What happens when our church is no longer meeting our needs? What if we feel like we are not getting fed? Should we stop going to that church? Should we find a place where mature believers are better fed? Or, should we redefine how we think about church?
Here are four suggestions that I would give to a mature believer who feels this way.
1) Redefine “hunger”
Throughout the years, I have heard many people say that their church is not feeding them, that the Word of God is getting watered down, and that they feel like as if they are starving. While it is true that the sermon provides a kind of spiritual food for men and women to chew on, the sermon is not the only place where believers can go to eat.
For instance, if I ate only one large meal a week I would be starving! It would not matter how incredible or how large that meal was, by Monday I would be longing for something more. In the same way, I do not believe God wants us feasting on Sunday in order to last another week without Him. If we do that we will be hungry.
We need to redefine what hunger is. Hunger is not a one-time condition that can be fully satisfied on Sundays. Hunger is an ongoing condition that must be met on Mondays and on Tuesdays and on every other day of the week. We don’t need to show up hungry on Sunday. If we do that, the sermon will always let us down. We need to simply admit that we are always hungry for God and always needing to be filled. This takes the pressure off Sunday and motivates us to get filled up throughout the week as well.
2) Redefine “new”
If we are mature Christians, then the question is not “What new information can I be learning?”. The question instead is “What new ways can I be applying what I already know?”. For me, I am not a master of anything! I still struggle with the most basic obedience to Scripture. And if that is the case, what I need more than new information is transformation! I don’t need more facts, I have enough of those. What I need is a renewed mind, heart, will, emotions, and character that will allow me to obey the things I already know. (i.e. Matthew 22:37-40).
I need to redefine what I think new really is.
3) Redefine “mature”
It may seem odd, but there really is no such thing as a mature community.
If a community were filled entirely with mature believers, very soon all of them would be bringing new people in. Because they are mature, they are bringing in and caring for people who are not so far along in their faith, which makes the entire community look much different. You see, a mature community is not a place where immaturity is absent. A mature community is one where new people are born, fed, trained, and equipped for life in Christ.
And isn’t that the way all families work? For some men and women, as they mature they begin having children, which totally changes the dynamic within the home. Things sometimes get frustrating as these new little people are learning how to live life imperfectly in their new community. But, parents stick with it. They do not abandon their kids to fend for themselves while they go enjoy time with more enlightened folks.
In the same way, we who are mature get to train up the next generation of Christians. It might not always be easy, but we get to see them growing as followers of Christ. And, we get to feed them on a level that they can apprehend. We all know that you wouldn’t feed a steak to a newborn. But, as mature people, sometimes we need to put down the fork in order to feed our kids. In the same way, it may be that we can sacrifice our desires for greater depth so that others can experience greater growth. That is what it means to be mature.
4) Redefine “Church”
We also need to redefine what we believe about church. Because, at the core of it, church is not about us. Church is about Jesus. So, we do not need to place an expectation on the pastor or the worship leader or anyone else to bless us. We get the awesome opportunity of joining together with the saints to celebrate the mighty works of God!
This means that the sermon, the songs, the service, and everything we do is a declaration of worship and adoration back to the God who has done it all for us! We are not an audience listening to message or attending a concert. We are participators worshipping God. We get to join with the heavenly hosts who sing continual songs of praise back to our mighty King, Jesus. Church is not about us. It is ALL about Him!
So, if we are running on empty, maybe we need to get with God and get fed. Maybe we need to be made new instead of looking for new information. Maybe we need to step into our role as mature Christians and help others walk with God. Maybe we simply need to redefine what we think church is.
Because when we see church as all about us, we will always be dissatisfied. But when we see that it is ALL about Him, we will always be filled!
