Your diet and the Gospel

I have a passionate distaste for vegetarianism. No, I do not hate vegetarians (love the sinner, hate the sin). And it's not because I've worked in foodservice since I was 15 and dread having to make special meals for people with "alternative lifestyles." The reason I have such strong feelings for this issue is because of the Gospel.

I bet you're a little confused right now. What does (not) eating meat have to do with the Gospel?! I'll tell you.

Remember that whole story about Adam and Eve? Eve eats the forbidden fruit, Adam chooses to join her, they unsuccessfully try and hide from God, God kicks them out, they're cursed with pain in childbirth and hardship in labor and then God makes clothes of [animal] skin for them. It is safe to say that this animal was killed not only for the well being of Adam and Eve but as a sacrifice for their sin.

So from day one Adam and Eve have embedded in their subconscious that because of their sin, a life must be taken in order for theirs to continue. They have a clear understanding of the Gospel just by watching what God had just done for them. And what they witnessed was prophesy of what was to come, Christ's life being taken in order to save us from eternal death. Now that we are free from having to sacrifice animals, we still have the constant reminder, reality check and reflection of the Gospel in our diet.

I do understand that it is possible to live a bland healthy life without eating animal products, but if you have the opportunity to reflect the Gospel in something you do 3 times a day, why would you choose not to? I admire those who hunt because they get even closer to understanding this parallel. I think that every person should one day kill an animal and eat it for dinner for this very reason.

When I ask people why they are vegetarian, the most common responses are, "animal cruelty," or "I don't like meat." My response to the first quote would be Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

To the second I would ask what things we do regularly for our own good that we don't like doing. I personally hate brushing my teeth, but I do it daily because its good for me. If we do stuff all the time that isn't enjoyable but is good for us then why can't we do something we don't enjoy that is good for the Kingdom.

What if you're not a Christian? Who cares about animal cruelty if you believe in Darwin's survival of the fittest. If you're going to believe in evolution at least live it. And if you don't like the way meat tastes, man up and take one for your species and chow down on some lesser species so that maybe one day we can grow wings and fly, saving our country billions of dollars in air travel and eliminating our dependence on oil (excuse my blatant sarcasm).

Tomorrow morning, throw some unborn chickens and some pig belly on the griddle and rejoice knowing that you don't have to go and kill an animal for your sins since Jesus already died for all of them.