This Article, “meat lovers beware! our taste buds have been contaminated” by kathy escobar, came across my path at a time when I’ve been thinking a lot about Meat – Spiritual Meat that is. It challenged me, and I think it’s a timely challenge to the Body of Christ at large.
i think when we are honest what we really want is to be spoonfed spiritual milk and are terrified of true, tasty, Jesus steaks. most of the people i have been around through the years who demand “meat” are great, sincere believers. but usually their expressed desire for “meat” is actually them running for the safety of others who are more socially acceptable and sound more godly.
you see, the church has contaminated our taste buds. we have been taught to think that “spiritual” must include Bible knowledge, certainty, teaching, a touch of shame (and healing that looks like good behavior) so we keep seeking after it, church after church, Bible study after Bible study. but honestly, what it seems like to me is that people keep learning but never really apply much. we’re lonely but we never connect. we keep slipping in and out of services but never engage with a hurting person beyond “hi, nice to meet you.” (emphasis mine)
As a Missionary, I have to prepare my own ‘meat’ on the field (looking at it traditionally as the study of Word of God). Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and let someone else do the work 
Recently, we started attending an awesome church, where they actually serve some Meat that I can sink my teeth into. Seriously, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to feast at a table laden with such good Food. I’m really enjoying it and I’m very thankful!!!
But the other week, I started thinking, “I am saying ‘Yes and Amen’ so much during this guy’s sermons, loving the challenges he puts forward and enjoying the ‘sucker punches’ a little too much. Am I really being challenged…?” Or perhaps the real question is “Am I applying the Challenge?”
Then today, I was enjoying the sermon again, nodding my head and thinking it through… and I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “How many of us in this room (about 200 of us) will actually take this challenge to heart? How many of us will remember it by dinner time and put legs on it??”
Escobar’s article is a good reminder that the point of Church this is not *In Here* (meeting my needs). The point of Church is *Out There* (meeting other’s needs), where life is uncomfortable and messy.
reach out to someone in need no matter how messy it seems. help the poor. sacrifice your time and money. restore a broken relationship. love the outcast, especially the person that bugs the hell out of you. spend the time you waste watching TV investing in a person, no matter how young or old. stop nagging your spouse and change your behavior. serve someone else. open your home to others. force yourself to do something uncomfortable. get your head around the reality that you’re just as messed up as ‘those people’. humble yourself and let another person into your life. stay in a friendship for the long haul instead of running away. (emphasis mine)
The Fellowship of Believers is for the Equipping of The Saints to *Go Out There*.
If we aren’t going, then we’re just getting fat.
And whether we’re feasting on milk or meat, it’s still just Spiritual Obesity.
Don’t forget to visit Kathy Escobar to read the full article.
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