Who's Cookin Breakfast...

I noticed my son, Cole, preparing his own breakfast this morning. He was reading a cookbook and preparing some yogurt thingy. (His mom is a health food nut). He had all the tools out in the kitchen and he was personally preparing something to nurture his own body.

I think the local church should look like this...
When Cole was young, we prepared his food for him. As he grew older, he would help us with the preparation of his meal. Now he is doing it himself.
This is exactly what Jesus wants us to do with "The Bread of Life" - Feed others, teach them to feed themselves, let them feed their own self, and invite them to prepare food for others.

So many stay in the infant stage and never nurture their own self. This could be due to a few reasons.

1) They are flat out lazy. Many people want to be spoon fed because they don't want to prepare the meal. We have to be disciplined in our spiritual nourishment. Prayer - reading our Bibles - seeking God through service - sharing with others - journaling - etc.
2) They are not taught how to by the local church. We as Christian leaders need to help people move to a place of feeding themselves. We, at Barefoot are thinking through this right now. We want people to learn like my son, Cole, to read the cookbook and do what it says. This is not Rocket Science.
3) They are not allowed to cook. Ministry is messy and people make mistakes. We have to allow for mess ups. We cannot expect people to be the greatest cook when they start out. This is ok, encourage them to cook and don't do everything for them. They will learn.

Just a thought or two about church growth. Let me know if this helps?