Tired of Consuming: Now What

I mentioned in my last blog post that I stopped going to Bible Studies. Not that I stopped studying the Bible, just that I hadn't attended a Bible Study in quite some time. There is nothing wrong with Bible Studies, in fact I believe they can be very essential to new Christians, those who are newly growing in faith and need to know what this whole "life in Christ" thing is all about. There can be great conversation that stirs in a Bible Study and deep friendships borne as well.

There is however, a large amount of people who have grown up in the church that as Jen Hatmaker says are "still starving for nourishment after our sixth Bible study in a row..." 
These people can't seem to fill that "hole" or "void" and soon after a Bible Study ends, they start to feel empty, distant or dry again, and so they go to another Bible study- feeling that is what is needed. 

I would argue that instead of attending more studies, more programs, more "things" we take what we know (again, those who have lived this cycle for many years) and put it into practice.

You know I love me some Hatmaker, so another quote for you:

“We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies, more sermons, more programs, classes, training, conferences, information, more feasting for us. At some point, the church stopped living the bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming. The feast is supposed to sustain the fast, but we go back for seconds and thirds and fourths, stuffed to the brim and fat with inactivity.” 


Right? We live in a society of consumers, and it includes the American church.

Have you felt this way?  Maybe you feel a little empty even though you've been attending church, studies, classes and events for quite some time. Maybe you've felt like there is a little more to life than what you're living and maybe you want to live a better story than you have been.

Here's the deal, you don't have to pick between living a great story and doing something significant and also being a ______ (Mom, wife, student, kid, teenager, number cruncher, waitress, accountant etc) You fill in the blank.

I don't have to pick between being a stay at home Mom and also living a life of a world changer outside of my home. I don't have to put on the back burner "great things" while I change diapers, clean floors and give time-outs. I can do it without making my family suffer, or stifling the burning in my heart that God created in me.

I am not "just" anything. He did not created me to be "just" anything.

So now what? What do I do with this...if I want to live more intentional, and stop consuming and start giving.

I want to share with you what I've done. Not because it's the right way, the perfect way or the only way, but because maybe it might help one of you in your journey too.

I want to share with you how I started digging to find out how to live this one life better.

John 10:10 says "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Life to the full.


Next post:

Little steps I've taken