Diet Denomination: Plant vs Animal Eaters
Diets are kind of like denominations.
There are SO many and everybody thinks theirs is THE right one.
In Christianity, there are a lot of different denominations because, historically, people couldn’t agree on certain beliefs or practices. Even though we are all believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we have different interpretations, practices and styles of worship.
And that’s ok.
But if you think about it, Jesus called ALL of us, all Believers across all denominations to do two things:
Love God with all our heart.
Love our neighbors as ourselves.
(see Matthew 22:36-40)
Regardless of how we stand, sit, sing, dance, dress or pray - these two foundations of our faith are the same for all of us. Love God, Love people.
It’s not much different when it comes to food. Even though there’s a $72 billion dollar diet industry with the” latest and greatest” trend around every corner, we can really boil it down to two things:
Eat plants (Gen 1:29)
Eat meat (Gen 9:3)
Now, things get more complicated as God goes about setting the food standard for the Jewish people. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, He gets pretty specific about what is considered “clean.” This is the basis of “kosher food.” God was building a culture for His people which included understanding food sacrifice, food safety and cleanliness to keep them healthy. Now, as we know, Jewish people follow only the Old Testament so their food rules stop there. But, as Believers, we have the New Testament, where food rules lighten up and sacrificial food need not apply. The blood of Jesus has us covered. Still, there isn’t full consensus about how Jewish dietary law applies to us as Christians, but we know that Jesus essentially gave us a pass on such strict food rules.
In Mark 7:18-19, Jesus says,
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.”
(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
Jesus wanted them to stop focusing on the legalities of food and start focusing on HIM. In other words, stop obsessing over the bread and start obsessing over the Bread of Life. Amen and amen.
That said, we are more mired in our own muck of dietary laws, rules and confusion than ever. In modern times, we see “food rules” most hotly contested between the plant vs meat eaters. But here’s the thing:
GOD GAVE US BOTH.
In modern times we have the luxury of labeling ourselves as one thing or the other because we have a boundless supply of food at our fingertips. Historically, nature was the grocery store. We didn’t have the luxury or resources of calling ourselves vegan, vegetarian, paleo, keto, carnivore, plant-based or meat-based beyond what nature provided. It was like, take a look around - there’s dinner! If you need some perspective, go camping for a few days and pretend you can only eat what you find in nature. I do this frequently when I’m at the ranch. I look around the wide open spaces in wonder thinking - If I was one of the Native Americans living here hundreds of years ago, what would I have eaten? It would have been pretty slim pickens, y’all. It’ll make you drop your label like a hot cake.
I think we can ALL agree that the Standard American Diet (SAD) of processed and fast foods is not good for any of us. I think we can also agree that the best thing for our bodies is Real Food the way God made it. It’s just like Jesus boiling it down for us: Love God, Love People.
We can boil our eating goal down to: Eat real food the way God made it, from both the plant and animal kingdoms.
Generally speaking, it seems most people do well with a combination of both plant and animal foods - maybe in different ratios - but each food kingdom has something wonderful to offer the body. The key is figuring out this balance and what works best for your body regardless of a self-prescribed label. Your food label may not always jive with what your body needs.
I witness this a lot in my line of work. I cringe when I see carnivore people who don’t have enough stomach acid to support digesting all that meat. I worry when keto people without a gallbladder don’t understand how their compromised bile flow impacts fat breakdown. I get exasperated when vegetarians losing their energy and hair don’t understand the efficient assimilation of certain vitamins and minerals.
Are there times when the extremes like being a vegan or carnivore are necessary? Yes. Are there times when restricted diets are necessary? Absolutely. This is what we call nutritional therapy and the right diet for the right body at the right time can be very helpful as a therapeutic option. But the extremes are not meant to be the mainstream.
It’s in the extremes where people get all crazy and obsessed with food “rules.” It reminds me of the Pharisees, the Jewish High Priests, who were very legalistic, vocal and condemning about “the rules.” They often put the rules over what was actually good for the people. A lot of people do this with their diet labels. Don’t get so legalistic in your food denomination that you fail to recognize whether or not it’s actually working for you. The truth is no one is going to know what’s working best for you except you.
There’s an interesting passage in the Bible where God uses overcoming food rules to teach Peter a lesson. In Acts 10:9-16, Peter has a vision of all kinds of animals descending from the heavens - some that would have been considered “clean” by Jewisy dietary law and some that wouldn’t. There came a voice that said,
“Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
This was puzzling to Peter and while he was wondering what God was trying to tell him about meat, he was called to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, who believed in Jesus and wanted to be a follower.
Turns out, Peter’s vision was not about unclean meat but about “unclean” people. People outside the Jewish religion and culture were considered unclean. The disciples had been targeting fellow Jews in spreading the message of Jesus. But just because the Gentiles were not following Jewish ways, including dietary habits, God was telling Peter that Jesus is for everybody.
As Christians we are to be known for our love, not for our rules.
And, I would argue, that goes for our food too.
Let’s not find our identity in diet OR denomination. As Christians, our identity is in Christ no matter what we eat, no matter how we worship.
Grace does not come to us by eating one way or another. A person who eats all vegetables is not holier than a person who eats all meat and vice versa.
Romans 14:17
“the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. “
So Love God.
Love People.
And eat Real Food, the way God made it.