I'm hungry.
How do I know that I'm hungry? A few things will tell me this.
1- I haven't eaten a proper meal today. I had some coffee from Tim's and a bagel
2- My head hurts, I feel dizzy
3- I don't have any energy
4- my stomach is going crazy!
Now really, the only thing I can do to curb this hunger is to eat. I can drink coffee and have the caffeine and subside it for a while, but I'm only going to be able to ride that for a while.
I can do something to distract myself until lunchtime, and cover up the blatantly loud noises my stomach is making, but I am still going to have a headache and feel dizzy.
Let's face it. The world has made a big deal about food.
From birth our life schedule revolves around food:
We have a right to food. We have a right to eat good food. We have a right to have food RIGHT NOW!
We are taught to recognize our hunger and to fulfill it immediately.
From childhood, we are driven by the necessity to eat food, and our desire to eat it. We know when we're hungry. We're taught how to recognize when we are hungry- we feel the effects of hunger. We're taught how to remedy that hunger by eating. We are equipped to quench that hunger by going through the McDonald's drive-thru.
We know exactly how to pinpoint, recognize and cure our hunger precisely and accurately. There's a science to it.
So the science of hunger tells us to 'fill'er up' when we feel these warning signs.
But how do we know when our souls are running on empty? What are the hunger pangs that our Spirit makes when it's hungry? What are the 'warning signs' that tell us to go and 'eat'?
I think the church has failed in teaching us to recognize this hunger. In the book of Matthew when Jesus was fasting in the desert, (you know... fasting... going without food for a very long and excruciatingly hungry time) and was approached by the devil, who basically said “cmon, Jesus! You're the son of God! You can turn rocks into bread! Just go ahead and do it!”
But Jesus understood something more important.
He responded with the pithy, but punchy quote from Deuteronomy: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Jesus understood that there was a hunger that existed in him which was larger than his hunger for food.
We have that same hunger embedded in us- we are experiencing the pangs in our spirit! We cannot live on food alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God!
But we are feeding ourselves with garbage. We only recognize that we have unquenchable zest for life. We can never get enough. We can't find that God-shaped peg for the God-shaped hole, so we make quick fixes.
We patch up our hunger, distract ourselves from the noises in our spirit- oh what's some more tv, video games, time with our friends. Anything to fill up that time.
We deny the fact that we are weak and dizzy- we have no spiritual energy and find everything exhausting in life. Don't be mistaken, God set it up like this for a reason! We aren't meant to run entirely on our own steam!
We deny that our empty spirit is going crazy! We, in a North American culture are so unsatisfied with everything. We can't get enough of money, possessions, sex, drugs, rock'n'roll (pick your poison)... all because our spirits are flipping out because they're starved virtually to death!
Do you know what this really is?
It's Spiritual Anorexia. We are refusing to eat of what God has to offer to us!
But I want to say this to you right now.....
PERSON, FEED THYSELF!
Do you know how I can tell that I'm getting a little hungry in my soul?
I get depressed. I can't think of one time in my life where I was depressed and feeding my soul at the same time.
I get judgmental. I focus on what everyone around me is doing wrong. Suddenly I'm holier than everyone.
I get defensive. No one dares question me!!!!
I get unaware of my sin. In the bad way. I think there's nothing wrong with doing things in my own strength. I think there's nothing wrong with what I do that isn't helping God out. I make compromises in my character because I think I have better judgment than God does. I am no longer in need of his grace...
BUT.....
Once I have filled up on my word daily, prayed, worshiped God, been encouraged by my surrounding Christian community, I can make it through the day. I have fed myself. I no longer am depressed, judgmental, defensive, and unaware of how impossibly hopeless I am without my God! I am quenched. I am full. Belt undone, thanksgiving dinner “FULL”.
So eat up, kids!
Here's my proposal to you!
I would like to start a campaign against Spiritual Anorexia.
A campaign where we say no to feeding our souls with garbage!
A campaign where we say yes to the word of God, to worship, serving and giving!
A campaign where we encourage one another!
Will you join the fight?
Will you feed that hunger?
What will you look like if you do it?
