This continues our discussion started Monday on eating what is put before you…
I’ve heard those words, “Eat what is put before you,” so many times over the years and in the context of a Biblical command that I figured I was sacrilegious or disobedient to God if I didn’t obey them! This has caused me much grief.
It was an eye opener when I went to the Bible and studied the words in context.
When Paul wrote those words he was addressing Christian’s concerns about eating food that had been sacrificed to idols.
Eating food as part of a heathen sacrifice was worshipping the idol to whom the food was made. For a Christian to participate in that activity was to essentially nullify his allegiance to Christ and worship idols instead, in the eyes of the public watching him, anyway.
Part of the problem for Christians, was, that some of this sacrificed food would end up in the marketplace as common food, and a buyer would have no idea whether it was sacrificed or not. What then?
Paul addressed this fear when he wrote,
“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles [marketplace], that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.”(I Cor 10:25,26)
I find great freedom from stringent dietary rules in studying the deep metaphysical meaning of these verses.
What I see here is, that Paul knew only one God, and that all of creation, including the animals, belonged to God. There were no other gods, and any meat sacrificed to what nonbelievers called gods was not any less safe than regular meat because there were no other powers. There was only one God, divine Love. So, if a Christian unknowingly bought sacrificed meat in the marketplace and ate it, he would not be in trouble with God. The meat was no less dangerous to eat than unsacrificed meat. It was just meat.
And then Paul addressed the issue of eating at a nonbeliever’s home, with verses that included those infamous words, “whatsoever is set before you, eat…”
He wrote,
“If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.” (I Cor 10:27)
Wow! Talk about breaking the rules… All kinds of questions could arise when invited to an idol-worshipper’s home. What if the meat served was sacrificed? What if it was unclean? What if…what if…what if…?
Have you ever entertained a barrage of “What if…” questions? Like, “What if this food is too fattening, too caloric, too much cholesterol, and on and on and on…???
Anyway, I’m getting off track…
I don’t think Paul is telling his reader to purposely indulge in bad eating habits. He’s allaying fears about the food one might consume from being a guest in a nonbeliever’s home. He isn’t laying out a dictum of “Always eat everything on your plate.” Far from it! He’s addressing fears about whether the food presented is sacrificed to idols or not.
I find this translation from The Message very helpful.
“If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.”
So, there you have it. Paul’s words “whatsoever is put before you, eat…” is not the same as “Eat everything on your plate, always, that’s the law, no exceptions.”
Whew, what a relief!!
So, I can say “No” when it’s time to stop eating whether my plate is empty or not.
I’m a student of CS, have had class, and basic CS nurses’s training, but still struggle with the concept of eating what’s set before you. (I had that very passage come to me several times). When you’re working something out, I discovered that’s best to be wise about not eating those things which are believed to be causing the problem, as I took this statement literally and had a very bad experience.
When we’re trusting the truth that food has no intelligence to help, or hurt us, you think that would be enough to resolve the problem.
Even though, I continue to avoid what foods seem to be the problem, while praying and studying, I manifest severe reactions, including anaphylactic shock, a medical belief of the severest form of a food reaction, very unpleasant.
So, I wonder what God is telling me, when He/She says “Fed by divine Love we live, for Love alone is life.”
If His/Her ideas are loving and good, the only food (spiritual truths), then food itself shouldn’t cause these reactions and near-death experiences.
To above,
You are correct in your understanding that the actual food, by itself, is not causing you harm. It’s fear and material beliefs surrounding your consumption of that food that is causing the difficulty. Whose those fears and beliefs are dissolved, the food will no longer cause you difficulty. So, yes, you can’t be unwise and keep eating the offensive food without first meeting the fear about them. Once the fear is healed, the food will be no big deal any longer.
This a topic I have struggled with for many years and want to add a few observations. First, thanks Evan for adding your scholarship by more clearly elucidating in context what was meant by “take no thought”. I visited my first practitioner 4 years ago and found him eating a lot of what I would consider junk food. Donuts, Cheetos, cold hot dogs and sugared drinks. But, he was always focuses on his healing work and rides both a road and mountain bikes in very hot weather..100+ degrees…several times a week for pleasure and demonstration. He is a man pushing 70 years and can ride 100 miles and work till 3 in the morning answering calls for help. He sleeps when he can and eats when he can. His focus is never on food or sleep but on what he is called to do. His demonstration inspires me to keep reaching for my own higher level of demonstration. I have read many biographies of accomplished people driven to excel in fields that bless others and often their diets are not good by current opinion but they remain strong, healthy and productive. When I was a doctor I had patients obsessed with eating all the right things (as was I)…organic, vegetarian, no wheat and etc…. and they (we)always were in an unhealthy and distressed condition which made me conclude that the obsession…the excessive thought about it…caused more harm than good. “Take no thought” has come to mean, for me, to think first about what God is telling you to do, what activity to pursue and use food to put fuel in the tank and not have it give meaning to your life which breaks the First Commandant. I had to quit my practice because I realized there was no lasting healing I could offer anyone when their thinking was working against them and I didn’t know at the time how to help with that. Many years later I still strive to learn about Truth and am grateful to have so much good to look forward to. I hope this is useful in your discussion.
I have been following this set of blogs and appreciate your insights, Evan, and all the comments. Yesterday as I read this week’s lesson when I came to the passage in the fifth section from S$H “The sinless joy – the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain – constitutes the only, veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual.”, I thought, ‘That sums up the whole matter.” And so I am endeavoring to think through this wonderful explanation as I consider my next meal, rather than concentrating on what I will eat, how I will feel, whether I need to lose weight, etc .
And thank you again for providing this forum.
I am continuing to appreciate all that I am finding here that address food/eating issues. I am becoming aware of the heaviness of thought around food and eating and these articles and comments are enlightening and enlivening. Thank you, Evan. Thank you, posters of comments.
Thanks for responding to my post, Evan! Yesterday, I too came to the conclusion that fear is the culprit and not the food. It’s difficult to be wise about not eating this ingredient believed to be the cause while working it out, as it’s used as a filler in almost everything.
I know that further spiritual understanding/growth will dissolve this belief entirely. Of course, it’s the Christ that does the work!
Thanks again! These post on food have been a tremendous help!
Have a great day!
I have found this series on food to be very interesting and thought-provoking. It brings to mind another question.
Gen 1:29 states, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
Those last 7 words, “to you it shall be for meat.” is a pretty specific directive.
Since this directive comes before any mention of the false creation in Ch 2, does it indicate that it would be “more spiritual” to be a vegetarian than a carnivore?
There are many references to food in the Bible, but 2 come to mind. We know that Jesus and his followers ate fish, and quail and manna were provided to the Israelites during their 40-year trek in the desert. Were these just temporary acceptable alternatives to the specific directions given in Gen 1:29? Certainly, Jesus would not have willfully violated such an edict nor would the Lord himself have violated his own rules.
I admit that I’m looking for a way to rationalize my preference for steak over zucchini. But, where am I going wrong?
To above,
Interesting observation you have there. It gets tricky in the reasoning though, if you get materially literal about it. Especially in light of the fact that Genesis 1, at least in Christian Science, is seen as a spiritual view of the universe. So the herb, tree, and fruit are spiritual ideas of divine Mind, not material things growing out of dirt.
How’s that for some “food for thought…?”