The Stew That Is You: Why Do We Think As We Do, And Believe What We Believe?

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 

Ephesians 2:1-2

We are a stew of sorts, made up of ideas, opinions, influences, and emotions. And a "stew", in terms of a meal, is made up of a broth and chunks and various ingredients, all mixed together, creating a certain taste and texture. And it provides a level of nutrition, depending on what is allowed to be added to the stew by the chef. If you follow the recipe and know what you're doing, it can be delicious and extremely nutritious. If others add whatever ingredients they think should be added, it's a crap-shoot ... no telling what you'll end with, or even how you got there.

When we're young, we are a simple broth, made up of few inputs: our parents and family, our teachers, and whatever media our parents allow. We're a pure stew with little to no "gross" additives. But as we grow older, and we have liberty to add what we want, it's amazing what things we'll add:

• Pornography
• Hollywood's idea of how life should be
• Shifting cultural ideas and opinions
• Our own guesses at life ...

And it seems the human race tends to follow the original recipe less and less on average. The good ingredients are added infrequently if at all. The bad ingredients are dumped in by the bucket load.

God has provided the perfect recipe for the stew He intends. But how much input comes from Him? We go to church every Sunday? That's 1 hour per 168 hours (1 week) or 0.59524% of the week spent listening to God versus listening to the world (99.4% of the week). Okay, there's sleep in there, but you get the point. But putting the data in these terms shows you just how susceptible we all are to the world's influence versus God's.

And with that much bad ingredient input dumped in, what stew are we left with? Would you eat that stew? How would it taste? How nutritious would we be to anyone?

No denying it ... we ARE a stew made up of the inputs we allow: TV, the news, non-Christian opinions and constantly shifting cultural perspectives ... and (I'm hoping) God's thoughts.

How much input does God have in your stew? I hope you're as convicted by this as I am. And I hurt even more for those who have no idea how real stew can and should taste. How it can and should fill us with what we need. I pray for all of us.