Microchips in the Sandwich Bread
Does it have to be that complicated? In our technology rich (media, personal computing, surround sound, noise reducing ear phones, satellite radio) environment, its easy to forget the simple ingredients that Jesus used to totally rock the planet. I have spent the past 5 years in the complicated world of federal grants and public funding tied to outreach. It is easy to forget the simple there too. Could you really impact tens of thousands of people with a simple basket containing just a couple of puny fish and a few home baked loves of bread? Could the real ingredients of life change be simpler than a coordinated media blitz that includes both radio, direct marketing and brand identity development? He seemed to think so. When his disciples tried to pull some strategic planning on him, by scheduling the meeting so that there was time for a dinner break off campus, Jesus showed them that compassion plus a small basket of simple food was enough.
Is that all it takes to change the heart of men—lunch served with a heart of love? Jesus knew that he had to convince his own guys first, that’s why the loaves and fishes were enough for the crowd plus a basket of leftovers for each disciple. He reinforced this idea with Peter later, when he boiled it all down to “feed by sheep.” There is a big outreach and impact lesson here: we just need to feed people. People are naturally hungry in so many ways– physically, spiritually, relationally. We don’t really need neon lights and high tech delivery—and we don’t need to invent human hunger. We do need to respond to that hunger in love.
Are you delivering the bread? Meeting practical as well as spiritual hunger? One without the other of course is just a picnic, but when a heart of faith, filled with compassion serves up the grub, lives get changed. He didn’t separate the two, requiring a separate “food ministry”, he saw human hunger for the spiritual as connected to physical need. Food became a doorway to faith, both for the disciples as well as the crowd. We know the long-term impact of his approach when we see the crowds responding to the disciples after the day of Pentecost.
A great way to get practical about this is through a ministry that I have come to know called Angel Food. It is really simple, and brings church folks together with community members, for just good old fashioned food. This ministry helps us live out the “love them and feed them” approach of Jesus. Learn more
Food became a doorway to faith, both for the disciples as well as the crowd