In the month of January, we took a hiatus from regular services in our little church, Lifegate, spending each Saturday night in a time of prayer interlaced with worship. There had been a consensus among the leadership that we needed to set this time aside to inquire of God what He wants to do in and through this body. We came looking to Him for direction.
We didn’t hear much, perhaps not as we expected and hoped, although the meetings were full of a precious kind of peace and a sense of God’s pleasure in this consecrated effort.
The congregation was encouraged to contact the elders about any dreams, visions, or impressions that we received as individuals during that time, and by the end of the month there was a collection of various “words.” A mid-week meeting was called to collaborate and pray over these thoughts. Some interesting things came to light, but there was one thing that left me blank, as I believe it did everyone else, including the fellow who had received the impression. After feeling burdened for some of the disenfranchised youth we’ve had wander in off the streets, Nick, an elder, had had a mental image of a large dollop of butter on a spreading knife.
I thought about this for several days, thinking how random and unfathomable it was. Then God quoted a scripture to me in my mind, “Ye have not because ye ask not” (James 4:2). In this context: “You don’t have understanding because you haven’t asked for it.”
So I asked God what Nick’s weird vision meant, and it was amazing how the thoughts immediately began to pour into my brain. I thought of how bread, no matter how healthy and hearty the loaf, is dry and unpalatable without butter.
Then I thought of a particular fellow, who, when I bring homemade bread to a potluck, slathers on butter a full quarter inch thick. If questioned, he’ll say that it’s important in the digestion of the bread. Now I suddenly wondered whether this were true: Does butter really help with digestion? Later when I went online, this is what I found at http://www.tendergrassfedmeat.com/:
Traditionally, bread was always eaten with plenty of butter. The two foods complemented each other. The butter facilitated metabolism, digestion, and the ability of the body to absorb nutrients. This butter was always made from the whole, unprocessed milk of grass-fed cows, and was loaded with all kinds of vitamins, and minerals. The bread, made from sprouted grains, and often fermented by traditional sourdough methods, contained important nutrients, and provided a perfect vehicle for the butter. Just about every traditional European cuisine began each meal with this kind of bread and butter, which was considered absolutely essential for good health and digestion.
Of course, in our present day, this metaphor falls short. With the prevalence of the fat phobia and gluten intolerance, bread and butter are bad words to a lot of people. Just like the promised “land of milk and honey” is difficult to appreciate when we live in a land of hypoglycemia and lactose intolerance! “But from the beginning it was not so.”
So what is the spiritual application for bread and butter? It came quickly to mind that Jesus called Himself the bread of life. Actually, I had just been reading that very passage in John 6, verses 32 to 58, and Jesus uses the word bread, in reference to Who He is, no less than eleven times here. Evidently He really wants to put this across!
Here are some of the things He says. Try to read carefully, through the familiarity, and really hear what He’s saying:
“The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.
“Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”
The Old Testament (Deuteronomy 8:3) says, and Jesus echoes, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Another thought: the first chapter of John tells us clearly that the pre-incarnate Jesus was the word (of God). In Mary’s womb, “the word became flesh,” and then He lived among us, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). So Jesus was (is) both the bread that comes down from heaven and the word that comes out of God’s mouth. We definitely want to be feeding on Him!
How do we “feed” on Him? By coming to Him, listening, believing His Word, and learning to walk by His Spirit. There is Life to be had here, for ourselves, and then to be shared with others.
So where does the butter come in, and what does it have to do with God’s mandate for us believers, not only in our little church, but all over the world?
The thought of eating bread by itself is not particularly appetizing. On the other hand, if the bread is wholesome, fresh, and nutritious, and spread generously with butter, there’s hardly a snack more satisfying.
For many people outside of God’s fold, and even those who are inside but jaded, the truths of God are dry and unpalatable. Difficult to chew. Can’t break them down; can’t digest them; can’t assimilate them. The thought of reading the Bible is about as unappetizing as a mouthful of dry bread.
Even mature believers need help from one another—at different times, in different areas of our lives—to receive and digest God’s truth.
In God’s giving us a picture of Lifegate (and the Church at large) as a dollop of butter ready to be spread, I believe He is saying that our function is to wisely and creatively present the wisdom of God in any and every situation in a way that makes it appetizing and digestible. A hearty meal, full of spiritual nurture.
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up (1 Corinthians 14:26).
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