“I’m not being fed.” If you have been in church leadership any length of time you have heard this phrase. The following are just some of the things “I’m not being fed” really means:
- “I don’t like the preaching.”
- “I don’t resonate with the pastor’s content.”
- “I don’t enjoy the pastor’s delivery and/or style.”
- “I’m bored.”
- “I don’t like the pastor personally.”
- “I liked my old (or the other) pastor better.”
- “I have unrepentant sin in my life but it’s easier for me to blame the pastor.”
- “I’m mad at somebody in the church and rather than reconcile, it’s easier to blame the pastor.”
- “My wife doesn’t respect me. I’m not appreciated at work. My kids don’t listen to a word I say. I’ve got to blame somebody. So the pastor is not feeding me.”
- Etc, etc, etc….
Over the past couple of weeks a bird has been building a nest on my front porch. Normally, I would simply relocate the nest to a tree in my yard. But for some reason I really enjoyed watching the daily construction of the nest and the subsequent hatching of the eggs. I literally had an ecosystem on my front porch.
Today, I saw the bird with a worm hanging from its mouth with a couple of beaks rising above the nest’s edge. Mama was feeding her babies. To memorialize the moment, I stepped on a chair, pointed my camera phone down into the nest and captured the following image:
As I looked at the three birds with their open mouth’s chirping, “Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!”, I immediately thought about how many Christians chirp on a weekly basis the exact same thing about their pastor’s preaching. I was then struck with the realization that many pastors look out at the congregations each week and unfortunately see this:
So if you are someone who is currently saying, “I’m not being fed”, you should do the following:
- Repent – Quit being a chirping bird in the nest with your mouth open. If you have been around long enough to know phrase, “I’m not being fed”, you have been around long enough to know how to feed yourself. Most of us have a level of intellectual knowledge which far outpaces our obedience to that knowledge.
- Feed Yourself – My favorite Bible study for those who want to learn how to study the Bible for themselves is anything from Kay Arthur and Precept Ministries. Do not rely on commentaries. Kay will teach you howe to study the Bible for yourself.
- Begin Serving Others – The best way to combat selfishness and an inward focus is to serve the poor and under-resourced.
- Self-Evaluate – People who say, “I’m not being fed” often have an elevated level of spiritual arrogance. None of us are that smart or insightful.
- Be Grateful – Your pastor spends all week studying the Word of God, grinding, combating hell itself and praying fervently for you and the congregation. Pastors faithfully feed us God’s Word on a weekly basis. Rather than saying, “I’m not being fed”, say “THANK YOU!” For a number of things you can thank your pastor for click An Open Letter To All Pastors And Church Staff.
In conclusion, do not be a congregation where the pastor looks out and sees a bunch of open-mouth birds chirping, “Feed me, feed me, feed me.” Be a congregation where the pastor looks out and sees an army of encouraging, passionate, humble, grateful and devoted disciples who want to change their communities and the world for the glory of God.
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