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Chapter 1 - Page 2 -
Why Is The Church on Life Support ?
By Adam Bartlett
When you fill up on junk food you get a sugar high and feel good for a while but it wears off as the sugar is absorbed and then you come down fast. That is the same thing Christians are doing in their spiritual lives. They snack a little here and a little there but never get the vitamins, minerals, and vital nutrients that their bodies need. Why do we eat junk food? Because it tastes better than most foods that are good for us. In the spiritual arena it is more comfortable to not be challenged. It is more convenient to stay in the pews and let someone else do the work for us. Exercise is necessary to remain healthy, yet we are content being "pew potatoes." We have snack time prayers instead of spending time in the crockpot simmering for hours. Our churches are not your nice sit down restaurants where the menu is vast and the food is nutritious and delicious, rather they are fast food chains that major in "fat grams."
We have churches that are full of people that think they are filled but find that a short time later they are in need of more. They are filled momentarily but the substance is superficial and there is a constant need to go back for more. That is why you see the great throng of Christians running "to and fro" seeking the next spiritual high. There is a saying that "you get what you pay for," and it goes along with the scripture that says "your reap what you sow." We have churches that are full of people that have no idea how to prepare a four course meal but are masters of going to restaurants and letting someone else do the preparing for them. Leaders are not training and teaching people to hunger after God but rather trying to persuade them that God is some magic chef to meet their every desire. We do not want to wait for the menu and wait on the food even though it may be the finest cuisine in town. We are programmed to get it quickly and eat it fast.
It is interesting that those that live on junk food cause major damage to their bodies and will die from a disease they have created by their diet. The biggest of those is "heart failure," and we see that today when trials hit Christians and they crumble under the pressure. They cannot handle the pressure because they have created a weak spiritual body that will not sustain the stress.
Today there is a fear that if pastors train their people to feed themselves spiritually that the dependency on them will cease. So instead of teaching them to cook for themselves leaders make sure that the drive through is always open.
Chapter 2 - Why Do We Meet Together?
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