Can you only consume ‘spiritual junk food’ and expect to be spiritually fit?
With computing there is a saying, ‘garbage in, garbage out’. The quality of the data you put into a program will not be exceeded by what comes out of it. If you only feed in data that agrees with your particular hypothesis, beliefs, or narrative then the results will agree — this is called confirmation bias. This is true in many areas in life, most notably science and the media. These two areas aren’t bad on their own, but when the output produced is the product of incomplete or one-sided data, then the output can’t be trusted. Sadly, this is all too common. I do not believe that God and His Word suffer from this type of bias. The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job especially, makes it clear that with our limited understanding we can generally know ‘how to live the good life’ (Proverbs) or that sometimes ‘everything is meaningless’ (Ecclesiastes), but that God considers every input in our infinitely complex world when delivering justice and that it is beyond our understanding (Job). The common theme to all of these books is to trust God, take pleasure in the simple things, and that God is in control.
Input directly influences output. How does this relate to being spiritually fit? The root cause of our actions, including when we sin, is heavily dependent on our minds. Jesus made this clear when He raised the bar on sins like adultery by stating if you look at a woman lustfully you have already committed adultery in your heart (Matt 5:28), and when he said if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be subject to judgement like a murderer (Matt 5:22). Therefore, we have to guard our minds. So much of what enters our minds is words and whether spoken or written James 3:3-6 is so very relevant:
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
James 3:3-6
That last verse, verse 6… it reads ‘…sets the whole course of one’s life on fire…’. This is why it’s so crucial that you not only examine what enters your own mind, but that you limit things that go against the Spirit of God. Otherwise, your mind, and your attitude will not be Godly. We all know people like this, people whose attitudes seem to follow the day’s headlines or the latest outrage mob. Those are just inputs, and usually not good inputs. You have to examine such inputs in the context of God’s Word, Matt 7:26-27 reads:
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:26-27
Controlling what you allow into your mind and heart is so important, because not only does it affect you and your spiritual well-being, it also affects those around you. Again, garbage in, garbage out. Matthew 12:34 reads:
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Matthew 12:34
You can see now why it is so important to guard your minds and who or what you allow to speak into it. Just like a program, or a scientific study, or a news report, the output is only as good as the data going into it. Your mind is just as influenced by what you allow into it as your physical body is by what you eat. And much like physical exercise strengthens your physical body, so does applying God’s Word to your life strengthen your spiritual body.
Many people, even some Christians, think it is OK to voluntarily and habitually pollute their minds with worldly entertainment and ideals (news and social media falls into this) when it contains subject matter they know goes against the word of God, James 1:21 is about as direct as possible about this, it reads:
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
James 1:21
The point is, you have to put God and His Word first. In the same way you can’t only eat desserts and junk food and expect to be physically healthy, you can’t just come to church on Sunday and not think about God, read the Bible, or pray the rest of the week and expect to serve God, much less be Christ-like. You’ll fall away. The influence of the world on its own is too strong and you can’t serve two masters. Again, garbage in, garbage out.
John 3:30 reads:
He must become greater; I must become less.”
John 3:30
Your primary focus has to be God and you have to give His Word space in your life to grow and bear fruit. You have to analyze what you consume in the context of God’s Word and determine if it is making you more Christ-like, or more worldly. If that sounds overwhelming, start small. God gives us the wisdom to make changes to seemingly small things and Jesus gave us wisdom to apply to the most seemingly small and inconsequential thing — what we think. Why is thinking a lustful thought or being angry with a brother or sister so bad? As long as I don’t act on those thoughts it’s OK, right? This is how the Pharisees thought, they were only concerned with outward appearances of righteousness, and they ended up being responsible for crucifying the Son of God. If we trust Jesus and obey His teachings; if we control our thoughts and are conscious of how they influence our emotions, even if it is just one at a time, we can start making steps in a journey that will allow us to serve God, not crucify Him all over again.