In late April or early May Diane went back to visit Mason, WV. Every year when she goes back in the Spring, our friends at Bob’s Market and Greenhouse always hook her up with the most beautiful flowers we’ve ever seen. She also picked up some of the plant food they carry. For the last two months the plant food has sat in the garage. Diane is always reminding me the plants need fed. Today I finally took the time to feed the plants outside our home.
It made me think of all the nourishment we have available to us as Christians that goes unused. Looking at our church in Short Gap, every Sunday our church gathers (52 per year). Every Wednesday we have a diner and devotion (50 per year, we cancel a couple dinners a year.). We go to the Union Rescue Mission twice a month (24 per year). We typically offer 4 mission trips per year (20 days). Everything I listed is a way to receive Spiritual nourishment, even though it is not an all inclusive list of what the church offers. If the average person from Wesley Chapel attends half the Sunday mornings, none of the Wednesdays (we primarily have the same regulars on Wednesdays), and none of the URM trips or mission trips, they have received 26 days of Spiritual feeding offered through the church, and they have bypassed 120 days of Spiritual nourishment offered through our church. (And one of the most common reasons people give for leaving a church is that they are not being fed.)
Is is not staggering to look at it that way? It is no wonder the church looks so much like the world. I understand personal Bible reading and prayer time at home. I would guess that the people who hit 75% of the opportunities at the church are doing the most Bible reading and prayer time at home. It does not add up that the people who are attending 18% of the opportunities through the church are faithfully reading their Bibles and spending a significant amount of time in prayer at home.
I am not condemning or judging anyone. I am simply stating facts. If anyone wonders why their walk with Christ is not producing spiritual fruit, it is likely that they are not adding the food that is readily available.
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Scott Knowlton's Blog 