Are You a Meeting Christian or a Meaty Christian?
 
By Dr. Ken Matto
 
(John 4:34 KJV) Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
 
(Acts 15:6 KJV) And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
 
(Psa 119:60 KJV) I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
 
It was right after World War 2 had ended in the Pacific and Japan had signed the terms of surrender. General MacArthur had made a statement to the churches in America to get their missionaries over to Japan now. During that time, the Japanese people had viewed the Emperor as a god and America had defeated their god. So the God of America had proven Himself to be stronger than the god of Japan. This was a wide open door for the dissemination of the Gospel in Japan. Well what happened was the cults like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses had sent their missionaries over there in droves and while that was happening, back in the USA, the church was having meetings. So because the church had failed to see the opportunity at hand, Japan has less than 1% Christians today. The church failed because the church delayed.
 
An elderly Israeli man once told me that if Moses had as many meetings as modern business does, then the Israelites would still be waiting to cross the Red Sea. There is much truth to this because it seems that the church today has become a meeting based Christianity, true Christianity is not meeting based but action based. Now there is nothing wrong with having one or two meetings to discuss a project and to plan. The problem is that it seems everything has to be determined by a meeting. Then meetings take place over when to have the next meeting. This evil method does not allow anything to get done. Things that need attention are normally tabled till the next meeting.
 
It was William Carey who had desired to go to the mission field and he had brought his desires to a minister’s meeting in Moulton in England. The response he received was amazing by a Dr. Ryland, “Dr. Ryland shouted, "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.” This rejection by the clergy at another “meeting” was rejected by Carey who continually prayed and also preached a mighty sermon entitled, “Expect Great Things from God, Attempt Great Things for God.” Carey persisted and in 1793 he sailed for India. Carey could have been like most Christians and accept what came out of that meeting and went home and just lived out his Christian life in his shoe shop. However, Carey was not a “meeting” Christian but a “meaty” Christian who knew what the Lord meant when He said in John 4:34: (John 4:34 KJV) Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Carey knew that the meat of the Christian is to adopt the same mindset that the Lord had. We are to be involved and active in Christian work and not in incessant meetings where the lazy ones always seem to rule so if they stop others from doing ministry, then they do not have to get off their couch. He who has ears to hear!
 
(Psa 119:59-60 KJV) I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. {60} I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. One of the great principles found in psalm 119:59-60 is the fact that the writer had thought on his ways and that meditation had caused him to turn his feet toward the testimonies, which is, the word of God. If you notice he states that he turned his feet, which means that he got up, got busy, and became obedient to what he learned. He was ready to do what God had commanded him. Then in verse 60, it states that he made haste, he didn’t sit back down and then ask someone else whether he should do what God commanded him. Instead he made haste and he did not delay his obedience to God’s commandments.
One of the big problems in modern Christianity is that instead of realizing that we must be obedient to God, the moment we find out what He wants us to do, what we do is try to confirm what God tells us via His word with someone else. That is nothing more than delayed obedience, and delayed obedience is disobedience. We have an example of this in 1 Samuel.
 
(1 Sam 15:8-9 KJV) And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. {9} But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
 
(1 Sam 15:13-14 KJV) And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. {14} And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
 
(1 Sam 15:29 KJV) And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
 
(1 Sam 15:32-33 KJV) Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. {33} And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
 
When Saul was fighting the Amalekites, God had given specific instruction that everything was to be destroyed from the fighting men to the babies to the animals. Saul had partially obeyed God’s commands by sparing Agag the king and the best of the animals. This was in blatant violation of God’s commands which means Saul was in rebellion against God. In verse 29, we read that God will not repent of the command which He gave for the destruction of the Amalekites. What God had said He expected to be obeyed. Saul’s disobedience had now cost him the kingdom and it was to be given to David. The command was finally obeyed when Agag and the animals were killed but the delay in carrying out the command had cost Saul dearly.
 
Therein lies one of the biggest dilemmas in Christianity today. If God commands us to do something and we fail to do it because we need to hold a meeting to find out if we should be obedient to God or not, then God may remove or replace us with someone who will be obedient to Him. This could mean two things: First, God can take us home. (John 15:2 KJV) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. If we are bearing no fruit for the kingdom, then we have become a useless Christian, then what would be the purpose of us remaining on earth. Secondly, He may place us on a shelf and bypass us when a ministry comes up which requires actions and not meetings.
 
When the Lord stated that his meat was to do the will of God, He was stating that the will of God is performed in active service and not in meeting halls. Did the Lord hold a meeting to see if He should go to the cross or not? The answer is no, because He knew what the will of God was for His life and there is no questioning God’s will. The only meeting the church had was in Acts 15, where they met to see if they were being obedient to God not voting on if they should be obedient to God, a major difference. Meat was food which sustained the physical body and active Christianity is what sustains the body of Christ on earth. If Christians are not active in their commitment, then they have no commitment.
 
The most unsuccessful Christians and churches are those who are meeting based. I am not even talking about unbelievers but believers. This is why those who are weak in the Scriptures must never be placed on ruling boards in a church simply because of lack of scriptural understanding, they become fear based and since they do not have sufficient understanding of God’s words and works in the Bible, they will simply be too afraid to make any commitments, hence the putting off of important spiritual matters till the next meeting. Just because a Christian is saved for 25-40 years, does not mean they are spiritually or biblically mature. Their record of believing and acting upon God’s word is what needs to be factored in to every appointment to office.
 
Another one of the biggest traps we have today is that thousands of Christians support one ministry and their commitment stops there. That one ministry becomes the mouthpiece for them. Let us say 50,000 Christians support a certain ministry. Can you imagine if these fifty thousand Christians would give only a portion to the ministry of their choice and then the rest for their own ministry, that would mean instead of one man doing the ministry, there would be 50,000 Christians doing ministry. Multiply this by the many ministries out there and if this simple plan was followed, the world would be inundated with Christian materials instead of one man in ministry paying himself $3 million dollars a year and buying a personal jet and staying in 5 star hotels. This would also force the frauds out of the ministry especially if they saw their million dollar incomes fading away and it would cause Christians to be much wiser who they give to.
 
It is unfortunate that so many Christians think that check writing is the only ministry they can do. It is never wrong to write a check to a ministry or church, but that must never be the end of our involvement. Every Christian is given a spiritual gift which means every Christian has a personal ministry. Personal ministries need to be activated. In case you do not know what your ministry is at this point does not mean you become a couch potato or a sports fanatic. You can purchase a couple hundred tracts and go pass them out on Main St. There is always some way for a Christian to be proactive in ministry. Don’t seek your church’s blessing because they might delay you, they are in a meeting!
 
Just to quickly summarize, the heart of Christianity is to be actively involved. Incessant meetings can destroy the progress of Christianity and can hinder obedience to God’s Word.

Whenever we Table Obedience, Disobedience takes a Seat at the Meeting!
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