Living without a Pancreas

People ask me, “Can you live without a pancreas?” The answer is ‘yes’—I'm alive, and I do not have a fully functioning pancreas. The pancreas, which lies behind the stomach, plays a vital role in digestion, releasing enzymes that break down proteins, carbos, and fats, “mixing” with your food to make it nutritionally useful. 

When I had surgery in February to remove a tumor from my pancreas, the doctors also removed a large slice of my pancreas—rendering it dysfunctional, which now requires me to take enzyme pills to do this ‘mixing.’ And if I forget to take my pills, no matter how much nutritious food I eat, it is not useful (and I could die from malnutrition).

The writer of Hebrews uses this idea of ‘mixing’ to give us a vivid ‘word picture’: “The word which they heard did not profit them (was not useful) because it was not mixed with faith” (4:2), suggesting that the development of faith is like the body's process of “mixing” enzymes with food. In short, when the Word we ‘hear’ [eat] is not mixed with “dynamic” faith [action/obedience], it is not useful. Doesn't this open up James' words: “Be doers of the Word, not hearers only…Can't you see that faith without good works is useless?...for just as the body is dead without [a pancreas], so also faith is dead without good works” (James 1:22; 2:20, 26).

How’s Your Spiritual Nutrition?

Amidst increasing concern about obesity and poor nutrition comes a new study that multivitamins can cut the risk of cancer by 8%. Over the last 50 years, due to increased use of processed food in American diets, vitamin supplements have become almost essential. The Dep. of Agriculture has spent millions of dollars on a campaign to get Americans to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day—with little effect.

As if speaking to the issue of spiritual nutrition, Jesus said people cannot exist on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). But I wonder that our bible study patterns don’t reveal that we treat God’s Word(s) more as a supplement than our daily meal (as if it could only reduce our sinful thoughts by 8%). But the bible is not a supplement; and its effectiveness is 100% (Heb 4:12; 2 Tim 3:17).

Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, refers to the life-changing Word of God more than any other—200 times. “I have hidden [stored up, treasured] your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (v.11). Jeremiah (15:16) spoke of eating the Word. Others compared the Word to milk (1 Peter 2:2), to honey (Psalm 19:10; 119:103) and to meat (Hebrews 5:12, 14). Spiritual life is nourished and sustained, not supplemented, by The Word.  Did you eat a healthy breakfast today?

Banning Sodas; Allowing Abortions

Yesterday I wrote of moral “ambiguity” penetrating our culture. Today I’m thinking moral “relativism” may be more precise. Two timely stories on the News last night illustrate this. Yesterday, Congress refused to pass a law that would have banned abortions based on the gender of the fetus, i.e. sex-selection abortion. The very next news item of the day was NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to ban high-calorie, super-sized sodas and other sugary drinks at stores, restaurants, and sporting events in NYC. In other words, there is a cultural shift going on right before our eyes: anti-obesity laws are in; anti-abortion laws are out.

Ironically, and significantly, while government intervention is seen as necessary to prevent obesity, government intervention in abortion is seen as intruding on individual rights. With regard to the former, USDA already regulates what children can eat at school. Last month I read that a school forbad a child from eating the ‘brown bag’ lunch his mother had sent with him to school. Deemed nutritionally deficient, they tossed it, and sent him to the school cafeteria to get a decent meal.

With regard to the sex-selective abortion, you probably know that selective gender abortion is a common practice in Communist China where the ‘one-child-per-couple’ laws result in abortions of girl babies. After years of excoriating China’s horrific abortion policy, Americans are now moving in the same direction. Can you see what’s happening? “In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves, scoffing at God; they will consider nothing sacred” (2 Tim. 3:1-3).

It’s Never Too Late to Start Exercising in God’s Gymnasium

Most of you don’t know who Jack LaLanne is. He was my parents’ generation’s fitness guru, whose workout show was a TV staple for three decades, beginning in the 1950’s. Long before diet and exercise became the national obsession it is today, Jack LaLanne was telling his audiences to trim down, eat well and pump iron! Though he exercised every day of his life, even Jack couldn't last forever. He died yesterday of pneumonia. Jack was 96.

A statement most representative of his philosophy of life, Jack LaLanne said: “The only way you can hurt the body is not use it. Inactivity is the killer. And remember, it’s never too late.”

Reading how Jack LaLanne devoted his entire life to bodily discipline, I was immediately reminded of Paul’s words to young Timothy: “Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness; physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next” (1 Timothy 4:7b-8, NLT). Paralleling Jack’s words, we might say: "The only way you can hurt your spirit is not to use it. Inactivity is the killer. And remember, it’s never too late to start exercising [in God’s gymnasium]."

Bigger is Better at Starbucks

The bigger-is-better concept is brewing at Starbucks, with the nation-wide rollout of its Trenta cup size—just shy of a quart. While nutritionists are fighting the supersizing of America’s eating patterns, restaurateurs are yet persuading consumers to opt for the bigger sizes for reasons of “economy” (the more you spend, the more you save)—a psychological trick that pays too well for merchants to end it. America’s nutritionists are fighting an uphill battle to influence healthier food choices.

It begs the question, how has this bigger-is-better concept affected our church choices? If a church is large and growing, it is assumed to be healthy. But what does this say to our assumptions about small ministries? Are they not healthy? Or, following the logic of my “food” analogy, are they actually healthier for us? Well of course the fact is both large and small churches can be biblically healthy.

Rather than ‘form,’ our emphasis should be on ‘function.’ Jesus said “when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32). Isn't that the role of a healthy church? One that does not necessarily “draw” crowds, but one that “draws” people to Jesus? Similarly, Starbucks' ‘bigger-is-better’ approach may draw bigger crowds, but what about the health of their over-caffeinated customers?