Pastor Centered or Christ Centered????

TUESDAY I went on a Twitter rant about how I felt like I was not being fed spiritually at my church.

Let me preface the story by making a few quick statements. 1....I LOVE my church and my pastor. 2...I have been feeling this way for a few weeks and did not know what to do and how to handle it so I took to Twitter.

Back to the story....After taking to Twitter, I decided to do some real thinking about the issue and asking myself some questions. Like: What does it mean that I am not being spiritually fed? What is the acceptable amount of feeding for my soul? What do I do if I feel like I am not being fed? Whose responsibility is that? Is that an appropriate conversation to have with my pastor?

The good thing about this conversation is that I am keeping my spirit man in check, realizing and recognizing that I need to continually grow and not to settle or remain stagnant. The other good thing is that it helped me to realize that other people were feeling this way but for one reason or another were unwilling to speak up and have an honest conversation about the issue. Yea, yea, that's great but where is the practical application for these cheery feelings???

Here are my conclusions:

1. While it is important for you to be fed at your church, your pastor is simply a means to an end. If you are solely relying on him or her to help you grow spiritually then you are doing yourself a great disservice. What happens if you can not go to church one day, or the pastor is sick or some other hiccup in your Sunday routine? Your times at church should be supplementing what you do in your personal relationship with Christ. If the only time you get 'fed' is when you are at church, then you are putting WAAAY too much stock in your pastor. The reality of the matter is your spiritual walk may be more pastor centered than it should be.

2. Do not be selfish. Just because a 'word' was not specifically applicable to your life does not mean you were not supposed to hear it. Your mentality every time you go to church can not be I need to hear a 'word'. If it is, you are CLEARLY not spending enough time in your 'word' on your own. Sometimes you hear a sermon at church to minister to someone else. You never know how God wants to use you for someone. It's our job to go out and be disciples not to take it for ourselves with no concern for the person next to us.

Now it is time for me to take heed to my own advice and make sure that I am seeking God for myself.

~ACJ