On Crafting Spiritual Nourishment in a Fast-Food Faith Culture
The Bible is a banquet and we are invited to feast
She held open the refrigerator door, peering inside. The shelves were heavy with options. She moved aside the raw chicken, the leftover vegetable stock, the carton of eggs, the block of cheese. Her stomach rumbled, and she opened the tub of yogurt, ran a finger around the rim to sample the contents, then decided against it.
She moved on to the pantry, her hunger a dull ache. Her eyes skipped past the pasta, the cans of beans, the rice, the red potatoes. She reached for the opened bag of chips, finished off what was left, then started in on the pretzels.
Pastor and seminary professor Anna Carter Florence, in her book Rehearsing Scripture, likens the Bible to a well-stocked refrigerator, and too often, we Christians are just like hungry teenagers. We see the ingredients, but don’t bother assembling them into a nourishing meal either because we don’t know how, or because it would be too time-consuming. So we fall back on whatever comes prepackaged for us, letting others deliver bite-sized inspiration—easy to digest but never sticking to our bones.
There is no question that devotionals and guided Bible studies have their place in the life of faith. They can be an uplifting source of encouragement. But to rely on these exclusively for our spiritual nourishment is to expect to grow strong and healthy on a steady diet of chips and cookies.
“There is a great market for inspiring spiritual experiences today that promise quick and easy solutions for complex human struggles. This relentless lusting after inspirational “highs” usually leads toward the deadly pitfalls of consumer religion,” writes Trevor Hudson in Seeking God.
Consumer religion has always been around, even in Jesus’ day. He interacted with many crowds who followed him for all sorts of reasons: healing, suspicion, devotion, entrapment, curiosity. One crowd even tried to take him by force to make him king after Jesus had miraculously fed everyone.1
“What are you looking for?” Jesus asks two of John’s disciples.2
They know, but they don’t say, following him instead to spend the afternoon with him. What did they do together that day? What did Jesus talk about, and what did he show them? A mystery, all of it. We can only assume the two seekers found what they were looking for: one of them went to his brother to announce “We have found the Messiah.”3
What they wanted most of all was to get to know this Jesus-guy.
What are we looking for when we open the word of God? When we show up to church? When we bow our heads to pray?
Taste and see that the Lord is good, the psalmist says. The word of God is a banquet and we have been invited to the feast.
Something I wrote: Observing Lent: The Best Resources for Moms and Kids - I compiled this list last year, and there are some real gems in it! Lent starts on February 14th this year.
Something I read and loved: This IS the Life You’re Meant For by
. In this essay, Tsh shares about a really hard season in her life. She writes: “Hard doesn't equal wrong. Challenges in life aren't a sign that you heard God wrong, or that it's time to do something else, or that you should consider a change in your situation. In fact, the presence of challenges are often signs that you’re exactly where God wants you to be.”Something I listened to: Live With Purpose with Shawna Sullivan on the Girls Talking Life podcast. I loved Shawna’s very practical advice on making the most of our time in 2024!
Something I’m cooking: This Sheet Pan Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hash looks so delicious, but I’m planning on substituting more bell pepper for the zucchini!
Have you ever prayed in color? It’s great for focusing your mind and body, giving you a visual aid to your prayer, and praying when words escape you. It’s an active meditation. (It's also a wonderful way to have a "quiet time" when your kids are under foot!) Right now, it’s 40% off in my shop and you can grab yours here.
Until next time,
See John 6:15
See John 1:38
See John 1:41
This makes me think of Eugene Peterson's book Eat This Book, so so good. What a lovely post! Thanks for sharing and excited to read more of your work!
I read and loved the same Tsh Oxenrieder essay. And I copied the same paragraph into my seasonal reflections journal. I’ve really struggled over the years to rewrite my childhood narrative that hard = wrong and found this essay very helpful.