Christian Malnutrition
Earlier this week Shari and I were at a meeting with the leaders of the church and their wives. One of the challenges, probably in any church, is that we see needs of people in the congregation, and we see how the Word of God can meet those needs, and yet often people – I should say we – don’t take the time to learn from God’s Word.
Maybe this is a habit of skipping the Sunday service. Maybe it’s not prioritizing a Bible study that would do us good. Maybe it’s a lack of regular Bible reading.
And of course there’s a variety of reasons that this happens. Sometimes it’s just a lack of understanding of the importance of hearing from the Lord. Sometimes it’s family pressure, or financial pressure, or a lack of organization. We all have our reasons.
I shared with everyone something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately – oddly enough, a medical case study published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019.
So, there was a boy of 14 who went to the doctor complaining that he was tired. The doctor did some tests and found that his vitamin B12 (cobalamin) levels were low. So he was given injections. Knowing that he was a “fussy eater”, the doctor also gave him some diet advice. And things seemed better.
But then he found that his vision was getting worse. After another couple of years, at the age of 17, he went to another specialist. More tests were done, and it was found that he still had issues with vitamin B12. After more tests, it was discovered that it wasn’t just B12, but several other micronutrients as well.
He was prescribed some supplements, but he was now legally blind. His vision may never return.
So what happened? Well, since he had been a boy, he had been very picky about his food. He ended up living on processed meats, white bread, chips and french fries.
As you can see, this didn’t cause major problems at first, and he was content with his food (a great relief for Dad and Mom no doubt). A small and common problem turned up – fatigue – which was easily solved with some vitamin injections. But then something else turned up – genetic? disease? And then another problem. And gradually the problems became very serious.
Because, after all, your body doesn’t need regular huge amounts of micronutrients. That’s why they’re called “micro”. You just need a wee bit of this and that over time. And so it can take a long time to notice that there’s a problem.
The same can be true of our spiritual lives. And I think there are two common causes:
- A neglect of the gatherings of the saints, a neglect of personal time with the Lord
- A bland “diet”
Someone can eat all the time and still be malnourished – as was the case with this teen. If you go to your local church service, and the songs tell you that God loves you (a great truth!) but not much else. If you listen to sermons and learn that you should love others (a great truth!), and not much else. You read the Bible and gain a few facts, and that’s all. Your prayer life is limited to “God bless so-and-so” and “help so-and-so feel better”.
And soon, during the worship music time, you realize you’re always just thinking about the same few things (booooooring). And you’re listening to the same things in the sermons. And when hard times come – or when good times come! – you lack the spiritual treasures that you could be drawing from God’s Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11; Luke 6:45). You can’t handle the hard times, or truly rejoice in the good!
Sometimes these are the reasons we’re shallow, bored, and ill-equipped.
And yet God has given us so many treasures – spinach, beef, strawberries, walnuts … I mean, prayer, 66 books in the Bible, thousands of years of songs from the community of believers, a local church with all kinds of different people, various teachers – we have such treasure!
But are we enjoying the feast before us?
We miss a service. We don’t spend time with other believers for a while. We forget to pray. We hear the same few dozen worship songs. And everything goes on as it did before. The sky doesn’t fall. We don’t feel like we’re further away from God. Maybe we even feel more content. For a while.
But eventually we come to understand a little of what we’re missing. We feel a little weak in the battle. We don’t understand when we do read the Bible. We can’t see the real challenges before us, or the real blessings given to us. And a week of panic Bible study or a counselling session with the pastor may not be a lasting solution.
So I should ask – today – this week – am I getting my micronutrients?