I had an Old Testament professor who proclaimed, "You can eat your way into Christianity, and you can eat your way out of Christianity." As my appreciation for the Bible has grown, that statement makes more and more sense.
Here is what eating looks like to me on most days... a mad dash to put as many calories into my system as possible before I run out of food or get uncomfortably full. Stuffing myself used to be a daily occurrence. Then I was challenged to slow down my consumption. I found eating to be far more natural. I would take breaks in my eating, and found I had to actually enjoy my environment. I had to talk. Most of the time, when I eat, I talk before and after the meal. But during the meal, I do not talk. I eat. This had to change. Controlling my eating became one of the most important disciplines of my daily life.
Philippians 3 warns us of those whose god is their stomachs. I doubt that Paul is warning us of morbid obesity, but is drawing an important analogy from our stomachs. When our stomachs crave something, we can destroy ourselves trying to fill that craving. Stomach cravings are undeniable, strong, and are usually met with indulgence. And a simple look around at US consumerism reveals a god of the stomach. Paradise is indulgence. Check out the past 35 years of advertising here. Paradise is related directly to consumption.
I compare that to an Eastern view of paradise. Immortality, in many Far Eastern traditions (like Taoism), is marked by thriving on less. Stories of immortals include drinking the dew from a leaf and being satisfied from it. Biblical paradise seems to be neither over-indulgence nor asceticism. It seems to be satisfaction in Christ.
John 6 describes a warning from Jesus to avoid the bread which does not satisfy. These are ways in which we eat our way out of faith. What is the unsatisfactory food in your life?
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