What is Spiritual Obesity?
I am turning 51 on March 9th. I am a product of the evangelical Fundamental
movement that was responsible for thousands upon thousands of people making
decisions for Christ in the 70’s through the 90’s. I grew up in the throes of that movement,
going to their Christian Schools, leading churches, and Bible colleges. I know first hand and in an intimate way how
the fundamental evangelical movement went about “equipping” their people for “full-time”
Christian ministry. The history I just
shared with you is why I am so passionate about what it means to be spiritually
obese, and why we are producing, in large part, unhealthy believers … if
believers at all.
As I watch the local and national news each night I
can’t help but think how and why our culture has become so Godless so quickly. If we, evangelical believers, were doing such
a fine and dandy job, how is it that a Muslim who doesn’t even love our country
became president when there are 75,000,000 professing believers in
America.
Source: Christianity
is the most popular religion in the United States, with
around 73% of polled Americans identifying themselves as Christian in 2012.[1]
This is down from 86% in 1990, and slightly lower than 78.6% in 2001.[2]
About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.[3]
The United States has the largest Christian population in the world,
with nearly 247 million Christians, although other countries have higher
percentages of Christians among their populations.
All Protestant denominations accounted for 51.3%, while Roman Catholicism by itself, at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination. A Pew study categorizes white evangelicals, 26.3% of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort;[4] another study estimates evangelicals of all races at 30–35%.[5] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the fourth largest church in the United States, and the largest church originating in the U.S.[6][7]
It is very clear that something has gone wrong with
our “equipping” of the believer for the work of the ministry once a person has
made a “decision for Christ.”
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive;
In short, and I could expound for awhile on this
subject, I believe it is because we TAKE IN MORE “SPIRITUAL NUTRIENTS” THAN WE
EXPEND. Why and how do I say this? Listen to the heeding of the following passage:
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.
1Co 9:26 I
therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth
the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway.
In verse 24 it says that “one,” which is those of the
many, will receive the prize (which means many of the many will not receive a
prize … the approval of our savior as to a life lived faithfully according to
His purposes). What is the prize? It is being able to stand at the Judgment
Seat of Christ ready and able to present Jesus with the proper “elements” of success
… gold, silver, and precious stones.
Verse 25 implores us to be “temperate” (which mean
disciplined) in ALL THINGS. This is important because the context is
about RUNNING A RACE. The “race” we are
running is life … and it is compared, by God, to running a physical race. This is important to understand if we are to
get a handle of what has caused spiritual obesity to become epidemic in our
churches.
Verse 26 says to run the race of life as a successful athlete
runs a race … with purpose. Not as one that
beateth the air (swings wildly while hitting nothing).
Verse 27 tells us the necessity of “bringing our body
into subjection” (to make our bodies become efficient and productive for the
cause of Christ while on this earth in our physical forms). In fact, it says “I keep under my body” …
which means that we get under it and make it disciplined in EVERY WAY. If we don’t discipline our bodies we are
castaways … meaning … well … I’ll let the Greek explain it to you:
Castaway:
ἀδόκιμος
adokimos
ad-ok'-ee-mos
(as a negative particle) and G1384; unapproved,
that is, rejected; by implication worthless (literally or
morally): - castaway, rejected, reprobate.
While believing we are doing well for the cause
of Christ, if we don’t bring our bodies into subjection, we become unapproved,
rejected and worthless. I don’t know
about you, but I don’t want people to look at me and not listen or take heed to
what I say because I can’t control my appetite.
That, of course, is one type of obesity …. Physical
obesity … and it is important to our discussion. But I’d like to close with the aspect of the
problem of spiritual obesity. Spiritual
obesity happens the same way as physical obesity happens. It happens by taking in more “spiritual
nutrients” than one give out in actual ministry.
It is important to understand that one can serve
without ministering, but one can’t minister without serving. Our goal is to take what is a service (what
we do without impacting people with the Word of God) and make it a ministry
(what we do with the Word of God).
So … If you were to look in a mirror and see a spiritual
reflection of yourself, what would you look like? Here is a guide to help you deal with that
question honestly:
Question 1:
How many times do you intake spiritual nutrients weekly as it pertains to
hearing the Word of God preached? This
includes Sunday School, Sunday AM worship, Sunday PM Worship, Wednesday PM
Meeting, messages listened to on TV, Radio, Internet, Daily Devotions,
etc.
When you stop and think about it that is a lot of
nutritional intake spiritually. That is
quite a bit of spiritual food to assimilate properly and efficiently. That brings us to the 2nd question
… how are we assimilating all of that spiritual nutrition in actual ministry
(sharing the Word and impacting lives weekly)?
Question 2:
In what ways are you purposefully sharing the Word with others on a
weekly basis?
Hits to the core … does it not?
That is what I mean by spiritual obesity. I believe we are TAKING IN far more than is necessary
to maintain a healthy spiritual balance.
Most of us, if honest, when looking into a spiritual mirror, would see a
very obese person looking back at them.
To be healthy we must have a balance when running the race of life efficiently!
I believe we are losing our culture because we
are an OBESE CHURCH. We take in and take
in and take in while giving out very little in purposeful ministry where we
live, work, and play. It behooves the
church to realize this and begin purposefully equipping people to impact people
with the Word of God where they live, work, and play.
Marks of Spiritual obesity:
1.
Withholding your giving and attendance to get rid of a pastor.
2. Arguing
about physical things pertaining to the facilities.
3. Arguing
about whether to have a choir or ensemble to lead worship.
4.
Complaining about how long or short the pastor speaks/preaches, teaches.
5. Every
Sunday’s dinner is Roast Preacher.
6.
Complaining about the style of music in the church.
I think you get my drift. Those who are not spiritually obese focus on
what is necessary and essential to doing the work of the ministry as efficiently
and purposefully as possible, giving little attention to “side items” (those
should be left to the church leadership to take care of as God leads them. That’s what you voted them in to do anyway,
did you not).
Let’s make the decision today to Get FIT with a
Faith the Influences Today where you live, work, and play.
Live OUT LOUD!
Mark Harrell – Habakkuk 2:2
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