There’s an interesting post over on the Dissonant Bible site. It questions that habit of comfortable Christians in focusing on nice statements and pleasant words: “God loves me”, “God will provide”, etc.

That’s not to say those things aren’t true but, as Mark points out, we forget the other parts of the message, such as “woe to the rich”. Rich? Although I don’t always feel rich when I think about those with more stuff than me, on a global scale I’m frighteningly near the top of the wealth stakes! Perhaps I do need a t-shirt saying “Jesus had stern words for people like me” (although, looking at my wardrobe, arguably I don’t need any more t-shirts for several years to come)?

Candied religion just isn’t nutritious enough. We need stronger meat if we’re going to have strength for people who’ve lost everything in a hurricane or who’ve seen disease steal away a loved one. We need to eat a diet that includes greens and roughage, not just cakes and ice-cream. There’s nothing wrong with the sweet things but they’re not enough to really live on.

Tags: failure, spiritual food, riches