Be The Fruit

Jesus and the buffet.

by Bill Blair on 22/07/08 at 5:55 am

Have you ever wondered what it might be like if Jesus went to a buffet?

(Cricket) (Cricket)

Okay, it is probably just me who thinks about stuff like that, but take a moment to think about it and stay with me here.

While you are thinking about Jesus at the buffet, let’s first think about how we act at the buffet. For me, I normally try to scope out what food is available. After seeing what is out there, I strategically place my scoops of food on the plate so that I can fit the right combination of food on the plate in one trip. After filling my plate, I proceed to my table and begin to eat. After I start to eat, I normally begin to think about my second trip through the buffet line. Hmm, what food could I not fit on the plate on the first trip? What foods do I want more of? More bread? More salad? Heck no! I have to get another plate to get my money’s worth.

That is the point where I run into problems. I begin to covet the food I don’t have rather than enjoying the food I do. When this happens, I begin eat faster and faster because the sooner I get done, the sooner I get to eat the food I really want to eat. This creates a vicious cycle where I keep stuffing food down because I long for the food that will really satisfy me because this food I have is not as good as THAT food. The worst place for me is the pizza buffet because they are constantly bringing out new pizzas. I eat and I think, “I wonder what kind of pizza that was?” I wolf down what I have so I can get up to get some more. I only stop when I am fully stuffed and miserable.

This I think highlights the underlying cause of overeating. We overeat because we are seeking satisfaction in an object (food) that we can only get from God. Each bite or each meal offers a promise of satisfaction that will never come. “Oh how I want cheesecake…. I don’t want this pizza, I want that one.” We don’t stop until we hurt. It is then and only then that the desire for more food goes away. When this happens we don’t even really enjoy our food because we are so focused on getting the next bite that might just satisfy whatever need we are trying to fill. I have called this the “buffet syndrome” because I observed this in myself at the pizza buffet. Is this not how we act at the buffet? I know it has been the way I have acted. Seriously, why else do we go to a buffet except to pig out on food?

So let’s get back to Jesus. How would he act at a buffet? One friend of mine said he would probably take the food and give it to the poor. I don’t think that is quite right because that might be considered stealing and we know Jesus would not steal. Besides, we know that all Jesus needs to feed a crowd of thousands is 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Matt 14:16-21).

I am not so sure he would not go in and turn over the food bins on the buffet line. We know he did this to the money traders in order to cleanse the Temple (Matt 21:12-13), and the Bible says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). So, I could see Jesus doing this to the buffet line for the way many of us defile our temples when we overeat.

What I really want you to get to with this exercise is to imagine the manner in which Jesus must have ate and compare it to yourself. Jesus would never stalk a buffet to plan all the foods he was going to eat. Jesus would never worry about what new foods are coming out to the buffet. Would he go for a seconds? Somehow, I doubt it. I do think Jesus would enjoy the food though. I imagine that he would savor his good creation. As another friend of mine once said, “Even Jesus would enjoy a cheese fry.”

So the next time you go to a buffet or eat at all, think about the manner in which Jesus ate and compare to yourself. I think it may help you (and me) to control your eating.

One last thought to consider: When Jesus gathered with people to eat a meal, do you think he was more concerned about the food he ate or the people ate with? Which is your priority?