There is a line of reasoning that has floated around the Christian, real-food “blogosphere” for awhile now — “Only Jesus can save you, so food is not important. Food should not be worshiped and should not replace Jesus in your life. All our days are numbered and no choices that we make can change that.”
Now, I agree…to a point. I definitely agree with the first two sentences. It’s that last sentence that has me a bit worried. And frankly every time I read a post that follows this theme (and I have, from several bloggers — I am not picking on any one person, and I am not saying they’re wrong. I believe they felt led to write what they did, just as I feel led to write this) I feel a deep stirring. I don’t even disagree, per se, I just sort of think that this reasoning lacks balance and more importantly, misses the point. I have to share my thoughts.
Frustration with Real Food
What has led a lot of bloggers to write this is their sheer frustration with real food. It’s not that they have a problem with the food itself; they have a problem with all of the intense and very mixed messages flying at them. People are constantly saying things like “Grains are good. Grains are bad. Meat is good. Meat is bad. If you eat candy, you’re poisoning your body. Maybe if you ate better, you wouldn’t have health problems.”
The first thoughts (grains and meat) are simply confusing to many. The last two thoughts (candy, health issues) are not Christian in any respect. Even if you believe candy is poison and don’t consume it in your home, you don’t have the right to judge another’s choice. Even worse, suggesting that someone may not have experienced a particular health issue if only they had a better diet is essentially blaming them for their own choices. Even supposing it’s true — which is only a maybe – it is not your responsibility to point it out. Love the person, and if you have a chance to gently speak into their lives in a helpful way when they are ready to hear it, that is something to consider prayerfully.
These very mixed and sometimes harsh messages turn people off to real food. They stop listening to all the voices. They believe that these voices are, in a sense, evil, and are in opposition to Jesus. They believe people are worshiping the food instead of God.
Food is not to be worshiped.
Nothing is to be worshiped except for our Lord. But the problem here is not real food. It is not any form of natural living. That misses the point.
God VS. Food
Somehow, this has been worked out to be in opposition. God OR food. That is the message that others are receiving. And I think that simply misses the point.
God gave us food. God gave us plants, animals, grains, herbs…. God gave us all of this amazing, wonderful creation! We should thank Him for it and appreciate it. We should partake of it and be glad. When we align ourselves with God and His creation, we can be the best version of ourselves, and fulfill the destiny that He has laid out for us.
We cannot change our destiny. We cannot use God’s creation as a substitute for God. We cannot make our lives longer or avoid hardships that God has chosen uniquely for us. We will still experience illness and sorrow and challenges. Choosing to follow God’s path does not exempt us from that; the Bible is clear about this.
We also cannot judge another’s path. While it may be true for some that choosing a healthy lifestyle exempts them from chronic illness, it will not be true for others. God chooses the obstacles we must overcome and He chooses them for a reason. We don’t always understand that. We don’t know about others’ walk with God. None of us know the mind of God. This is why it is critical to pray before opening your mouth and to speak in love and with the intention to help. It may be that God uses someone to bring attention to His creation in order to heal someone else. Or it may be that it is that person’s time to leave the earth and rejoin God in heaven. We don’t know.
But God isn’t in opposition with food!
Food, herbs, any of these things — these are from God. We feel better when we follow God’s plan for us — which will look different for everyone. We are able to do good things in God’s name when we are healthy. When we make decisions about what to put in or on our bodies, we turn to God and we ask His advice. God and His creation are forever intertwined.
Guilt, Real Food and God
Too many people feel guilty because they don’t live up to what their neighbors or friends or bloggers are doing. They can’t or don’t want to take certain steps. They allow food or natural health choices to bog them down. And they see “freedom” in pushing it away and focusing only on God.
This is dangerous, because it leads to this thought: “The choices I make don’t matter, because God knows every day of my life.” He does. But He also gave you free will, and He expects you to exercise that prayerfully and mindfully. I’m afraid that people who become so frustrated will simply give up and stop trying to eat well or be healthy because “it just doesn’t matter; only God matters.”
As I said, God and His creation are intertwined. You cannot separate them.
The problem isn’t the food (or medicine, or other health-related choice). The problem is the people who are not behaving in a Christ-like manner. The people who will condemn you for making the wrong choice, for being too strict or not strict enough.
The solution isn’t to give up on your journey to appreciate God’s creation and fulfill your individual destiny in Him; the solution is to ignore the naysayers. God and His creation remain as perfect as ever! It is the other voices you must ignore.
Do not feel guilty for prayerfully considering your options and going with what feels right to you. Do not allow other voices to tell you that the way God is leading you is wrong. Do not allow others to tell you that you’re moving at too slow a pace, or that you are harming your family by not following them. Ignore them, for they are not God.
Following Your Path
We are not perfect. Nobody is. And everyone has a very different path. Do not ever feel guilty for listening to God’s voice and following His lead even if others do not understand. We have been told that others will not understand, and that we will be criticized! We need to expect that.
Real food is not always the primary issue in our lives. From hour to hour the main priority shifts, and that may mean that we sometimes choose food that is “less than optimal” because we have another priority. Only God can show us what we ought to be focusing on. We cannot do it all. We should feel no guilt for this.
If you buy your kids fast food for dinner so that you have time to attend their soccer game and cheer them on, the relationships that you build in doing so (rather than being stuck in your kitchen, preparing the ‘perfect’ meal) will be worth it. Is it a perfect solution? No. Is it sometimes the reality that we face? Yes.
On the other hand, if you have a child with severe food allergies, you don’t have the luxury of being “free” with food choice. You should not feel guilty for accidentally alienating those who do not understand or for what your child can’t experience. Having a child who is healthy and happy is far more important than any other rest of that.
Just in case you still feel like others are doing “better” than you are in the real food department (not that it matters!), a bunch of us bloggers will be doing some “real food confessions” in July, telling you all the ways that we fail to feed our families perfectly!
God Touches All Parts of Our Lives
I really don’t like this compartmentalization of God that seems to occur. God OR food…God OR medicine…and so on. Not that it’s true for everyone and it’s entirely possible that I just don’t understand another’s thoughts or feelings. I’m not judging anyone in particular; I’m speaking for the way that I think.
God touches all parts of my life. There is no part that is exempt from His plan and His guidance. He guides my food choices, my medical choices, how many children I will have, where they go to school, even what I might say to someone who has hurt me. Every part of my life has God in it. I don’t need to worry about replacing Him because He is the center. I don’t worry about what others say to me because they are not my judges.
I move on things even when I don’t understand them because I feel God has called me to. Usually that ends up amazingly, when I step out on faith.
I hope this comes through in everything I write, and that you all understand that I’m sharing my walk, my convictions, my passions with you — which come to me through God. I’m not telling you the ‘right’ way to live. I’m sharing with you where I am. My intent is never to make you feel guilty because you are not in the same place I am. My intent is to support you all, prayerfully, as you journey to wherever God would have you go.
I hope that the God vs. Food mentality has been put to rest. Enjoy and appreciate God’s creation and ignore the very fallen people who would tell you that you ought to ever place God and His creation at odds.
**This post has been entered in Real Food Wednesday.**
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TESTING!
Very, very well put
Thank you for saying this so perfectly. I’ve had this conversation with many but I think I’ve failed to do so as lovingly. Ugh. I think I’ll just send them here from now on…
If you opt for unprocessed foods including meat and veggies you can’t go wrong.
Much of the processed food resemble food, but are not real food…
eat healthy foods and you can hopefully just enjoy food. I opt to stay away from main straid food advice as they advocate junk foods and highly processed food consumption. I try not to opsess over food…
I agree with Karen’s comments above as well. Kate-your words could not have been more timely!! May God’s grace cover all of us!! Thank you!!
Just have to say, that yes sometimes fast food is the best option…
We try to avoid it, but life is more important…
Well said! And I appreciate your bravery for speaking to such a delicate subject. The blogosphere on this issue, though I’m sure well-intended, seemed to send a mixed message that was very disappointing to me. I am personally on the road to healing through whole foods (by the grace of God!) and cannot live by the famous 80/20 (for now.) I believe they intended that the “God should be our focus” message be central, but somehow being zealous about eating responsibly became compartmentalized as an idol rather than a lifestyle action based on honoring Him in all areas of life. Your post really clears things up and brings great balance to the issue and for that I say “thank you” and “Amen. Amen. Amen!.”
Thank you!! That is great. I really appreciate your words on this subject. As Jamie said above, does bring balance to the issue, which I think has been lacking.
I totally agree with everything you’ve said here. I’ve come to view food/health as another area where we need to be good stewards of what we’ve been given. And that our own personal “best” is going to look different from other people’s best, so it’s never reasonable to compare. I have often been overwhelmed by the contradictory information regarding what foods are best for us, so I try to take a middle ground approach.
I have to say though, your attitude is not what I have encountered most. Even among Christian friends, I have come across an attitude that if we just eat perfectly enough, all of our diseases and afflictions would be gone. That it’s ONLY food that causes these things. I just can’t agree with that. I feel like it disregards the fact that we live in a fallen and broken world and that extends to our bodies. I also feel like it can give way to an attitude of idolatry towards food as the ultimate healer. When the truth of course is that ALL healing comes form God, whether it be via food, medicine or something else.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I appreciate what you’ve shared here. Especially about priorities needing to be fluid and that sometimes food needs to be important, but sometimes it needs to be sacrificed for what’s more important. I saw the title of your post and was immediately on guard, but found what you had to say a refreshing change from most of what I’ve encountered on this topic.
I really enjoyed and appreciated this post. I am enjoying moving into the real food realm, but still struggle with guilt every time I must make a less than optimal food choice for me or my family. Or when I just feel like eating something that I don’t think is perfect for my body! I do struggle with comparing myself to the many bloggers I am following. Thank you.
I agree with you, and disagree with you. I agree that we should not use faith in God as an excuse to not eat real foods; ex: God has ordained my days, so nothing I do or don’t do can change that, so I can eat whatever I want. Such an attitude is selfish and takes no responsibility for one’s actions.
However, having read several such blog posts as you mention, I don’t think that was their point. I think the point they were trying to make (or at least how I feel on the subject) is this:
Many real-food blogs, both Christian and Non-Christian, have a very “All or Nothing,” or “Holier than Though,” or “I’m better than everyone else because I only eat real foods, nothing artificially sweetened/colored/etc. ever crosses the lips of mine or my kids mouths, how could you ever even think of eating processed foods” attitude. Such blogs are very discouraging, especially to those such as myself who are still new to real foods (I’ve only been on this journey for about a year). Yes, we do need to be mindful of what we eat. Yes, some people need to be “stricter” about following a real foods diet, such as those with allergies, or those who are for a season need to focus on healing (such as those on the GAPS diet). However, for most people, the fear, shame, and guilt, of not being able to do it all is more harmful than occasionally eating a processed meal.
Hi Katie,
I know many didn’t intend it that way at all, and that they were addressing some of the, ah…abrasive attitudes that are unfortunately a part of the real food blogging world, and the guilt this can cause in the blogs’ followers. I even had a conversation with some of them privately about this. My fear was that people who were really struggling would misread it and (unfortunately) use it as an excuse to just let go and stop worrying about it food at all. That’s not the right approach either. I don’t think any of the bloggers have done this — as they are all still real-food bloggers — but I’ve learned over the last 2.5 years that people read through their own experiences and interpret things in their own ways, and sometimes come to very different and surprising conclusions about things. I was hoping to add a voice of balance to the argument where another perspective was perhaps needed.
Thank you for explaining. I think I saw your post as a challenge to the peace and balance in my real food journey that I was beginning to feel after reading the posts that you mentioned. Now I understand where you are coming from.
This is a tough subject to cover because these issues stem from personal conviction. I think we all agree that Real Food doesn’t “save” us; only Jesus does that. But we are all called to stewardship over the different areas of our lives; our health our relationships, our homes, our thought life, etc. Sometimes issues are clearly black and white and sometimes they are not. Real Food issues are often grey. We know that we ought to take care of our bodies but it can be confusing what is the best course of action. There are certain stewardships that are a greater priority than our bodies, such as relationship with God and family. The important thing is to have grace for where others are on their journeys, and be patient with ourselves as we grow. There are seasons of life that we must focus more clearly on rebuilding our health if we want to be able to function at a high level. And then there are seasons that we must adjust focus to really sow into other areas. You are right to be concerned over the mentality of God vs. Food because He made food for both our sustenance and our pleasure.
Thank you for writing this. I very briefly touched on this in a post I wrote on Easter, but you say it much more eloquently.
(Here is the post if you are interested;
http://rediscoverthekitchen.blogspot.com/2012/04/food-and-faith.html )
For me, I see so much in the Bible commanding us to be good stewards of the earth, gardeners, caretakers of all the life on this world, including animals for consumption. Processed food does the exact opposite of that. Feed lots, GMOs… not godly, not at all. It is about more than just what is on our plate in front of us. The consequences of what we eat go far beyond ourselves.
Then there is the issue of Jesus saying that we are his hands and feet. If we truly are, then we should be using them for good, including good food, good medicine. Like you said, God is in ALL THINGS.