Worship as fishing school?
She said to me, "give them fish and they will eat for the day, teach them to fish and they will eat for a lifetime. This is why I am against government handouts." I politely began to listen more about what sort of ministry she felt would be good for our church to engage with the poor without just giving "handouts".
It is a difficult problem to be sure. Teaching people to fish takes longer and in many ways also strips the people who are giving fish away a sense of power and/or purpose. It also is easier in many ways to give fish away than to get bait, rods and find a good spot for fish. Oh, and the person who needs to learn to fish, needs to want to learn to fish. If there is no desire to want to learn to fish, then it is difficult to teach fishing much less cooking.
There is something to be said about teaching people to fish. And many people seem to agree that learning to fish is better than depending on others for fish.
Except when it comes to Christianity, worship and preaching.
How many of us come to worship to "get fed"? This is fine and well and good. We all need to be fed at some point in our lives. I understand I may be talking my way out of a job as one who gives fish away, but at some point don't we need to teach those in the pew how to fish? Isn't it "better" for the people to learn to fish then rely on Sunday "handouts"?
