Food and Medicine as
a
Spiritual Act of
Worship
By Jim Lynn, Copyrighted 2007
An elder of the Church visited a 3rd
grade Bible class one Sunday morning. He asked the class
why people call him a Christian? A little girl named
Laura raised her hand. “Yes,” said the elder pointing to
the girl, “go ahead.”
In sweet innocence, Laura replied, “Because they don’t
know you?”
Ba-da Bing, Ba-da Boom!
Indeed, I often wonder why God puts up with us
as His children given the way we often think and act. No,
I’m not speaking about holiness, though holiness
certainly is an element of faith. Rather, I’m referring
to the way Christians walk in step with the world when it
comes to their health and lifestyle.
Based on health and lifestyle, most people would
be hard pressed to single out a Christian in a crowd of
unbelievers. Christians eat the same junk foods, drink
the same soft drinks, get just as obese, come down with
the same diseases and are treated by doctors trained
in the same medicine, take the same drugs and often die
from complications following the same medications and
treatment.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not questioning
anyone’s faith, their Church attendance, worship, church
activity, or none of that stuff. No, rather what I’m
questioning is the spiritual disconnect I see in the
operation of our faith with our own physical health and
well-being. I mean it’s as though many Christians
consider food and medicine as being irrelevant to the
practice of their faith.
Oh sure, we pray over our food and we pray for
healing when under the care of a doctor. I am not talking
about that. What I’m talking about is not giving
consideration to food and medicine as being a weapon of
Satan. Crazy, you say?
Let me give you a word of knowledge from God’s
Word. It is our responsibility as Christians to “test
everything” and to “avoid every kind of evil” (I
Thessalonians 5:21). Everything certainly includes food
and medicine, two large parts of our life.
Time and again, God’s Word tells us to; ”live a
life worthy of the calling” we received (Ephesians 4:1),
to not be “conformed to the pattern of this world”
(Romans 12:2), “not to be yoked together with
unbelievers” (II Corinthians 6:14). “For what does a
believer have in common with an unbeliever” (II
Corinthians 6:15)?
We typically relate those verses to avoiding
sin, and rightfully so. But there’s more than holiness at
stake here. There is a matter of righteousness in how we
care for our fleshly body as well.
For “What agreement is there between the temple
of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living
God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk
among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my
people.’…Therefore, come out from among them and be
separate…Let us purify ourselves from everything that
contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out
of reverence for God” (II Corinthians 6:16 to
7:1).
So now: If I tell you that eating a diet high in
saturated fats creates heart disease, would a steady diet
high in saturated fats be something that contaminates the
body? Would it matter to you?
If I tell you that monosodium glutamate (MSG), a
flavor enhancer found in many processed foods, may cause
obesity and creates adverse reactions in many people,
could MSG be something that contaminates the body? Would
you care?
If I tell you that your body must be alkalized
to remain free of disease, would having an acidic body be
something that contaminates the body? Would this
information cause you to want to test your body’s pH
level?
If I tell you there are safe and effective
alternatives to prescription drugs, which often cause
adverse reactions, including death, would taking those
drugs be something that contaminates the body? Would it
matter to you?
My point is that the world could care less about
your well being, it only wants your money. So the world
is full of lies and “feel goods” to keep you coming back.
That is how the world works. For instance: To get you to
buy processed meats, meat packagers inject sodium nitrite
into the meat to make it look fresh and to preserve it.
Never mind that sodium nitrite when heated forms
nitrosamines, extremely powerful cancer-causing
chemicals. Does that matter to you? It matters to God who
knit your body together in the womb of your mother. He
has something to say about that.
Or suppose you are diagnosed with cancer. Never
mind there are safer and more effective alternatives then
the surgery your physician recommends. He thinks a
surgeon should cut you open from front to back to remove
the tumor. If you survive the surgery, you would be given
toxic and often lethal drugs. Your doctor gives you no
other viable options. Does that matter to you? It matters
to God who knit you together in the womb of your mother.
He has something to say about that as well.
Here’s the point. God receives no glory in you
getting sick with a disease. He receives no glory in
disease and suffering period. God receives glory in
healing, and through sacrifices we offer to Him in body,
spirit and soul. That word sacrifice refers to how we
live our life, which includes the welfare of our
body.
Since food and medicine are high on our list of
life’s priorities, it is in these areas that we must be
on guard and cautious about the most. Why food and
medicine?
Well, if you were Satan, could you think of a greater way
to inflict more harm than through food and medicine?
People need to eat and people need medical help. Satan
acting through the world works 24/7 in both the food and
medical industry to put and keep you down, to keep you
from glorifying God in body.
It sickens me to see so many Christians in
physical suffering brought on by their own neglectful
lifestyle. Trust me, this has a huge impact. Others
looking in the Church from outside observe there is
nothing going on there different from the world. There is
nothing to make them want to seek God. If only Church
leaders would understand God’s laws do not stop at the
Church door; if they would only begin to educate
Christians about the holiness of their body as it relates
to food and medicine, life as a Christian would become
much healthier. Many people outside of Christ would begin
seeking Him.
I believe the local Church has a responsibility
to educate believers in the righteous manner they should
treat their bodies. No, not just warn them about the
misuse of sex and drugs, but to teach them the difference
between good and bad food and medicine. Church leaders
should teach us how to “purify ourselves from everything
that contaminates body and spirit,” But here is where
things get fuzzy and blurred.
Many Church leaders, ignorant themselves of the
connection between physical and spiritual health, are
fearful of getting into trouble with the law or fear
being outcast as false teachers. Even worse, some Church
leaders just don’t get the connection between obeying
God’s natural laws and spiritual healing.
They have an “eat, drink and be merry” attitude
toward the body. This is the disconnect I spoke of
earlier. The mindset they carry is that Church is where
one goes for salvation. The world is where one goes for
health and healing. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
We are created in the image and likeness of God
(Genesis 1:26). Our body is a member of Christ’s Body (I
Corinthians 6:15). Our body, spirit and soul have all
been redeemed. There is no earthly reason why we should
leave responsibility to the world for our health and
well-being, anymore than we should leave our souls to the
world for salvation.
Churches conduct classes on almost any Bible
related topic you can imagine. Why not a healthy
lifestyle class? Topics could include such things as
learning how to read food labels and what to watch out
for, identifying known food chemicals suspect for poor
health, identifying physicians in your area trained in
holistic health, Bible study on the subject of health and
much more. Not only would such classes be popular, they
would serve to draw more visitors.
Food and medicine are the issues of our time.
The more a Church is willing to involve itself in
educating its flock on the topic of food and medicine as
a spiritual act of worship, the more we will see a
healthier Church.
Jim
Lynn is Director of God’s Healing Word ministry and
Author of The Miracle of Healing in Your Church Today.
For more information visit: http://GodsHealingWord.org
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