Sunday, May 29, 2005

Are You Being Fed?

Many Church planters and churches that are striving to reach their community get asked the question about whether their sermons are "deep" enough, or they hear someone with a lot of history in church mention something about their need of being "fed" spiritually.

About their participation in a church plant, one friend had someone say to them something like, "I just want to make sure you're being fed."

Feel free to use my answer to that:
"I just want to make sure you're eating the right kind of food and getting enough exercise...Oh, and by the way, how's your digestion? And are you burning enough fat???"
Ok, so maybe you don't want to be that sarcastic, but I hope you get the point. Sometimes to get healthy, you need to eat less and do more...

4 comments:

Kim Wells said...

I love your response. I think there is a huge misconception about what it is to plant a church. As a member of a church planting team, I have sought harder, grown deeper, and drawn closer to the heart of God than in all of my years of "being fed" while sitting in my comfortable seat on the 3rd row. I think the "exercise" comment is key. How many doctors tell you that without sufficient exercise you cannot reach your health goals? Then again, how healthy will I be if I exercise regularly but don't eat any veggies or meat - or only drink milk? Thanks for the ideas. Now I have a response for the next time the "Are you being fed" question comes up.

Johnny Leckie said...

Thanks, Kim!

I often think that there are some people who are truly spiritual "couch potatoes." :)

Anonymous said...

May I point out that both extremes are bad. To eat without exercise only makes you fat, less mobile and weak. To exercise constantly without eating properly makes you skinny, less mobile and weak. When you burn more calories than you consume you will burn fat and if you continue at that pace you begin to burn the muscle you need to exercise, ie the Survivor contestants. You might be suprised what a well conditioned athlete eats calorie wish in order to maintain muscular tone based on there work outs. Take it from one who voted himself off the island for being skinny and weak.

Johnny Leckie said...

Thanks for the comment, Chris.

Extremes are certainly bad. The "Are you being fed?" post is my response to the imbalance that many Christians emphasize. They are more concerned with "being fed" than applying what they are "eating." It's the example of the Pharisee. Lot of knowledge; No genuine application.

The main idea is this:

If you are genuinely "exercising" in the healthy way, you will have a natural and deeper "hunger" for food. And if you're a true athlete, you'll actively strive to consume the good stuff. A healthy athlete feeds with intentionality, and he knows that without the right fuel, he gets weak.

Your point is right on: "a well conditioned athlete eats calories in order to maintain muscular tone based on there work outs."

Without the work out, they would just get fat. Believe me, there are far more people NOT excercising than there are those NOT getting enough to eat...