You Feed Them!

This morning during my devotional time I was reading in Luke and noticed something I hadn’t gotten before.  I was specifically reading the story about Jesus feeding the 5000, found in Luke 9:10-17.  As I read I came to verse 12 which says,

Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

Then I read Jesus’ response in verse 13.  It smacked me right in the face.  Verse 13 reads: But Jesus said, “You feed them.” 

Most of us know the rest of the story involves the disciples collecting a few fish and loaves of bread, in which Christ blesses them and everyone was able to eat their fill, with a lot left over.  That part is amazing and I’ll address that in a minute, but today (for me) the main point of the story was not (as it has been in the past) that Jesus can do a lot with a little.  Or that even a little faith can be multiplied, or that Christ can do the miraculous.  All those are true and I assume others have learned so many other things from that story, but today the message in this story lies in three words found in verse 13 – YOU FEED THEM.

After reading those words I thought back to all the times that I (or someone I’ve seen or known) have come across or had a need brought to me and my first instinct was to send them away to somewhere or someone that could help them.  I so easily identify with the 12 that said “send the crowds away.”  Unfortunately, I think this is the church's response more often than not and that's not ok.

I’m not saying that it is the churches responsibility to actually feed EVERYONE who is hungry (although we should be trying to make a substantial dent in the number of people that are), but I am saying that it is our responsibility to “feed” those that are hungry for Christ (regardless of whether they know they are or not).  What God spoke into my heart today is that those 5000 were out in a "remote place" because they knew that Jesus was there.  They may not have understood why at the time (some may have), but they knew that they needed to be in His presence no matter what, even if it meant not having any food with them.

Instead of sending them away, we should be ushering them to His feet.  When we do that Christ will not leave it to us to figure out how to feed them.  He will provide the sustenance they need, just as He did with His disciples on that day.  It is our job to know and understand where the provision comes from, then to lead people to Him, not send them from Him.  We have to KNOW that Christ is our provider and through our seeking Him out, He will ensure we are fully equipped to handle feeding our 5000.  We also need to understand that He doesn't simply provide "just enough".  He overflows our baskets and expects us to serve beyond the 5000 in front of us.

I'll Feed Them,

Bruce

Measuring Success

There are actually quite a few things that have come together to build this post. Back in May, I attended theLEAD Network (a college leadership ministry of theMILL at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO) and listened to Aaron Stern, New Life Church's college and 20-somethings Pastor, deliver the first sermon in a series titled "Success". During that sermon, Aaron talked about what we consider successful in today's culture and what success looks like before God. He used the prophet Jeremiah to illustrate this. At the time it really didn't strike any specific cord with me. Months went by and really I hadn't thought about it. Then a few weeks ago I got to the book of Jeremiah in my daily readings. Still really didn't think nothing of it, beyond the fact that Jeremiah had a horrible job and life must of sucked.

A short time later God really started prompting me to consider what it means to have a servants heart. It was about that time that I started my Contemporary Evangelism class and Pastor Jeff, Element Church Lead Pastor, started a new series called "Be". The new series is centered on realizing the potential of the local church to meet the needs of their community and BE Christ's love to them. With all that, God helped me to see the book of Jeremiah in a very different way.

Undoubtedly, the task that God gave Jeremiah was a difficult one. Basically God commissioned Jeremiah to be the prophet that told the people of Israel that they were going to be destroyed. He was to warn them that Jerusalem would fall and they would either die from famine and disease or by the sword. And those that did not die, would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians and die in a foreign land. Not the guy you want to be in Jerusalem at that point. Needless to say he was not often received well and often time was rejected and threatened to be killed. Yet through him sharing all God's warnings and pleading for the people to repent, they did not. Ultimately, Jerusalem was destroyed and the Israelites were lead in to captivity in Babylon. By all accounts and outward appearances, Jeremiah was not successful. He never got the Israelites to repent.

But, in God's view he was successful. God didn't tell him to rescue the Israelites, but to simply deliver His word to them. God told him to "Go and shout this message to the people of Jerusalem" and he did. The fact is that God did not judge Jeremiah's success in the number of people that listened to his message, but by His obedience to take the message to them, regardless of his feelings.

Here's the twist, God has given us the same command. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He said we will be His witnesses to all and just tell them about Him. He never said you have to convince anyone to repent. It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict people and have them wrestle with God and His word.

In going through my evangelism class and the current "Be" series, it becomes inarguable that our actions must match the words we speak. Jesus did not just talk about being a servant, He lived it. If we simply talk the talk without walking the walk, there is zero credibility in what we say. A pastor friend of mine, Charles Robertson, asked a few weeks ago, "Do people believe that you believe what you say you believe?" The only way to convince people that you believe what you say you do is to live it. Then it becomes real.

The way we live and what we say, must be connected to each other and one must validate the other. In an article titled Incarnational Apologetics, by Dr. David Wheeler, he said, “Think about it, 'informational' apologetics without 'incarnational' validation will often lead to hypocrisy. On the other hand, 'incarnational' apologetics without an 'informational' foundation of biblical truth will often lead to heresy.”

The bottom line is, we do need to tell people about Christ and His love, but without showing them, our words are useless. The best way to prove Jesus is to love people and we do that by meeting their needs. But, we have to go to them to meet their needs. We can't expect them to come to us, that isn't what Jesus commanded.

So, how do we measure success before Christ? Do we measure it by the number of people outside the church that we bring inside? Or do we measure it by the the number of people inside the church that are obedient to God's call and go to those outside the church?

Going for Christ,
Bruce