Going without Food

In our [United States] culture today, the idea of going without food is seen as anywhere from worrisome to troubling. The idea that anyone would purposefully and willingly go without food can only be conceived of in the context of some form of medical necessity. God forbid that we, as Americans, would willingly choose to go without a meal. Well, I for one, am generally one of those Americans. After all, my ancestors fought so I would have the freedom to eat three times a day, not to mention snacks here and there. Right?

But what if there were more to life than just eating well each and every day? what if God blessed us with abundance in food so that we would see the hungry of the world with some compassion, and actually be moved to do something for those whose daily diet was far less than our own?

The reason I bring this up is that I have several students and a couple of other adult leaders who are doing something special. As I write this, we're almost four hours into something called the '30 Hour Famine.' Put on by an international aid organization called 'World Vision', the '30 Hour Famine' is a way to both raise money (for projects that will directly benefit children and villages around the 2/3's world) and awareness (yours, mine, and those who give their support of the day-to-day situations faced by so many in the world). We're meeting up with other church youth groups from around the Philly suburbs tonight. We'll worship God together, pray together, talk together, do service projects together, and we'll go hungry together.

I've done this many times, and over the years, I'm always amazed at the reactions of some parents here and there to the idea of their little baby bunnykins missing out on a meal, or the idea that "I could never do that!" But much of that comes from a lack of understanding, both of God, and of going without food for the purposes of God. There are many passages in the Bible where God called people to go without food for a particular period of time, something called 'fasting'. I know some people see that as an Old Testament thing, something Moses and the prophets did. But what do you make of the fact that Jesus did it, too? The best example is from Luke 4, where, filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus headed into the wilderness for the final preparation to the start of His public ministry. Okay, okay, that was for 40 days, and was certainly supernatural. But in the end, I find it an unbiblical and hollow argument to bring God into a discussion against fasting. Even the history of the Christian Church is repleat with teachings and examples of the proper place of fasting in the life of believers. Why, John Wesley is even reported as having said that he wouldn't even ordain a man who wasn't already fasting at least twice a week. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters often fast during Lent and other holy observances.

Personally, I wish Protestants did more these days to teach on fasting (as well as other practices of spiritual formation). Fasting, like anything else we do as Christians, isn't going to make us more spiritual. But fasting does do a few things. For one thing, it helps us identify with those who are not as blessed as we are. Secondly, in creating the space for hunger, our hearts and minds are more teachable as to our hunger for God. And third, in the time, and with the money we would have spent on a meal, we can focus that time and the resources for the purposes of God.

Anyhow, as you read this, consider how giving up food can be an opportunity for God to speak to you. Consider how you might experience a different form of freedom that only Christ could fight and die and live again for you to have and know. Consider how going without food for one meal might bring glory to the Heavenly Father.