Becoming Chewish

I want you to seriously consider becoming a Chewish Christian.  There was no spelling error there.  I am not asking you to become a Jewish Christian but a Chewish Christian (rhymes with Jewish, though).  Are you ready to bite (get it:  Chewish Christian; ready to bite!  I crack myself up)?  What is a Chewish Christian?  A Chewish Christian is one who thoroughly chews (“reads, marks, learns, and inwardly digests”) the Word of God that they might “ever embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which God has given us in our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Now I have to confess that the term, Chewish, or as I originally heard it, Chewdiism, did not originate with me.  I was listening to talk radio recently and heard an interview with AJ Jacobs concerning his new book, “Drop Dead Healthy:  One man’s Quest for Bodily Perfection.”  AJ Jacobs is the editor-at-large of Esquire Magazine and the author of “The Year of Living Biblically” and “The Know It All”.  In his interview, Jacobs used the term chewdiism to advance the need for people to get in the habit of chewing their food more before they swallow to get the maximum benefit out of eating. 

Now you can find out about anything by going to the internet, so I looked up some information about chewing.  I came across this online article on healthy foods and found that there is this whole scientific explanation for the art of chewing.  (I am putting in the link here for you to read on your own when and if you want to read it.  It is fascinating.  Here goes:  http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=36.) 

Now it wasn’t the science of eating that got me to thinking about being a Chewish Christian and my attempt to reel you into being one as well.  It was the part about having a relationship with your food that got me thinking about all of this.  Part of the article I read had this to say about having a relationship with your food—“We feel that instead of prescribing a set number of chews for each biteful that people should instead get a sense of their own eating, and develop more of a relationship with their food, enhancing their own knowingness about what is best for their health . . . The benefits of thoroughly chewing your food will extend beyond improved digestion. It will cause you to slow down when you are eating, making more space for the enjoyment of your meal. Food will begin to taste even better when there is more focus and concentration on the process and act of eating. By chewing your food well, you will be able to better enjoy the benefits of the World's Healthiest Foods - their abundance of nutrients and great, lively tastes.”

A relationship with your food?  Now I have heard everything!  But wait.  Maybe that’s not such a far-out idea after all.  Let’s face it, we do eat too fast.  Maybe if we did slow down we would eat less, and enjoy our food, and the conversation of those we are eating with, more.  Now here comes the part about being a Chewish Christian.  The Bible uses the analogy of eating with that of reading the Word of God.  Jesus in John 6 speaks of eating and drinking his blood.  Now he isn’t referencing the Lord’s Supper, as chronologically it hasn’t occurred yet.  But he is speaking about putting our faith and trust in him to really, truly live.  Peter writes in chapter 2:2 of his first letter, “Like newborn babes, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”   Paul picks up on that thought in I Corinthians 3:2.  And the writer of Hebrews 5:12ff says this about the connection between eating and studying the Word of God:  “You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”   

The Scriptures definitely equate eating and drinking to reading and studying God’s Word.  So maybe we should be applying what we know about the scientific and practical aspects of chewing food for our bodies to our need to be in the Word of God on a daily basis and feeding our souls.  Far too many Christians have the Bible in their home as a rabbit’s foot to bring them spiritual “good luck (grace?)” and have no clue what it really says.  How many “Christians” use the words “I think” rather than “The Word of God says”?  And how many “Christians” come to church on Sunday morning for the worship service and slip out just as fast as they slipped in?  These are all signs of being an infant in Christ (or worse yet, still gestating in the womb and yet to be “born again”). 

And those of us who do spend time in daily reading the Bible, are we just going through the motions—hurriedly reading through the passage (pericope) so we can say we had devotions and then get on with our day?  Perhaps we need to slow down and get a “sense” of ourselves and our relationship with God through his Word.  We will find ourselves not only growing in our knowledge of the Scriptures, but of God himself.  We will come to understand him more and more and see things from his perspective and vantage point rather than ours; We will be able to distinguish good from evil, right from wrong; we will become more deeply rooted in Christ, thus able to weather the storms of life and stand up and make a defense of the hope that is within us.  As we savor each morsel of his Word to us we will become more and more equipped for every good work.  And greatest of all we find new life in Christ and eternal life in Christ!

I don’t know about you, but I am going to start chewing my food more—both that which is on my fork and that which I find in God’s Word.  I am going to be bullishly Chewish; a Chewish Christian.  Won’t you join me?