Learn to feed yourself

When some people leave a church they sometimes claim they are doing so because they "are not being fed." One of the duties of a pastor is to feed the congregation biblical truth so those attending can grow in their faith. Not every pastor does this well, and some do not even make the effort. Rather than preach sound biblical messages some pastors want to present a watered-down version of the Gospel to avoid offending anyone. Some pastors cannot teach the Scriptures to their people because they do not have a firm understanding of biblical truth themselves. A seminary student once admitted to me that he did not know that much about the Bible!

I am thankful for those pastors who do take seriously their responsibility to teach biblical truth each week to their congregations. These men and women spend hours each week preparing messages that will be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Such pastors help their listeners grow deeper in their faith and service to God.

However, it is not just the pastor's job to feed us biblical truth. Each person is called to be students of the Scriptures for themselves. We are to personally feed on the Word of God in order to grow in our faith. None of us attempts to eat one meal a week and think that will be sufficient to maintain good physical health, so why should we think that one sermon a week is enough for good spiritual health.

One of our Baptist beliefs is the priesthood of the believer. This includes many aspects of our spiritual lives, but one aspect is that we believe that we are able as individuals to study the Scriptures for ourselves, and that we have a duty to do so. No one can make the claim that they are "just a layperson" and dependent upon others to teach us all we need to know about God and our faith.

Yet, I know people who have been Christians for many years and claim to know very little about the Bible. One person who has attended the same church for decades recently admitted to me that he did not know that much about the Bible. Knowing the pastors this person has sat under I was stunned by this admission. Evidently, he has not paid much attention each week and has done virtually no personal study of the Scriptures.

Sometimes when I hear people say they left a church because they were not being fed I think of the image of a nest full of baby birds with their heads straight up in the air and their mouths open waiting for Momma bird to drop in a piece of worm. That's understandable when they are first born, but it won't be long before they will need to leave the nest and feed themselves or they will starve. As Christians we need to be feeding ourselves a solid diet of sound biblical theology, and we need to do this throughout our lives if we want to remain spiritually healthy. Challenge your pastor if he or she isn't teaching sound theology, but don't depend on others to feed you. Learn to feed yourself.