| Bible Study: Hungry Eyes |
By: Evangelist W.C. “Dub” Dellinger
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Growing up among Christians, watching and studying their way of life and how they treat each other, has an effect on a young boy as he grows into manhood. My Dad always had compassion for others. Even though we were as poor as everyone else, I noticed how he would always have a few dollars to buy someone groceries. The times that we would get in the buggy and go to revival meetings (referred to as Big Meetings back then), puts a foundation in a young boy that he will never forget; nor does he want to.
As I study my Bible, I can feel this same Spirit in the people chosen to speak for Christ. As I grow older, I can see love at work in many people as we have a conversation. Our conversations tell a lot about us. My wife and I overheard a man and his wife saying how they were going to outsmart all others and get what they wanted. That memory came back when I learned that both of them had died.
Today, preaching is watered down in many of our churches with idle talk. People are setting in church with hungry eyes and souls needing to be born again. They are hungry for the true word of God, to see Christians loving and connecting with each other, to hear how they can be saved. Instead they are fed a bunch of memorized repeats and formal worship that loses its effect after about the second time. Soon these pastors go through their ritual without giving a thought to what they are saying and neither does the congregation. They have attended church, worn their finest to catch the attention of others, given to the church so it can be bigger and better than the one down the road and lost souls are going away hungry. In fact, some of the members are still hungry and just don’t know it. When the service is over, they all go home hungry. No one was saved, no one grew in the Lord, no one testified about Jesus and no eyes were filled with joy. Those hungry eyes will return next Sunday and go through the same ritual. Soon Satan has them caught in a trap. Hungry eyes begin to think they are satisfied with what they are getting and they accept this ritual as a relationship with Christ.
What went wrong? Lack of the right leaders, preachers being afraid to use the “real” truth, afraid of stepping on the toes of a big tither, afraid of criticism. It’s all about filling the church pews and getting more tithes in. In the process, God is left out and people go to hell because hungry eyes were not filled with the joy of the Lord.
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