During the political season, a lot was said about hunger or being hungry. It was a grave concern to many. Now the word hunger or hungry is not heard anymore. It seems like that issue has been taken care of and everyone now has enough to meet his/her needs. If that is the case, that is highly commendable for to be hungry is not an easy thing to deal with!
We have all at some time or another felt the pangs of hunger. We are aware of the keen signal that our body gives our mind that we are hungry – a sharp ache or pang that can drive out most other thoughts. But what is severe hunger like over a longer period? This is really unknown to many of us. Detailed information about people that have to go without food for long periods, due to causes such as conflict and drought, is not readily available. Yet it is important to get some idea of what long-term hunger is like to help us understand people whose hunger is more acute than that which we may have experienced.
The Webster’s Dictionary defines hungry as:
• suffering because of a lack of food : greatly affected by hunger
• having an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach because you need food : feeling hunger
• feeling a strong desire or need for something or to do something
Other sources describe hunger as “the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by need for food.” Hunger is primal. It is inherent to the nature of any living being. Hunger is a natural response to a living being’s requirement for nourishment. In the physical realm, hunger happens daily, and multiple times daily in healthy circumstances. It is one of the basic survival drives of life. When the body cries out for food, one feels emptiness in the stomach, weakness in the muscles, and even sleepiness. Some people become irritable, shaky or disoriented if they are not fed at their usual mealtime. Others experience hunger as feeling lightheaded, empty, low, headachy or hollow. At times a growling stomach prompts an eating episode. If it goes on long enough, faintness and headache may arise.
A major problem is that human nature compels us to focus almost totally upon the physical. However, there is another type of hunger. In Isaiah 26: 9, hunger is used for desire. Spiritual hunger is the rational appetite whereby the soul pants after that which it apprehends most suitable and proportional to itself. On both the physical and spiritual counts, if a person is not being fed over time, it leads to death. However, starvation of the spirit is less obvious on the outside than physical hunger because the spirit starves much more slowly and it resides within.
Spiritual malnutrition may go unrecognized for long periods because the body and life goes right on. Yet just as surely as one’s body gives signs that it needs nourishment, so does the spirit and it, too, will eventually be recognized on the outside by its symptoms. When spiritual weakness appears, with it usually comes some of the following: anger, irritability, exasperation, depression, discouragement, melancholy, despondency, gloominess, bitterness, hatred, resentment, self-pity, hopelessness, despair, paranoia, envy, jealousy, family conflict, arguing, divorce, drunkenness or other addictions, and competitiveness as self-centredness deepens.
Hunger is what drives people to seek out food in the first place. People usually go or gravitate where food is during that period. If the food is good, people usually go back again and again. To prove this, ask any chef, cook or restaurant owner. This holds true both in the natural and the spiritual. If people are not going to church, therefore, it may be that it is time for church leaders to undertake some introspection and seek to make church-going more interesting and meaningful. Every thriving business does that and the Church should be no exception.
As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. People get hungry spiritually. They have an appetite for the presence of God. They need to feel or sense the fresh move of the Holy Spirit and the power from the Word of God. Hence hungry souls will go looking for food wherever they can find it. Ministers of the gospel need to become aware of this and to begin to take their responsibility of feeding the people seriously in order to meet their needs.
Going to church can no longer be about reciting or regurgitating the same things over and over, week after week, month after month and year after year. It requires much more than that. People need to be nurtured and properly nourished so that they can become fully grounded in God’s Word. Jesus knew the importance for feeding the flock. He knew that there were two types of hunger – the physical and spiritual and therefore He satisfied both in His earthly ministry. Many stories in the Bible substantiated that fact. There are many stories of Him feeding not only his disciples, but the multitude as well, either with loaves and fishes and food for the spirit. The story of “The Woman at the Well” (John 4:1-42) attested to this.
Such a great importance was placed on feeding His flock, that Jesus instructed Peter, one of his disciples: “If you love me feed my sheep” – his people. He cared about their total well-being. He knew the importance of food for the body as well as the soul. Knowledge was important. He knew when they needed food, physically and spiritually. He knew what would happen if they did not eat in both instances. He said my people perish for lack of knowledge. He also said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus said, in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” The Lord knew we had a choice of where we would go for nourishment.
It holds therefore that mankind needs to be fed. The body needs food daily and so does the spirit. What, then, are we eating, and to whom do we go for our daily bread? Ministers of the gospel must or should spend more time expounding and teaching the Word of God. No shallow sermon is going to work. The people need to be properly fed. The delivery of God’s Word must be thoroughly prepared and made to satisfy the hunger of God’s people. This will call for diligent study of the Word of God, proper planning and effective delivery. A good teacher does that. One must see growth if a person is being fed correctly. The nutritionist knows that.
A person is made up of body, mind and spirit. Each part must be fed for proper and effective functioning. Too often the spirit is left malnourished. If you want to see a change in society, the change must first begin in the church, the body of Christ. This will, or may, call for a change in priority for the church. Business cannot go on the same as usual. The same ole same ole! Too many people around us are dying both physically and spiritually.
For the church to be effective in its ministry, ministers of the gospel have to equip themselves and the people. Sound teaching of the Word with practical application must be the order of the day. The people must not be made to live in ignorance. Too much is at stake. The Bible admonishes: “study to show yourself approved”. The Holy Spirit must take preeminence in the church. If the Word is preached in its entirety, the Holy Spirit will do its work. The work of the Holy Spirit in the church is to indwell Christ followers so they might look like Christ – and to empower them to continue the ministry that Jesus had when He was here on earth (Acts 2:1-4).
The Spirit also functions as fruit-producer in our lives. When He indwells us, He begins the work of harvesting His fruit in our lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These are products of the Spirit’s presence in our lives. The Holy Spirit needs to be the focus once again. For too many, the Holy Spirit seems to be the forgotten member of the Godhead. We tend to focus much energy on God the Father, and on Jesus the Son of God, and tend to ignore the Holy Spirit. If we have the right source, the nourishment will be good. The Holy Spirit is the person of God who lives with us in our time on earth and teaches us to truly know and follow God. God’s Word is vital to our spiritual growth. A wise shepherd stays close to the sheep. His presence brings security and strength to the flock. He carefully feeds the sheep and strategically leads them.
Effective preaching must be aimed at the head and the heart. A good pastor will work hard to connect with the minds and the souls of his or her hearers. While God wants His shepherds to feed the flock effectively, He also calls the pastor to lead them in a specific direction. This involves prayer and strategic planning. The pastor has to be hearing from God and willing to walk ahead of the flock. Therefore, if there is no growth or maturity in the members of the churches, something is definitely wrong. If there is no change in the lives of the people, having heard the Word of God, something is awfully wrong.
When there is a change in the lives of the believers or churchgoers, that change will affect the life of the society and will be reflected in the society as well. 1 Peter 5:2 admonishes church leaders to “feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.” The onus is on the church leaders to set the tone of the society – to be the conscience of the nation. Church leaders need to lead the people not the people leading them. Church leaders need to take charge of God’s people. Churches need to be the moral compass of the land.
The flock of the Lord was entrusted into the care of the ministers of the gospel. They are responsible to care and nurture their flocks. The Apostle Paul loved the sheep so much that he kept constant watch over them, and immediately would intervene at the very threat of any false doctrine reaching their ears and settling into their hearts. So also did the Apostles and overseers who went from place to place feeding and nurturing the little lambs and the sheep of our Lord. They did not compromise the gospel of Christ, but spoke boldly the truth of the Word, and as many as were able to digest the truth did, and obtained spiritual growth. From the lambs to the sheep, all were given nourishment and none were left to fend for themselves. Hence a call is going out to all ministers of the gospel to take their rightful place in society. It is only when that happens that the society will see the change that it so desires in the land.
About the Author: Mrs. Marilyn Hodge owns and operates the Wellness Centre in the Farrington, Anguilla. The Centre offers Counselling Services by Appointment Only. Contact information: 476-3517 or email: marilynb@anguillanet.com.
