Full Churches, Starving Souls

Full Churches, Starving Souls

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." -  Romans 8:6 (ESV)

There are nights when I struggle to find peace. Nights when the things I have seen, the conversations I have had, and the burdens I carry seem to follow me long after everyone else has gone to bed.

Last night was one of those nights.

I found myself thinking about the condition of the Church, the money spent in the name of ministry, and the growing distance between religious activity and the simple calling Jesus gave us.

We build bigger buildings, improve our facilities, expand our programs, and spend considerable resources making church more comfortable and attractive.

We have fellowship halls, coffee bars, entertainment, activities, and programs designed to meet nearly every interest imaginable.

Meanwhile, outside our doors are people who are hungry, homeless, hurting, and desperately in need of someone who cares.

And inside those same doors, we have another kind of hunger that too often goes unrecognized.

Our churches may be full, but our people are starving, because too many are no longer being fed the living Word of God.

I had a thought that I couldn't shake:

If God's Word had calories, I wonder how many of our churches would be starving to death.

Think about that for a moment.

We have become very good at filling buildings, filling calendars, and filling offering plates. But how good are we at feeding the sheep?

We can entertain a congregation, encourage them with motivational messages, surround them with activities, and send them home feeling good about themselves.

But have we fed them the Word of God?

Have we taught them who Jesus is, what He commanded, and what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him?

Have we prepared them to stand firm in their faith when the trials of life come?

Or have we become so concerned with giving people what they want that we have neglected to give them what they desperately need?

Jesus said in John 6:35:

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

Jesus is the Bread of Life.

Not our buildings. Not our programs. Not our personalities. Not our religious activities.

Jesus Christ.

And if we are not faithfully teaching the Scriptures that reveal Him, we are failing the very people God has entrusted to our care.

Remember what Jesus told Peter in John 21:17:

"Feed my sheep."

He didn't tell Peter to entertain them, impress them, or build something that would make the world admire him.

He told Peter to feed His sheep.

There is nothing wrong with having a beautiful church building, enjoying a cup of coffee with fellow believers, or gathering for fellowship. Those things have their place.

But when we become more concerned with the comfort of the congregation than the spiritual condition of the people, something has gone terribly wrong.

And when we can spend enormous amounts of money maintaining religious institutions while overlooking the hungry, the homeless, the sick, and the brokenhearted, we need to stop and examine our priorities.

Jesus did not call us to build monuments to ourselves.

He called us to follow Him.

James 2:15–17 reminds us that when a brother or sister lacks clothing or daily food, offering kind words without providing for their physical needs accomplishes nothing. Faith without works is dead.

We cannot preach the love of Christ while remaining indifferent to the suffering of those around us.

And we cannot substitute social programs for the Gospel, any more than we can substitute religious entertainment for the teaching of God's Word.

The hungry need to be fed. The hurting need to be loved. And the spiritually starving need the Bread of Life.

All three matter.

But here is where the Lord has been dealing with me personally.

When Concern Becomes a Burden
I can become so frustrated with what I see happening in the Church that I allow those concerns to consume my thoughts and disturb my peace.

I find myself thinking about the resources that could have been used differently, the people who could have been helped, and the opportunities we have missed to demonstrate the love of Christ.

And sometimes, before I realize it, those thoughts have occupied far more of my mind than they should.

That brings me right back to Romans 8:6:

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

Paul was describing the difference between a life governed by our fallen nature and one governed by the Holy Spirit.

And that difference matters, especially when we are troubled by things that genuinely need to change.

There is nothing wrong with being concerned about the condition of the Church. There is nothing wrong with recognizing misplaced priorities or speaking the truth about what we see.

But even legitimate concerns can become consuming thoughts.

We can become so occupied with what others are doing wrong that we neglect what God is calling us to do right.

We can spend our nights wrestling with things we cannot change while losing the rest and strength we need to accomplish the work God has placed before us.

We cannot allow our concern for the condition of the Church to rob us of our own communion with Christ.

I need to remember that as much as anyone.

Isaiah 26:3 says:

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

Notice where that peace comes from.

It does not come from finally getting everyone to agree with us. It does not come from correcting every problem in the Church. And it certainly does not come from carrying burdens God never intended us to carry alone.

It comes from keeping our minds stayed on Him.

There is a difference between being burdened by what we see and being consumed by it.

One can lead us to prayer, compassion, and obedience. The other can lead us into bitterness, anger, and exhaustion.

And I have to guard my own heart against that.

Remember Who the Church Belongs To
The Church belongs to Jesus Christ.

He is its Head. He is the One who gave Himself for it. And He is the One to whom every one of us will ultimately answer for our stewardship.

My calling is not to carry the weight of the entire Church on my shoulders.

My calling is to remain faithful to the One who called me.

To preach His Word.

To care for His sheep.

To feed the hungry when I can.

To visit the sick and comfort the brokenhearted.

To speak the truth in love.

And to trust Him with the things that are beyond my reach.

That doesn't mean we stop speaking about what is wrong. It means we speak with a heart governed by the Holy Spirit rather than one consumed by frustration.

Because we can be absolutely right about what is wrong and still be wrong in how we respond to it.

Perhaps that is the lesson I needed most this morning.

I cannot change every church budget, every misplaced priority, or every decision made in the name of religion.

But I can examine my own heart. I can be faithful with what God has entrusted to me. And I can make myself available for Him to work through me.

We don't do things for God. We make ourselves available for God to do things through us.

And when the burdens become heavy, I can return to what I have learned through the years:

Pray. Believe. Release.

Pray about what burdens your heart. Believe that God is still at work. And release into His hands what you cannot carry.

The Lord never asked us to surrender our convictions to find peace.

He asks us to surrender our burdens to Him.