Why is the worship of our churches so one-sided? Why do we come to spectate rather than participate? And why do we judge the quality of services primarily by what our worship leaders and pastors do? The Apostle Paul explained that we all have important work to do: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” Paul assumed that people would come to worship focused more on giving than receiving.
As a young seminarian Mark Buchanan’s favorite professor read a letter in class from a former student. In that letter the student thanked this professor for his daily class devotionals. The student claimed that while other studies depleted him, those devotionals saved his faith. Though many professors would have been flattered by such praise, this one certainly was not: “Why did he depend on my devotionals to feed him, and not his own? Why did he need to eat from my hand? Why didn’t he gather food with his own hands?”
Good questions. And is this what is at the heart of our problems in our churches? Before we can bring extra food for our brothers we first must learn how to prepare food for ourselves. We would be ready to share a hymn or a word of encouragement or an answer to prayer if we were regularly feeding at God’s banquet.
There is such an incredible bounty available for our hungry souls. If you don’t know how to feed yourself, find someone to teach you. But don’t spend the rest of your life depending on your Mommy to feed you your bottle.
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