Cheese and Religion

by Tyler Zach

Imagine going to the grocery store and seeing two nicely dressed women standing in the dairy aisle. One of them is pointing and talking about the brand of cheese she represents. The other is silent and has a tray of little cheese samples in front of her.

You stop, in an awkward fashion, and briefly glance at both of them. First, you direct your attention to the talking lady who is young with nice hand gestures. She is eloquently talking about the value, freshness, brand name, and delightful taste of her product. Second, you glance over at the second lady - who is a little shorter, looks more like grandma, and picks up a sample piece of cheese for you to eat.

You take the piece of cheese and chew it very slowly as both women stop to watch your reaction. The cheese is absolutely saturated with flavor and goodness. You take and pack of the second lady’s cheese and continue shopping.

Sometimes, it feels like the church (and our spiritual movements on the college campus) can feel like the first lady. We are attracted to her because of her stellar gestures, her solid persuasion, and her ability to make you feel like you are doing the right thing by buying her cheese. But we don’t know for sure for sure because we haven’t tasted the cheese.

Paul, in the Scriptures, said, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”

In Luke, we read the passage about Jesus telling them to ask God to raise up laborers for the harvest. We usually think of laborers as people who go out and get people on the right team. But a few verses later Jesus tells these first laborers, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'”

So the order is to demonstrate the Kingdom and then announce the Kingdom.

Earlier on in Luke, Jesus was healing people when a person came up and asked whether or not he was The One. Jesus told him to go back to John the Baptist and say, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard.”

So the order again is seen (the Kingdom demonstrated) and heard (the Kingdom being announced).

What are our students “seeing” and “hearing” in the church or in a Campus Crusade movement? Do they simply hear persuasive words or have they seen a demonstration of the Spirit? Do they see students leaving behind addictions such as alcohol or sexual immorality? Do they see students serving the campus or eating and hanging out with non-Christians? Does the campus or city look different? As the amount of bible studies increase, does injustice decrease?

I hope that we as Christians will not become Pharisees, who study the Scriptures so much that we became confident and persuasive, at the expense of missing the point of the Scriptures completely. Love God. Love others. Demonstrate. Announce.

I’d like to be like the second lady in the analogy above. My desire is to help others to experience the Kingdom of God and then delightfully announce its source.

But, I think I'm more like the first lady.