Offer What Little You Have

The words were shocking, unexpected, and most certainly impossible to fulfill.

The disciples had been with Jesus all day in a desolate place as thousands upon thousands of people swarmed around the carpenter-turned-rabbi. Christ and his twelve closest followers were supposed to be resting after an intense flurry of recent ministry — but Jesus had great compassion for these kinds of harried crowds. So as his boat drew near to the shore and he saw the masses, he decided to skip his rest and sit down and teach. It seems that he just couldn't help himself. The people were like "sheep without a shepherd," and so the Good Shepherd took it upon himself to guide the people to green pastures and still waters by his words (cf. Mark 6:34, John 10:11, Psalm 23).

But as the day waned, stomachs began growling. No one had expected this sort of conference to take place, and so no one had arranged to feed 5000 hungry men — not to mention the women and children. There was only one logical course of action to take: "Send [the crowds] away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat" (Mark 6:36).

And that was the moment when Jesus spoke those most ludicrous words: "But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'" (Mark 6:37, emphasis mine).

Not Self-Feeding

One of the recurring themes of American Evangelicalism is that of "self-feeding." Many pastors and church leaders encourage Christians to "self-feed" by taking charge of their own spiritual growth, so to speak. For example, a Christian self-feeds by reading Scripture every day, by praying regularly, by serving in the church and community, and so on and so forth. Basically, the idea is that your pastor can't do your growing for you; you must be sanctified; you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

While these are certainly essential disciplines that each Christian must indeed "do for themselves," I fear that such a heightened emphasis on "self-feeding" actually misses the greater thrust of the Bible overall: that we are more "led and fed" together as a church by shepherds (working for the Good Shepherd) than we are "self-fed." After all, Jesus didn’t say, “Ah, have them sit and feed themselves.” He said, “You give them something to eat.” And lest we think this was only a one-time thing, here are just a few other references to what God himself has said on this matter.

"So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:1–3).

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Hebrews 13:17).

"Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13).

In other words, the Christian life is not a solo, "self-feeding" enterprise. Christ has charged pastors and elders with feeding the flock in desolate places — and he has also charged all Christians with inviting the lost to this table in the wilderness. In short: all who follow Christ must, to one degree or another, “give [the people] something to eat.”

Now, as a brief clarifying note: this does not mean that we are to blindly submit to church leaders. The Bereans, for instance, searched the Scriptures carefully to see whether or not the message of Paul was true (Acts 17:10-12). But it does mean that, if we profess the name of Christ, we are obligated to obey his words — and his words have established the church, with shepherds who are tasked with leading us to the true food of life that is more nourishing than bread itself (cf. Matthew 4:4).

Who is Sufficient?

But if this is indeed true, it raises an entirely different question: namely, Who is sufficient for these things? Where will the necessary resources come from? We all, like the twelve disciples, are left wondering: how in the world could we ever find enough food to feed so many people?

But Christ has not left that pesky question unanswered. Indeed, when it came to those 5000+ hungry people, Jesus did the extraordinary.

And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men (Mark 6:38–44).

To sum up: pastors, along with all Christians to some extent, have been charged to feed the world on the fresh bread of God's mercy. Yet it may seem that we have only enough for ourselves — only a basket of five loaves and two fish. Yet if we bring that meager offering with a humble heart, Christ can take it and do the unthinkable with it. He can take what little we have and multiply it to meet countless needs. He can turn five loaves and two fish into enough food to feed 5000+ people with plenty leftover.

So perhaps all you have to give is 10 minutes of time to sit with someone in the hospital as they heal up from a surgery; or maybe you can barely afford to drop a meal off to a family who's reeling from a job loss; or it might be that, when it comes to worship, you feel as if you can barely whisper the shortest prayer to God on behalf of someone else, so frail does your faith feel. Bring it to Christ anyway. Bring your little, your nothing, your deep emptiness. Offer whatever you have up to him. When you feel weak and afraid and unsure, hear Christ say to you: "All I needed was five loaves and two fish."