As people who believe in the wholistic nature of what it means to be human, Seventh-day Adventists have long been people who take food seriously. Contemporary scientific research has repeatedly proven the health benefits of better dietary choices, often in the context of Adventist communities and drawing on our “health message” heritage.
But there are risks that have come with our Adventist focus on food. The first is the temptation to see food merely as fuel for our bodies as a kind of machine, with better fuel merely giving better function. The second is to assume that somehow God loves us more in proportion to the health or purity of our diet, a misguided belief in some kind of salvation-by-cheese-avoidance.
In the Bible’s overview, by contrast, food is not primarily about either health or holiness. Many stories throughout the Bible present food and its place in faithful living in a number of significant but sometimes overlooked ways.
Wonder & Gratitude
At Creation itself, God made explicit mention of the supply of food for the first human beings (see Genesis 1:29), a miracle that has been repeated day after day, season after season, harvest after harvest. Food could have been created as mere fuel for our physical bodies but instead it was created with flavours, aromas, colours and remarkable variety.
In some biblical instances, this miracle of food was made more overt. When Jesus fed the 5000 on the shore of Galilee, it was another act of creation that affirmed the importance and goodness of our physical lives—and points to God’s everyday creativity. As theologian Norman Wirzba sums it up, “To eat is to see, smell, touch and taste God’s provisioning care.”1
As such, while the Bible does not explicitly command “saying grace” before meals (the closest instruction is that found in Deuteronomy 8:10), the habit of giving thanks for our food is a valuable spiritual discipline, reminding us of our dependence on our Creator and the miracle we are about to share in. In 1 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul described gratitude to God as the most important ingredient of any meal. Similarly, among all the advice Ellen White gave about healthful diet, she repeatedly urged that we should “eat with thanksgiving.”2
Hospitality & Community
While we don’t always have such opportunities, shared meals are vital social and community occasions in many of the world’s cultures,
including the worldview of the Bible.
Inviting strangers to eat with us is the epitome of hospitality and welcome (see Genesis 18:1–8). One of the most beautiful pictures of Jesus is that of Him cooking breakfast for His disciples early one morning after the resurrection (see John 21:4–14). But it was also a profound act of reconciliation and one of the foundational moments of the early church. As the church grew, food became both a barrier and a reconciler. The accusation against Peter after his experience with Cornelius in Acts 10 was that he “entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them” (see Acts 11:3, NLT, emphasis added).
Food brings people together in awkward, important and transformative ways.
Food brings people together in awkward, important and transformative ways: “Joyful eating remembers that we’re never ‘alone with God’ and food. Food connects us to others—other people, and other creatures—in millions of ways, some visible, many hidden.”3
Generosity & Justice
Our appreciation of food should never be only about us: “We produce enough food to feed the world but rather than harvesting with care, we are prodigal with God’s bounty . . . The daily reality is that 925 million people around the world go hungry every day . . . [We] need to realise that the production and distribution of food are basic matters of justice at an individual, national and international level.”4
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (see Matthew 6:11). Recognising the physical importance of what we eat, many of us have taken this prayer a step further, insisting on it being biodynamic wholegrain bread with low sodium, no additives, and perhaps organic or gluten-free. But can we insist on our eating well—as important as that is—while ignoring those who might not be eating at all? And such a question might sound like Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees, whom He accused of paying tithe on their (organic, home-grown) herb gardens while ignoring the “more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23, NLT).
Feeding the hungry is a core component of what it means to be the faithful people of God (see, for example, Isaiah 58:7 and Matthew 25:35). It is part of the Bible’s repeated call to do justice, to join with God (see Psalms 146:7) in helping ensure that the goodness of God’s creation is available to as many as possible of our human brothers and sisters.
Remembrance & Revelation
From Creation to Passover to Communion to the heaven’s great feast, meals play vital functions of celebration and memorial in the kingdom of God. In the Christian church, the most significant example of this is the Communion service: “When Jesus wanted to explain to His followers the meaning of His death, He didn’t give them a theory; He gave them a meal.”5 The representation of the life of God entering into our body and becoming a part of us is a cause for celebration. Such an intimacy with God, based on what Jesus did for us in His death, is worth remembering.
In eating, we remember God’s saving provision for us, as well as recognising His living presence with us, and His promise to eat and dwell with us forever.
Health & Holiness
So where do health and holiness fit in our serious thinking about food?
If we eat—and live—with wonder and gratitude, hospitality and community, generosity and justice, remembrance and revelation, we will discover deeper health and wholistic holiness. Each meal becomes a sacred experience of God’s goodness and a call for our faithful response to God and to others. And by taking food still more seriously, we will find greater joy.
AUTHOR: Nathan Brown is book editor at Signs Publishing Company in Warburton, Victoria, and author of Why I Try To Believe.
PHOTOGRAPHY: This photo was taken by Lauren McColl, and modeled by Alannah McColl. For more of her work, visit <www.lawnphotography.com> or @lawnphotography on Facebook and Instagram.
1. Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating, Cambridge University Press, 2011, page 180.
2. Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 87; Medical Ministry, page 274; see also Child Guidance, page 387; Manuscript Releases Vol 20, page 329.
3. Rachel Marie Stone, Eat With Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food, IVP Books, 2013, page 39–40.
4. Amanda Jackson, Micah Challenge International, <www.micahchallenge.org.au/blog/n/our-daily-bread-111024 >.
5. N T Wright, How God Became King, HarperOne, 2013, page 238.