Is Christianity A Smorgasbord?



A smorgasbord is a meal made up of the choice of the individual. The individual selects of the food made available according to his personal delight. He/she eats only what foods appeal to his/her appetite, limited to his/her own personal selection. A well balanced meal however is made up of foods which may or may not appeal to the appetite. A well balanced meal is eaten for the betterment of ones health, not necessarily to appeal to the palate of the diner.

Christianity can be likened to a smorgasbord and not to a well balanced meal. The practitioners of Christianity select only those foods which appeal to their fleshly desires and prepare for themselves to eat only those foods which they want and not necessarily what is best for them.

While Jesus Christ himself said, "It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:4

The apostle Paul made it clear with these words, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works". II Timothy 3:16-17

While this passage is found in the New Testament, it is obvious that the only scripture which existed at the time of this writing was the Old Testament. This passage however was written for the New Testament reader.

Many of the practitioners of Christianity choose to ignore this passage with its implications. While this passage applies to the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, many smorgasbord practitioners of Christianity reject the Old Testament as applying only to the Jews and not to the "New Testament Christians". Many in Christianity deny much of the Old Testament, and select for their consumption, only what appeals to their appetites. While rejecting much of the "Word of God" in the Old Testament, they do in fact, reject the commandments and admonitions of the New Testament. They are thus found to be, "enmity against God: and are not subject to the laws of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7

These same smorgasbord diners of Christianity claim that only the New Testament is meant for them, yet they remain just as selective in accepting what appeals to them of the New Testament. They reject anything written in the New Testament that does meet with their taste desires. Much of what they do accept is a twisted version of what the scriptures actually record. They revise, modify, correct, rationalize, retranslate, and interpret the words of God to make them more palatable to their liking.

This accounts for the more than 1,000 different versions of sects, groups, denominations, organizations, and cults which select their religious fare according to their private tastes. While they don't participate of the exact selection of food that other groups within Christianity do, they all agree they have the right to select their own meal choices. Thus none of these smorgasbord practitioners of Christianity, adhere to the decree of Jesus Christ which stated, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God". Luke 4:4

Someone recently said to me, "A half truth is a whole lie." On this point I agree with him.

"Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32

Jesus did not mean for his followers to continue in just those words of his, which suited their taste, but every word of his, which was every word of God. Anything less would be partial truth thus making their selection a lie.

If the different groups which claim to be followers of Jesus Christ would accept every word of God, they would all believe the same thing; and there would be no divisions among them. There would thus be only one group, correctly labeled Christianity, and they would be "True Christians", eating a balanced meal of the "Word of God".



Last Modified: June 20, 1996

Back to the Zephyr home page.Send us E-Mail