What comes out of a Person....

Mark 7:14-15 (ESV) And he called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him." “But the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” Jesus reiterates this time and time again. Man wants to make the kingdom of God about food and drink. Over the years, all sorts of things have been demanded concerning food and drink. Legend has it that the tradition of ham for Easter stems from the practice of forcing converts to affirm their conversion to Christianity in the Middle Ages, when the only adult converts to the faith would be Jews and Muslims. At one time, Coffee was condemned by pietist sects as being the Turkish drink. That never lasted too long among the pietist sects even. Of course today, it still has life within Mormonism that strangely forbids the drinking of Coffee and Tea, but not Coke, or any other caffeinated drink. The ban actually bans hot drinks, but for some reason hot coco and cider get a pass. (Can you really imagine surviving a Utah winter without a hot beverage?) Not too long ago, Joel Osteen attacked the eating of pork. Seventh day Adventists have a huge thing about a person’s diet. People seem to be fascinated by diets. By restricting some foods, recommending others. All these things deal with aspects of this world. Food is food and it has no bearing on one’s relation to God. Not since Jesus came along. In fact, What Jesus is saying here would have seemed somewhat blasphemous to the Jewish hearers. The early Christian church really had a hard time wrapping it’s head around this one. Even the great council in Jerusalem made itself largely a matter of eating and drinking, what goes into ones mouth. But it is the things that come out of a person that defile them. And Jesus isn’t making reference to deification. But the things a person thinks, says and does. Sin does not have its origin outside of us, as much as we want to blame it on temptations outside of us, these merely play on our inner desires. So leave food and drink out of it. If a German wants blood sausage, let him have it. Beer, wine, whiskey, cigarettes and cigars, there may be reasons to treat them with moderation, or even avoid them all together, but there isn’t a reason to make the kingdom of God, or make it a sign of faith that one abstains from them, or on rare occasions that they actually make use of them. I mean I find it hard to believe, but there are actually Lutherans out there that don’t drink beer, or wine, they are free in this regard.