If you love your church, I am not writing this to talk you out of it.
I mean that. A people who gather around Christ is a gift. If you have that, and you are glad, I will not treat your gladness as a problem. NewGrapes is not a competing Sunday. We are not hunting for your membership letter.
I still have a question I cannot put down.
Are you being fed?
Happy and hungry are not enemies. They are also not the same thing. You can love the people in the room, like the music, trust the pastor, and still go home thin. You can be content with the hour and still not be chewing anything that will last until Tuesday. A child can be happy with candy. That does not mean he has had supper.
I learned that the hard way in myself. These last five years the Spirit got hold of me, and I found out how much of my old “fine” was just a full calendar. I was not looking for a better brand. I was looking for bread. I still am.
Scripture treats hunger as a sign of life, not as a personality type. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Longing is not extra credit. It is how a living thing acts toward food.
Sometimes I see it in a face. A sparkle. A sentence that sounds like a man who has actually tasted something. Then a day or two later it is gone. I do not say that with a sneer. I recognize the diet. The world feeds junk all week. Noise, outrage, amusement, self. Then we wonder why one hour of Scripture does not wreck us. You cannot live on that and be surprised when the real meal tastes strange.
If that is you, and you still like your church, you do not have to pick a fight with your church to tell the truth about your appetite. Stay. Love them. And ask the question anyway.
Am I being fed?
Not “is the room full.” Not “do I feel better about Heaven because I showed up.” Not “did I enjoy it.” Fed. The Word. Christ Himself. “I am the bread of life” is not a slogan. It is a claim (John 6:35). Jesus still asks the only question that will not let a man hide behind a good service: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).
That is the difference I want NewGrapes to keep. We set a table. Milk at the door, because people often still need milk longer than they admit. Solid food on the table, every day, not as a stunt. Meat for those who stay. We will not stuff you on the front step. We will not starve you if you come hungry. We will not score your congregation by name. We will not pretend a website is your church.
If you are fed where you are, praise God. Sit here anyway if you want more. If you are happy and not sure about the hunger, start with that uncertainty. Do not wait for it to become impressive. Bring the flicker. The Spirit gives the appetite. The Word is the food.
— J.L. Morgan