Chocolate, Cinnamon, and the Gospel
I have some gossip to dish on Proverbs 9:10 co-founder, Chris. She is allergic to chocolate, cinnamon, and cola! (I know, so sad!) If she ingests any of these substances, her throat closes, and she has trouble breathing. An overload of them, could cause death! Because of this, Chris finds other ways to fill her craving for sweets. (I happen to know caramel is a favorite of hers!).
What does Chris’ food allergy have to do with the Gospel? Well, there are some Christians who find they have an allergy to some of the Truths in Scripture and the complete Gospel message. They begin to have adverse reactions when they read things like, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34 – 29) Or this one in Ephesians 2:1 – 3, that shows us what our pre-saved self, and all unbelievers are like, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of (God’s) wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
So what do you do when you read really hard passages like these, and many others in Scripture, and begin to feel your throat closing up and have trouble breathing? Some Christians follow the example of what those with food allergies do; they find alternatives to fill their “spiritual craving.” They just don’t deal with passages of Scripture that contain hard teachings. Instead of wrestling with it, asking the Holy Spirit for understanding, they look for alternatives. Sometimes that alternative is completely ignoring the hard stuff in the Bible, and only reading the easy to digest passages. Sometimes, that alternative can be ripping a single verse out of the Bible, taking it out of its original context, and turning it into a victory anthem, like Philippians 4:13, “I can do all thing who Christ who strengthens me.” Or sometimes it may be to avoid the Bible all together and instead get their craving filled by “Christian” teachers, pastors, or speakers who tell them things like, “God wants you to be happy,” or “God is waiting to fix every broken thing in your life, if you just have faith that He will.”
Friends, while it is completely appropriate for anyone with a food allergy to avoid the offending foods, it is never appropriate for us to avoid passages of Scripture because they give us “symptoms!” In fact, it’s the exact opposite. When I was a kid, I had a terrible allergy to poison ivy. I would get covered head to toe, even getting it inside my mouth and throat! I suffered for years because of it, but then all of a sudden, I stopped getting it. In fact, now I can be near it, and even touch it, and I won’t get it. By getting it so often, my body has built up antibodies, and I no longer suffer because of it! This is the approach we should have when we feel “allergic symptoms” coming on from tough teachings in the Bible. Submerge yourself in it! Tear it apart, look up commentaries on it, listen to sermons on it, and most importantly, wrestle with it with God, knowing that the Holy Spirit indwells in us to help us understand God’s Word! And while your happiness may not be at the top of the list of things God wants for you, knowing Him better and more intimately definitely is!!
One last thing, can too much Scripture, like too much chocolate or cinnamon, cause your death? You bet it can!! As you submerse yourself in Scripture more and more, you will begin to die to yourself and live for Christ! Like Paul, you will be able to say, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
#TheGospelisBetterthanChocolate #DeathtoSelf
