Super-sizing your spirituality is unhealthy

I watched the movie Super Size Me this week. Twice. I watched it once by myself and another with my family (with a couple of strategically placed fast forwards). After watching it, we all swore that we would cut down on our fast food intake. Well, maybe except for Emily because she loves McDonald's and she's a stick. For most people though, you'll swear off McDonald's too...for a while.

Morgan Spurlock, the director/guinea pig of the movie ate nothing but McDonald's for thirty days. He ate everything on the menu. Over those thirty days he gained 24.5 pounds. His cholesterol doubled. His liver took a beating from all of the sugar in the shakes, ketchup...and believe it or not...salad. He got depressed, fatigued, irritable, and addicted to the food that was literally killing him. We all know that no one in their right mind is going to eat McDonald's everyday. Well, except for Don Gorske who's downed over 19,000 Big Macs in his lifetime. He's an anomaly, in that he eats there constantly and is in good physical condition. I'm thinking there's a spiritual analogy in this story of human overindulgence and addiction....

We all do things that we know aren't good for us. We engage in activities that we know damage our physical well-being. Pick your poison. Many of you that read this know my vice is Little Debbie Devil Squares. It's like crack in a yellow box. I need a fix right now. Must...not....give....in. You have to admit that except for a few of us, we all have a vice or two. What's yours? We also know that taking in certain types of food in excessive amounts isn't good for us. It's the same way with out spiritual lives.

A balanced spiritual diet is essential or you'll end up spiritually bloated and incapacitated. The Bible talks a lot about food. Yes, it talks about famines and gluttony and eating stuff that might offend someone else. There are other ways that the Bible looks at food:

• The river (water) of life. The Spirit of God that should flow from a Christian's life. (John 4:14; 7:37-38) Even though this isn't technically food water is the essential thing we intake to live.
• Spiritual milk. The basic teachings of Christianity. (Hebrews 5:12)
• Solid food. The deeper teachings of Christianity. (Hebrews 5:14)
  

As followers of Christ, we have to be filled with the Spirit (instead of being full of ourselves). As followers of Christ we have to know and practice the basic teachings of Christ. As follwers of Christ we have to know the deeper teachings of Christ for the purpose of stability and mentoring others. When we "super size" one area of our spirituality it's unhealthy. It will result in an inconsistent and bad belief system. It will also result in an inconsistent and bad example of what it means to be a Christian. Supersizing one area of spirituality results in spiritual sickness. Spiritual sickness causes us to have poor attitudes, unhealthy emotions, and engage in damaging behavior. Diagnosis: Sin.

So next time you feel like supersizing your spirituality, just say "No thanks" and eat a balanced diet.

Have a great day.