since I knew these people were godly men and women, I really began to rethink my views. I spent the next half-year studying the Pastoral Epistles and many other relevant passages of Scripture and confirmed what I already knew - that it IS the job of the pastor to “feed the flock” Christ has given to him! Certainly, a good pastor will also teach the people under his care how to read, properly interpret and apply Scripture themselves (Eph 4:11-16). But if a pastor is a well-trained interpreter of the Bible, and he is growing deeper in his own understanding of God’s Word (and he ought to be), then he should share that deeper understanding with the rest of the church.

Since that time I have dedicated myself to the clear, applicational exposition of Scripture from the pulpit in my present ministry and I have seen God bless that effort as the people have grown and have become more mature and better equipped to minister to each other and also to effectively share their faith with the lost.

Now let me balance this a bit. All criticism should be taken in context and measured carefully. If only a few people are gripping about the pastor’s preaching, he should probably not worry too much about it. But if SEVERAL people (or “hundreds") begin to complain to him that they do not feel fed by his messages, then that warrants some close examination on his part, especially if several of those expressing dissatisfaction are some of the more mature believers in the church!

Dr. Steven Lawson has written a very good little book on this issue entitled FAMINE IN THE LAND which I believe every pastor who loves the Word of God should read. It addresses the lack of sound exposition in the modern church and the devastating effects this will have on the future health of the church.