“Would Jesus eat cheese doodles and lime jello at the church potluck dinner?” was the question posed by Leslie Fields in a provocative article in Christianity Today magazine, November, 2010. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/november/9.22.html)
It was enough to get my attention. Initially, I was ready to dismiss her as another tree-hugging, nut-eating goof who is completely out of touch with the real world, but her thoughts made a lot of sense! While we don’t worship our food, nor do we think that we can somehow become more acceptable to God by keeping dietary laws, how and what we eat is connected to our stewardship of the earth and our bodies. Both of those issues are of real concern to the Lord as a part of our discipleship!
Many Christians are very sensitive about using alcohol and tobacco, as we should be, yet they think eating a ton of sugary, fatty foods is of no consequence to the Lord. If the true issue is maintaining our bodies as ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ then eating ourselves to death ought to concern us as much as drink or smokes. Then yesterday, my assistant pastor sent along a article with the title – Pastor, you’re probably fat. 6 things to do about it. (http://theresurgence.com/2010/04/16/pastor-youre-probably-fat-6-things-to-do-about-it)
After reading that, I realized that the Lord was trying to get my attention. (Did I tell you that I am one of His slower children?) Isn’t it amazing that we can be so blind in certain areas of our lives?
As Fields points out with clarity, Christians must not fall into the ‘food as righteousness’ cult that has become the obsession of many Americans. She writes, “We have become mindful and puritanical about food, and mindless and licentious about sex.” In another insight, she says, “Perhaps in no other time has our culture so widely absorbed the largely Eastern concept that physical, mental, and spiritual purity can be derived from food—and that we earn our virtue through vigilance over fork and plate … this approach can lead to myopic self-absorption and legalism.”
Paul’s instructions need to be taken more seriously by those who be Christ’s disciples. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. … So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:26, 31, NIV) We eat the way we do, in part, because our schedules are so over-full that we grab fast food on the run, allowing little time to prepare or consume healthful foods and to enjoy the relationships that are built by humans over shared bread! Ask my adult children about their best memories, about the altar at which they received holy instruction. They won’t talk about church. They will tell you about our family table and dinner time.
Might we start to recover spiritual health by weaning ourselves from the quick, easy to eat, empty diets that also rob us of time to appreciate all that the Lord has given us? Jesus never wanted us to fall into the trap of thinking we could make ourselves acceptable to God by what we eat. The kingdom of heaven is not a matter of eating and drinking. Yet, like so many parts of our lives, the Lordship of Christ will extend to our consumption habits, both to what we eat, how we eat it, and how much we eat.
Now, what are we going to do about it?
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