CONSUMERS vs. PRODUCERS
Hi! If you are new to reading this blog then welcome, and if you have been here before welcome back! I am so glad you are here, because God has brought you here for a reason. One of the many things that is so great about the word of God is that it is living and can be incorporated and lived out through any individual that has a relationship with Christ. No matter what age, individuals can open God’s word and close it feeling inspired. It’s what we do with that inspiration and encouragement that matters. Do you just take it in or do you feel led to go spread the joy? Are you a consumer with dead faith? Or are you a producer with living faith?
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. HEBREWS 4:12
The word of God is perpetual and so is the topic of consumers vs. producers. This topic is prevalent in plants, the economy, and even in society. In the botanical world there are two sides within a thriving ecosystem. Biologically speaking, consumers are living organisms that can not produce their own food and depend on other food sources to survive. However, plants are considered to be producers because they make their own food through sunlight . The economy is also made up of these two categories as well. Producers are those that make the goods in factories and consumers are the individuals that buy the goods.
In society, and as children of God, we all fall into of one of these two categories as well.
Food is a necessity for every individual to be able to sustain life, no matter what part of the world you live in or what age you are. The food you consume has key ingredients to help you grow and contains nutrients that give you energy to get you through each and every day. While every individual relies on food to live, not everyone provides food for themselves and not everyone takes full advantage of the benefits of their meals. The way we take in and live out our faith can be viewed in a similar way. While our faith is wayyy more important than food, we can look at our spirituality in the way we are being fed and feeding others. Most of us tend to consume the word, but do we produce any good from what we learn?
Half of the world finds themselves on the consumer side of the chain physically and spiritually.
Within minutes I can go through a McDonald’s drive-thru and come out with a McChicken in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other. It is extremely quick and easy to go through the drive-thru instead of taking the time to prepare it for yourself. The problem with fast food is that we as humans become consumers. Yes, the companies you are buying from receive compensation, but in the end only YOU get the satisfaction of the delicious food and drink and no other benefits come out of the quick meal. Yes you get the nutrients, but does that quick meal have any long term benefits?
In the same way we often choose the quick route for food, we also choose the quick and easy route for our faith. As Christians, a lot of us fall into a rut where we slowly turn our faith into a routine. We tend to make our time with the Lord as quick as possible. Just as we rush through the drive through, we rush through our prayer time and fellowship. Our passion to learn more about God fades into a routine of reading scripture and hearing stories. Our once detailed prayers turn into a routine that doesn’t come from the heart. We walk into church and listen to what the preacher says, but we are probably just worried where we are gonna eat after we leave. It is so important to understand that we can’t just spend our life being consumers. We take in the word of God just as we take in the Big Mac and fries but does it really satisfy us or our calling? Living as consumers is living a life with dead faith. As children of God we are called to take in his word then go spread it to others around us.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” MATTHEW 28:19-20
The other half of the world, however, are the producers physically and spiritually.
My Grammy and Papa are the prime examples of producers. They live on a farm surrounded by cows and a large garden. My papa gets up early and spends countless hours feeding the cows and taking care of them. My Grammy cooks all of the vegetables to go with our main course. She follows ups the delicious meal with an even better dessert- all made from scratch of course. At the end of the day, they have a delicious meal sitting on the table for our family that was all produced (and later consumed haha) by all of us. The fact that they take the time to produce this food for my family adds so much value to each of our lives.
As Christians we are not just called to take in the word of God for ourselves. We need to use what we learn and read to tell others. We are put on this Earth to do Kingdom work. We are placed in this temporary place to point people to God. If we are just taking in his word and not doing anything with it are we really carrying out his plan? My Grammy and Papa don’t just take in and consume the vegetables in their garden, but they produce even better and delicious things. As Christians we must become producers. We must produce fruit and tell people about the good news. Just as my grandparents produce vegetables and share them with their loved ones, we should do the same with the word. We, as Christians, have to share the good news we consume. Living our lives as producers makes our faith come to life!
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like”. JAMES 2:22-24
We can not just consume the word of God and do nothing with it. We are called to know Him, but we are also called to make him known. It is great to know Him and consume his word, but that is not enough. We also have to produce good works that come from our faith to make Him known. So are you going to step up and start telling other’s about the word of God?
If you fill like you don’t know enough, lean upon the Lord.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” PROVERBS 3:5-6
If you are scared you won’t be able to find the words to say, the Lord will provide.
“The Holy Spirit will give you the words to say at the moment when you need them”. LUKE 12:12
I pray that when you pray you soak in what God has to say. I pray that you stay still enough to listen to His voice, but quickly continue to do exactly what He says. I pray that when you open up the word that you see clearly what God has in store for you- that you read the word and through the parables and psalms you leave feeling encouraged and inspired. But, that you use that encouragement and inspiration to spread it to other people.
The world has enough consumers. It has enough people just shopping and wanting to get the latest fashion or best food. But the world doesn’t have enough people standing out and starting their own trends. In the same way we have enough people taking in what God has to say, but not enough going out to tell others about what is on their heart. What we don’t have is enough producers willing to feed the people instead of consuming of just consuming it. We have to find a balance where we are being fed, by the Lord and continue to feed others.
So today are you going to continue to be a consumer with dead faith?
Or are you going to be a producer with living faith?
