Sugar Coated Christianity

By Brian Pusateri | August 7, 2012 | | Share on Facebook

There I sat that morning eating my sugar frosted cereal while reading the bible. I was reading this verse.

Ephesians 4:11-16

“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,to the extent of the full stature of Christ,so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head,Christ,from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.”

Would you eat cookies for breakfast, of course not? Most would say no way. But here I was serving up heaping bowls of cereal with just as much — if not more — sugar.

Here I was eating the same sugary cereal that I have been eating since I was a child. This caused me to do some quick internet research. Here is what I read. The problem with a super-sweet breakfast is not only does the body convert extra sugar calories to fat, but the sugar causes blood sugar levels to spike.When they crash, you will be hungry again — and craving more unhealthy, sweet and fatty foods. I went on to research and find that some of my favorite cereals were on the list of the 10 most sugary cereals. Just two weeks ago, I had completed my annual physical and the doctor told me I need to improve my diet to include healthier foods. Wow, I thought, I have not matured in my choice of healthy breakfast foods since I was a small child.

Then I wondered am I and others making the same mistake with our spiritual foods? Why was I eating this same cereal that I ate as a child? Simply stated it had just become a habit. It occurred to me that I should also exam how I was feeding myself spiritually. We are all being called to spiritual maturity. Just as it is important to mature and be aware of eating healthy for the benefit of our bodies, it is even more important to mature spiritually. We read this in Ephesians 5:15-17. “Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.”

One of the great blessings of the Cursillo movement is weekly Friendship Group Reunion. In Friendship Group Reunion and any other small gatherings of Christians like it, we have the opportunity through true Christian friendship to help hold our Christian brothers and sisters accountable. We can challenge each ot her to truly grow spirituality. We learn that to be effective in our Christian action we must grow in our relationship with the Lord through daily prayer and study. Are we growing in our communications and knowledge of God, or are we stuck in the same habits of our sugar coated ways of interacting with God as when we were just children? Let’s recommit ourselves today to maturing in our faith by feeding ourselves each morning with a healthy helping of prayer and study. Borrowing a phrase from the famous promoter of breakfast cereal Tony the Tiger starting our day in prayer and study is GRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

Let me conclude today with a few passages from second Peter.

2 Peter 1:3-9The Power of God’s Promise. “His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who lacks them is blind and shortsighted, forgetful of the cleansing of his past sins.”

2 Peter 3:17-18“Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Brian Pusateri
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