In a small city not too far from where you live, there are two well-known churches. Everyone in the community knows about these two churches, because every Sunday both of these churches “feed” those that attend their services.
The pastor of the first church works hard to prepare the food that will be served to those that are in attendance. Some time ago, this pastor invested a great deal of money just to be able to purchase farm land where he could raise his own cattle. The pastor works all week in caring for his herd, and then carefully picks the right one that will be taken and made into steaks to be served in his church on Sunday. It’s hard work, but to him it’s worth the time and effort it takes so that he can serve a hearty meal to all that attend. Some of the church members have gone to this church for many years, and they all rave about the perfectly cut, seasoned, and cooked steaks their pastor prepares week after week. The pastor always prepares enough for a large crowd, so he and some of the church members actually go out and invite other people to come to church to enjoy the succulent steaks. To the dismay of the pastor and the church members, rarely does anyone come to the Sunday feast of delicious steak.
Some people complain that the steak is “too tough” or “too thick,” but the truth is that the complainers just don’t want a thick, juicy, delicious steak. If you could get the complainers to tell you the real reason they don’t go, they would give the excuse that the church building may not be much to look at, there aren’t enough people their age, or that there’s nothing to do while eating their steak.
They prefer to go to the other church.
The pastor of the second church is a real “cool dude.” He’s a “khaki and pullover” kind of guy. He spends much of his time golfing, bowling, hunting, fishing, waxing his car, and riding his Harley. He doesn’t “waste” his time on a cattle farm all week. He knows that Christians today don’t want steak week after week. The 21st century Christian is happy with “Skim Milk and a Movie Sunday,” and so that’s what they get at the second church. Besides, the music is “livlier” than at the first church, and at the second church you can, “come as you are, and leave as you are,” without having to change.
And so, week after week, month after month, and year after year, the only thing that changes at the second church is the movie that is shown while the people drink their skim milk, in a semi-comotose state. Next week, more people will show up at the second church for “Skim Milk and a Movie Sunday” so that they can be entertained.
The difference can be clearly seen as to which church a person attends. The faithful members of the first church are strong and healthy Christians because they have a steady diet of spiritual meat.
Those that attend the second church are like the pictures you see of children starving from malnutrition in war-torn countries. They look fat and bloated, but are actually starving spiritually for lack of proper, spiritual nutrition. When invited to go to the first church, they often get offended, and ask, “What? And miss the show?” They only want to be bottle-fed their lukewarm, instant skim milk, unlike the mature members of the first church that actually have to chew their food.
The people that attend the second church often say that they don’t get anything out of the services in the first church, but that’s only because they either don’t want steak, or are not mature enough to eat steak.
Oh, there are some at the second church that used to attend the first church, but now they say that their “taste” has changed. The real problem is that, during the week, they have a steady diet of junk food, and when Sunday comes around their stomachs are not able to handle strong meat. However, the watered-down skim milk doesn’t bother the junk food that they have ingested all week.
In the end, I guess it all boils down to what you prefer. Do you like to eat steak, and get fed the meat of the Word, or do you prefer “Skim Milk and a Movie”? Don’t settle for milk when you could have steak!