ingredients 2rb

But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses. (Acts 15:5)

Read: 2 Kings 4:18 – 5:27, Acts 15:1-35, Psalm 141:1-10, Proverbs 17:23

Relate: Pop quiz: What products are these the ingredients for?

1) carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, concentrated orange juice, natural flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine, sodium citrate, erythorbic acid, gum arabic, calcium disodium EDTA, brominated vegetable oil, yellow 5

2) beef, water, high fructose corn syrup, salt, potassium lactate, sodium phosphate, artificial flavoring, sodium diacetate, ascorbic acid, sodium nitrate, paprika extract

3) Enriched flour, water, vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, dextrose, leavening, modified corn starch, salt, dried blueberries, apple fiber, natural and artificial flavors, maltodextrin, cellulose gum, citric acid, whey, soy lecithin, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake

4) Sugar, unbleached enriched flour, high oleic canola and/or palm oil, cocoa, high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch, leavening, salt, soy lecithin, vanillin, chocolate


6) Crust: Whole grain oats, enriched flour, whole wheat flour, high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, soluble corn fiber, sugar, calcium carbonate, whey, wheat bran, salt, cellulose, potassium bicarbonate, mono- and diglycerides, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavor, wheat gluten, niacinamide, vitamin A palmitate, carrageenan, zinc oxide, reduced iron, guar gum, vitamin B6, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, folic acid. Filling: High fructose corn syrup, glycerin, fructose, modified corn starch, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, nonfat yogurt powder, cellulose, strawberry puree concentrate, modified tapioca starch, sugar, malic acid, natural and artificial flavor, salt, color added, datem, mono- and diglycerides, soy lecithin, caramel color, red 40

7) Corn, canola oil, salt

8) cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, natural vanilla.

9) Maple Syrup

10) Honey

My guess is that the top six will be a bit more difficult for people to guess than the bottom four. Although you might not be able to guess the specific brand for seven and eight, you will surely know the item. The last two… well, duh.

A recent trend in food nutrition is to say that the fewer ingredients a processed or packaged food has, the healthier it is for you. Well that isn’t always the case, it is a good benchmark rule to follow. Obviously there are a few things you really want to avoid like sodium benzoate (in #1 and 5) and high fructose corn syrup (1,2,4,5,6) even if it is one of a few ingredients, but in general the more complicated an ingredient list is, the less healthy that thing will be for you.

React: Human tendency is to complicate things. The longer an idea has been around, the more rules, regulations, or addendum are added to it. One senator wants to pass a law that will be really good and beneficial but by the time everyone has added their piece of pork to it that it might get passed, we are all praying for a veto.

We do the same thing with our religion. Christianity, at the very beginning looked very Jewish. There was nothing wrong with that, almost exclusively those who were coming to Christ were Jewish and so they were expressing their love for Christ within the context they knew. Then suddenly there was a big influx of gentiles becoming Christians. This is great except, gasp, they don’t look very Jewish. They are expressing their faith within a gentile context and that just cannot be tolerated.

I remember visiting one church a good while back where I was sitting about halfway up, wearing my hat. One gentleman in the front row, once he caught my eye, motioned for me to take off my hat. I just shook my head no. He looked surprised, confused, then made a more obvious suggestion. I touched my hat and shook my head no again. The rest of the service, he would periodically look back at me giving me the evil eye. I was a guest. A stranger. He didn’t know me from Adam. But he sure did his level best to make me feel very unwelcome and never want to come back… kind of like those guys in Acts 15:5. Even as we say things like “sola fide, sola gratia” (only faith, only grace) we still pile on our ingredients to “what makes a good Christian”. Perhaps its time once again to cut back on our ingredients.

Respond: Hillary McBride – Nothing Else Matters

God, if I have added a pile of unnecessary things to my faith, or what I demand from others of the faith, please forgive me. If I have judged or looked down on another because their genuine expression of worship to You looks different than what I am comfortable with or used to, forgive me. If there are ingredients to my faith that are getting in the way of the real thing, a passionate unrelenting pursuit of You, expose them and cut them away. It is Your grace that saves me. It is Your grace that keeps me. It is Your grace that will bring me home. Everything else is peripheral. 




[Ed’s addition: people are starting to wake up and read/like/comment here but so far I haven’t received a single guess as to what products I’ve listed the ingredients of. So for all of you who have already liked or commented here… you failed the pop quiz. For the rest of you, guess away.]


15 thoughts on “Ingredients

  1. Jesus fulfilled the Law. If you are under the Law, you are under its curse.

    Why, oh why, do churches turn Paul’s epistles into rigid laws. Avoid such churches as they are lawkeepers and negating His sacrifice on the cross.

  2. “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” Now that was worth reading this morning!! 🙂

  3. I’ll try to guess, since I consider myself as an ingredients-obsessed consumer. I always check them before buying a product, and of course, the more ingredients I read, the less likely I am going to buy it. So here I go:
    1. Lemonade / orange juice
    2. Canned meat (very unsure, I don’t think I’ve ever bought something like that before)
    3. Cookies with dried blueberries and apple taste?
    4. That sounds like a very unhealthy cake or muffin
    5. Something like a mexican sauce? Ew
    6. This is probably a “diet bar”, promising to be only with whole grain, vitamins and natural strawberry filling
    7. Pop corns
    8. Probably vanilla ice cream
    9-10. dUH lol

    • You’re right on #8. Except most brands of ice cream include far more ingredients than found in Haagen Dazs. Also, pretty close on #6.

      I’m pretty sure you have bought #2. Maybe not the specific brand, but the product… most definitely.

  4. There are commands we do need to obey under this New Testament that is Christianity, but to invent more commandments ourselves is to put ourselves on a level with God, which is obviously not at all okay. Still, neither is disobedience.

    I find it interesting that people like to talk about “unity” but they rarely ask “OK. How?” and when they do they basically start debating about all of the things that we DON’T have in common! If everyone just stopped and focused on What Does The Bible Say, we would END UP on the same page naturally because we’d be striving for His standard instead of all trying to agree on one we make up ourselves which will never work.

  5. 1. Orange Soda
    2.Hot dog
    3.frozen waffle
    5. tartar sauce
    6.nutrigrain bar
    7.tortilla chips
    8. sounds like Breyers vanilla ice cream (at least the kind I buy)
    9. & 10. well, maple syrup and honey!

    Did I come close?

    • 1. You’re on the right track. To my knowledge, no orange soda would contain caffeine but I could be wrong.
      2. Yup. It’s Ballpark beef franks.
      3. Blueberry Eggos. Good job.
      4. Yes but too vague for me to reveal the answer.
      5. It is a type of sauce, you’re in the right neighborhood.
      6. Strawberry Yogurt nutra-grain. Nice one.
      7. Snyders of Hannover torts. Again, on the money.
      8. I know Bryers also can be quite healthy so its possible they share the same ingredients. This was actually Haagen Dazs.
      9. Yup
      10. Yup.

      1,4,5 are still out there. The rest I’m giving you. Great job.

  6. I liked reading this. I’m usually confused as to which things constitute ‘good Christian practices’ I went to a Church once, and I was told point blank that I had to sit at the back of the entire congregation because my long maxi dress had a slit and it was inappropriate and it would tempt the men. I still don’t know how I feel about it because I was there to serve God just like everyone else. I ended up leaving because I was so embarrassed!

    This is a very good read. I loved it!

    • I’ve been to a church where they told me to take off my hat and be respectful. I simply told them “no” and then sat front and center. Needless to say, I was not about to make that church my home.

  7. #1 is Mountain Dew.

    Have you ever heard of George Fox? He was the co-founder of the Society of Friends (“Quakers”) in the 17th century. Your hat story reminded me of Fox’s autobiography. Fox was so convinced of equality among human beings that he refused to tip his hat to anyone of any social status. It got him into a lot of trouble, and he spent his fair share of time in prison, but I admire his wholesale rejection of oppressive social constructs (specifically the 17th century practice of visibly honoring people with authority, but not those they have authority over).

    I think it’s awesome that you refused to remove your hat. It’s very much like Jesus refusing to ceremonially wash before dinner at the home of a Pharisee in Luke 11. Love it!

  8. Keep our faith simple between us and our Lord. When there is people interference things get complicated. Sin entangles. Please the Lord not men .

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