Does Our Food Matter to God?

Does the food on our table hold any significance beyond simple calories? In short, absolutely.

Our whole lives matter to God, but food should probably have a special place in our hearts. It is one of the first things given to humans in the Bible. It is one of the markers of the day (how often do you tell time via meals?). Our lives practically revolve around food, in some shape or form.

Our faith in Jesus should inform every decision we make, including our decisions about food. With that in mind:

Our food should not harm us: I'm guilty of scarfing down fast food and moving on quickly. But I shouldn't, and I'm trying to avoid burger joints as much as I can. We shouldn't abuse our bodies with grease and tons of sugar. We shouldn't hurry through meals just to move on to the next activity. Meals should be enjoyed with friends and family, and ideally shouldn't kill us.

Our food should not harm others: It is becoming more and more difficult to do this, but the food we buy shouldn't be so cheap that the person producing it can't make a living. It shouldn't destroy the environment with pesticides or have to be shipped from half-way around the world.

My family isn't perfect, but we're trying harder. We try to eat beef only once a week (half-price hamburgers at Sonic!). We're trying to eat together at the table, so we can share our day with each other.

The Bible can help: The Bible is full of all sorts of rules about food. We don't have to follow them, as they were prescribed for ancient Israelites, but they do have a common sense behind them. We should probably limit our intake of pork. Shrimp, catfish, and other bottom-feeders probably aren't the best for our health, either. We can use the dietary guidelines of the Old Testament to help us make good food choices.

Remember that food is a gift: We work for it, but our ability to work was given to us by God. There are others who have no way to work, whether because of physical handicapps or economic situations. We should be grateful for whatever finds its way onto our plates, whether it is steak or macaroni and cheese. With that in mind, we should also give to those who have a hard time obtaining the food that we need.

What about you? Do you think that God cares about our food?

Should Christians Watch Football?

During the past couple of years, there has been significant discussion regarding the consequences of playing football. Player health post-football is a serious concern, and medical evidence is showing that it's not healthy to constantly launch yourself into another human being at high speeds.

We won't debate whether those medical concerns are valid. Rather, we'll assume that they are (mostly based on anecdotal evidence of former players health problems post-football careers) and discuss from there.

If playing football causes people to be unhealthy later in life, should Christians watch football?

One of the fundamental tenets of Christianity is that all humans are created in the image of God. As such, we believe that people have value because they exist. They were created by God, and that is where they find their worth. It is not in how much entertainment value they provide us, or how much money they make, or how good they look on camera. In every issue that we discuss, we must remember that we are not talking about numbers or statistics. We are speaking about human beings, who have sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. They are people, loved by God.

One thought that crosses my mind is that of the gladiator fights in ancient Rome. This isn't a stretch. We often hear of football players being compared to these gladiators. Those men fought wild animals and each other, often to the death. Would we support something this violent today? Is it possible that we are already? I don't know if we can take it that far, but I am worried that one day research will prove it to be the case. At that time, with the evidence in hand, will we be responsible for thousands of shattered lives, all for the sake of passing a Sunday afternoon?

We could argue that those men were slaves, and the men that play football today are doing so by choice. This is true, except one could argue that because of socio-economic factors they don't have as much choice as we would imagine. But that would be the subject of another, more scholarly article.

Here I am just trying to raise the question, because I honestly don't know the answer. I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

A Christian Perspective On Illegal Immigration

When Christians are considering their views on how to treat illegal immigrants, they must constantly keep one thing in mind: some of these people are our brothers and sisters in Christ. There should be no difference in the way believers and unbelievers are treated, but we should understand this fact before we make blanket statements about how bad illegal immigrants are for the economy and our nation.

In fact, if Philip Jenkins is right, Christianity is blossoming in Latin America. There is a legitimate revival taking place in the Majority World, and many of those people are traveling to the United States in search of better economic opportunities. If Christians are determined to make the U.S. a more "Christian" nation, they should welcome these immigrants with open arms. They could tip the scales toward a population that is more open to the gospel of Christ.

The point is not to encourage an invasion of illegal immigrants who happen to be Christian. The idea is to take a moment to reflect, and realize that numbers, percentages, and statistics aren't crossing the border. People are crossing our borders. Husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters are coming to this country from many different nations. Some of them legally, and others illegally. Some of them are Christians. Some of them are not.

As we will see in the next few days, we cannot be ignorant of an issue that affects so many. In his book Christians at the Border, author M. Daniel Carroll R. says this: "if Christians want to address the problems posed by the immigration of Hispanic peoples and contribute to possible solutions, then they should do so consciously as Christians and more specifically as biblically informed Christians."

We will be discussing what the Bible says about foreigners, immigrants, and Christianity over the next few weeks.

New Posts for the Fall

The posts have slowed down a bit here, due to the end of summer (things get busy and it gets insanely hot here in Texas).

But we'll be picking up again in fall, so keep coming back. If you want to make sure you don't miss any posts, subscribe via email.

In the meantime, let me know if there are any topics you'd like to discuss. Leave a comment and speak your mind.