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Food carries a lot of significance in the world right now. Our culture labels food as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. When paired with “black and white” thinking these foods which we ingest make us think that we are a good or bad person if we eat those foods. How many times have you heard someone say:
“I was bad this weekend”
“That food is a guilty pleasure food”
“I was so good this week – I only ate ____”
These all point to our society assigning morality to food. When we pause to think about these statements, disordered eating patterns may start to make more sense. I mean, who doesn’t want to feel that they are a good person?
I believe that feeling and being good is a natural and holy desire of our heart. Yet, by assigning morality to food we have based our “goodness” on a false measure. In short, food has become a modern day idol.
Food as an Idol.
When we think about religious idols, you may think of the golden calf (Exodus 32) and how silly it sounded for the Israelites to think that God could be present in something man-made. However, we are no cleverer nowadays.
We chase money or fame or beauty or success thinking that they will bring us the life that we want. In that chase, we put those gifts at a higher priority than the giver, God. You all, we have modern day idols and food is one of them.
Our fatphobic, weight-centric, diet culture has led us into a dark place where our goodness is determined by what we consume. We are in pursuit of physical health, which that same culture narrowly defines by measures of weight or shape, above all else and when we reach a certain size or a certain status with our eating we feel that we are on the moral high ground. We are saved from our plights and food did it.
I’m here to say some harsh truth…
Food is not our savior.
Food does not determine our worth.
The Reality of Food.
All food is nourishing. There are certain foods that contain a higher concentration of nutrients (also called nutrient dense foods) and there are foods that we enjoy that may be less nutrient dense. Either way, God made your body that has specific hormones that signal your hunger. He made our body in a way that requires a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals to function optimally. He created foods under our domain that have these nutrients in them to nourish our body. He created your stomach and intestines to break down these nutrients for absorption.
The reality of food is that it is not as simple as good or bad. Food is diverse and our bodies are miracles that know how to process these nutrients (barring any co-occurring medical conditions). The reality of food is that it doesn’t have the power to make us good or bad.
“Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him…Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and eliminated.”
Mark 7:15, 18-19
Jesus is our salvation.
Food does not have the power to save. The good news is that we don’t need a false savior when we know Jesus, our true Savior.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
Jesus came to this earth as a baby, lead a perfect life to be the perfect, sacrificial lamb to offer himself on the cross for your sin and my sin. We need no other savior except the Savior. If you find yourself falling into patterns of defining your morality based on your food choices, please seek help.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus, who came to this earth to restore my relationship with You. Guide me in Truth as I heal my relationship with food and with You. I lay down any idol I worship in your place, including food, and offer it to you with repentance. Lord, help me to live more like your Son every day. Amen.
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If you need help, please contact me for individual nutrition counseling or participate in a self-paced course.
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