To Eat.....or Not to Eat?

Bacon-topped icing.....pretty enticing?

These days it's all the rage. It's enmeshed on the menus. It entices in the adds. It's layered on burgers, wrapped 'round Twinkies, mixed in mac'n'cheese, and even glorified as garnish on cupcakes. What is it? It's bacon, a food forbidden for the chosen people of God. But what's wrong with bacon for those who are non-Jewish believers in Jesus? What should our relationship be.....with bacon? "Too eat.....or not to eat bacon?" That is the question I put before you today.

Leviticus 11 

As sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we want what we want, when we want it. Yes indeed, we want our way! And we don't fancy the word no! When boundaries are set between us and our desires, we find ways to cover our ears, so as to be free from knowing our restrictions. We want freedom! In many respects, more than we usually dare to admit, we adults are very much like stubborn kids, and we probably have no idea how much we contribute to our own detriment. 

Oh, that we would be more pliable in the hands of the Master! Oh, that we would wholeheartedly seek to follow God's Word of Truth that brings Life! Oh, that we would recognize the seducing spirit that issues forth from the Deceiver! Wouldn't we avoid many-a-trouble if we simply put our trust in the goodness of God and the wisdom of His Word? Wouldn't we find true freedom if we were fully willing to submit our will for His will?

For just a moment, consider a thought that perhaps you have never considered before. Imagine.....WHAT IF you came to believe that the food you consumed mattered to your Father? WHAT IF your Heavenly Father told you that He had a specially formulated diet for you, one that would mark you as His, one that would bring you health and blessing, and one that would also bring glory to Him and His kingdom? Would you trust that your Daddy knew what was best for you to eat? Would you, if you believed that it mattered to your Abba, give up the beloved foods that had once been part of your lifestyle and that had once been such a source of comfort and pleasure?

WHAT IF God does care? - Click here!

The question at hand is more than a matter of what we will eat. At its core, it is a matter of the heart. To eat, or not to eat bacon, or any other unclean food, is a question of your heart's desire. Do we believe that the whole Bible is entirely true? Will we allow the Word of God to direct the details of our lives? 

Here are a few more WHAT IFs in regard to the question of eating versus not-eating such things as bacon.....

• WHAT IF there was a spiritual object lesson in denying our fleshly desire for this particular flesh?
• WHAT IF the idea resisting something that smells good and tastes good is exactly the point of denying ourselves of this pleasure?
• WHAT IF the spiritual lesson in the habit of denying our flesh of this unclean meat is that, "Not everything that tastes good is good for you."
• And deeper still, WHAT IF we learned, "Not everything that our flesh desires is good for us."
• WHAT IF the Enemy of our souls is also the Enemy of our body? 
• WHAT IF the Deceiver wants us to be sick in soul and mind.....and body?
• WHAT IF the Deceiver wants to rob us of the blessings of obedience?
• WHAT IF those who are selling us the notion that pork is good for us are misinformed or just plain interested in profits?

Life without bacon

And allow me please, a second serving of questions.....with just a spoonful of sarcasm.....

• Why would Jesus cast out demons from the two demon possessed men into a herd of pigs? And why did the demons cry out to be cast into the swine? And why would Jesus allow the pigs to run over a cliff and die?! And why didn't Jesus even seem to care when the owner's pig business went downhill?! Wasn't that mean of Jesus?!?
• Did Jesus die on the cross so we could eat bacon? Bfffff!
• Is that why Christians eat ham on Easter instead of lamb on Passover?
• Does eating ham on Easter declare the extent of Jesus salvation? Is it a celebration that God re-newed the pig, making it healthy for our consumption? 
• Or maybe the reverse is true. Perhaps since the cross, God changed human bodies so that bacon would no longer be bad for us????? Hmmm?
• OK, well maybe God decided that after Jesus resurrection, those who believed in Him no longer needed to be set apart for Him by the food they would eat. 
• Maybe the whole point of Christians eating bacon is for the sake of evangelism. Consider.....If Christians are not too weird, if we fit in with the world just enough, and if we eat bacon and other things that people all over the world like to eat, then we will be more accepted and likely to get invited to parties and homes of non-believers, and then we will eat their food, and they will like us, and we will become friends, and they will see how nice we are because we love Jesus, and then they will want to be like us and love Jesus too!!!!! And we'll all be happy 'cause we all love Jesus and get to eat bacon!!!!! Hooray!
• Here's another angle.....Jesus came to redeem the bad stuff right?!? So therefore He made bacon good! It's ALMOST as if God said after Jesus death and resurrection, "YOU CAN EAT BACON!!!!!"
• I meant, c'mon.....if anyone can change his mind, then God can too! After all He's God and He can do whatever He wants. Right?!? 
• Besides, doesn't it just kinda makes sense that God did away with the some of the OLD Testament stuff when Jesus died and rose again?!?
• For example, Christians now celebrate on Sunday, not the Sabbath. So there's an example of a commandment that has been changed!
• Well, maybe God just did away with parts of the Old Testament?
• So, I'm wondering.....what parts of my Bible should I rip out or take a black Sharpie marker to? I mean, the Bible is a very looong book, and I really don't want to waste my time on stuff that doesn't apply to me. 
• Perhaps I should just throw away the whole Old Testament?????
• After all, it's OLD right?
• Done away with, right?
• It has nothing to do with us today, right?
• So why do we even teach those antiquated OLD Testament stories to our children anyway? 
• And the OLD laws were just for the Jews, weren't they?
• So why waste my time learning about all those weird, freaky laws that God gave to Israel?
• Besides, believers in Jesus are the NEW Israel right?
• And Jesus gave His followers a NEW commandment and a NEW covenant right?
• And that means we're FREE from the boring OLD law! Right? 
• 'Cause law is bad. Yeah. That's right! And bacon is good!

UNLEARN the lies we have inherited