"Hey Dad, I need a [fill in the blank]..."

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Big whoop. What American doesn't already know that? If we hadn't been created by such a God, we'd almost surely have created Him. In fact, God (this particular God) is all we ever wanted, and I have serious doubts as to whether we would put up with any other sort. We are served by a God who sees our needs and acts with some serious divine need-meeting. This God is like a Genie in a bottle, and our only wish is, "I wish that my every wish would come true."

This really is a great deal. We have needs (do we ever?!), and God meets every single one of them. I'm not making this up; it's in the Bible and Paul said it. If you have a need, God will meet that need. How do I know I have a need? It's easy. If I want it, I need it.

I need a haircut (and not some $12 hack job).
I need a late model BMW (God's servants must show forth His generosity).
I need new clothes (I'll donate the old stuff to make room in the closet).
I need a hamburger ("give us this day...").
I need to be happy (surely God wants no less for me).

The list goes on and on and on and on. Not to worry, though. God will supply my every need.

The church has to be very careful when it begins to talk about "meeting people's needs." What are needs, and who decides what they are? Given that we live in a fundamentally narcissistic culture driven by ever unquenched desires, um, excuse me, "needs," can we really be trusted to determine what our real needs are?

Jesus doesn't meet our needs; he rearranges them. He cares very little about most things that I assume are my needs, and he gives me needs I would've never had if I hadn't met Jesus. He reorders them.

I used to ask seminarians, "Why are you in seminary?" They'd say, "I like meeting people's needs." And I'd say, "Whoa. Really? If you try that with the people I know, they'll eat you alive."

Now, if you're a pastor in Honduras, it might be okay to define your ministry as meeting needs, because more people in Honduras have interesting biblical needs – food, clothing, housing. But most people in the churches I know get those needs met without prayer. So they've moved on to "needs" like orgasm, a satisfying career, an enjoyable love life, a positive outlook on life, and stuff the Bible has absolutely no interest in. (from an interview with Will Willimon).

It is more than merely possible that most of what we consider needs are not really needs at all. Maybe we have developed some itches that are not worth scratching. And beyond that, maybe one way the church can serve Jesus faithfully is by pointing out those things that are worth wanting and those that are not. In doing that we might even learn not to want them ourselves.

Anyway, I'd write more, but my kids need a PlayStation3 and I need to get to Walmart.