"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11)

Growing up in Buffalo, NY for my entire life, I have realized that ours is a very religious community. It’s hard to drive more than a half-mile in any township without seeing one or two churches, typically Roman Catholic. When I tell people that I majored in Religion at Liberty University, often times the next question is, “Oh so you want to be a priest?” (I’ve also been called Father Jon more time than I care to remember.) I’m not offended by any of that – in fact, I find it funny – but my point is that our region has had its share of religion.

This is true of most of the places that I’ve visited; my college was in the heart of Virginia, so instead of a Catholic church on every corner, there were two Baptist churches. I don’t doubt that our country is over-loaded with religious activity; there is plenty of it.

There is just one problem: our over-saturation with religious things has in fact led to a dark time in our nation. How do I know that? Look at the countless churches and faith-based organizations that never extend a hand to those in need. Look at the Christian who attends church “religiously” but would never get their hands dirty working at the City Mission. Look at the folks who are comfortable with their nice home, nice car(s), nice clothes, but would never get off their leather sectional to help a hurricane victim. Religious affiliation does not equate to good standing with God.

In other words, just because I attend That-Church-On-The-Corner, or because I’m This-Denomination doesn’t mean I can force the hand of God to bless my life. As if I could blackmail God by saying, “Look: I go to service, I celebrate communion, so you HAVE to bless me.” I think a lot of people approach God that same way: they “pay their dues” and fulfill their obligations, but little else in their life reflects a good standing with God.

That verse from Amos was written in the 8th Century B.C., at a time when the Jewish people were threatened by exile. Leading up to that point, the nation of Israel was over-saturated with religious activity, but they had forsaken God in their lifestyle; they lived like pagans and worshiped false gods. God basically said, “I’m sick of empty rituals; I’ve had my full of watching you go through the motions, trying appease me. As a result, I’m sending a spiritual famine to your land.”

Has that not happened to America? The nation which was founded on principles drawn from the Bible, organized by men who obviously believed in the Creator God, has been in a famine for the past...well, for a really long time. What began as a country that prided itself on freedom of worship, has become so polluted with religion that now we can barely hear the voice of God in it all. I think it’s safe to say that we are in a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Have you felt the hunger pangs lately? Do you wake up hungry for the things of God? Jesus would not just commend you for those cravings; he would also promise to satisfy them (Matthew 5:6). In these times of spiritual drought throughout our country, don’t give up your appetite to hear from God. America has been blessed with financial success; we are wealthy in the eyes of the rest of the world. But our spiritual poverty is glaring; our religious busyness has blinded us to the fact that we desperately need to hear from God.

The famine is heavy and widespread, but through it all we can find the source of food to satisfy our cravings: “Then Jesus said, ‘I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’” (John 6:35). Why don’t you taste and see how good God is?

Growing up in Sunday School, I can recall many times as a six-year-old singing the song, “Read your Bible, pray everyday and you’ll grow, Grow, GROW!”  I was always the shortest kid for my age, from pre-school to high school.  Given my lack of growth, I was frustrated at the apparent lies of these lyrics.  I honestly tried to read God’s Word and pray in my childish state, with my childish faith (which I guess is something that we could use more of), for the sole purpose that I could grow…taller.  My youthful mind could not make the distinction between physical growth and “spiritual” growth.

When I aged to a point of understanding, I realized my error, but my attempts to read the Bible on my own were staggered and irregular.  That was about the time that I came across a school of thought that says the Pastor or other spiritual leader in your life is responsible for feeding you from God’s Word; the job of ministers is to nourish you with the Truth so that you grow.  For the first time in my life, I heard, “We left That Church because we just weren’t getting fed there,” or, “I just felt that I could be fed at This Church.  I wasn’t growing at my last church.”

And honestly, that sounded right to me.  I was taught from the stage of infancy to read the Bible on my own, and that would lead to growth – albeit spiritual and not physical – but that never worked for me.  It sounded so much better to me (and seemed to work better) when I would come to church on Sunday to hear anointed men of God feed me with the Scriptures.  It was easier, that way.  After all, wouldn’t it be better to “get fed” by people who knew what they were talking about, i.e. the Pastor?  And if I’m not getting fed where I am, then I need to go somewhere that I can be fed.

And I used to agree with that.

Then I read the book of Proverbs, and found the description of a lazy person: “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, but he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:15).  According to God’s Word, a truly lazy person has a meal set before him at all times, but does not even have the energy to feed himself.  He wants someone to spoon-feed him, because when he puts his fork into the food, he can’t even bring it up to his mouth. 

Hasn’t Christianity become just that?  We can have God’s Word in our hands every day if we so choose (a luxury that not everyone in the World can enjoy), but we are too lazy to open It for ourselves and to “feed ourselves” with the things of God.  We would rather just show up on Sunday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, and be spoon-fed by the Pastor, and make him responsible for our spiritual growth.  And if we aren’t being fed, we just pick ourselves up and go to another church. 

Consequently, we have made the church into a feeding trough; when the Pastor stops putting food in front of us (or not enough food, in our expert opinions), we just relocate to another feeding trough.  We put our hand in the dish, but we are too lazy to bring it to our mouths, so we just let the Pastor feed us.  Is this all the God has called us to?  Are we to become like farm animals and just expect the Pastor to put food in our trough?  When Jesus referred to His followers as sheep, I don’t think this is what He had in mind.

I think we need to develop an individual passion for God’s Word (read any of the 176 verses in Psalm 119 to find out what I mean), so that the pastor’s job is less like spoon-feeding and more like cooking lessons: “Here’s how you can feed yourself from God’s Word.”  The days of lazy Christians needs to end; we have to let that spirit die or better yet, kill it quickly.  After all, the only real way to spiritual growth is as simple as a child’s song: you read your Bible, and pray everyday, and you’ll grow, Grow, GROW.