A buffet is like the jackpot of dining. I mean, help yourself and eat all that you can, marvellous! My first experience of a Chinese buffet was not very good because the excitement of knowing I had so much food available to eat got me filled, until I mastered the act of buffets. Three rules, 1.) Go to the buffet hungry 2.) Don’t drink too much liquid 3.) Take it easy.
I like Indian food, Italian, Caribbean, and Cantonese as well but I will not really fancy their buffet. Take Indian buffet for example, I will probably have to take a shower after.
For my birthday this year, my girlfriend booked a restaurant in King’s Cross and I found something I like more than a Chinese buffet and that is a buffet that has it all, different sections for different types of food, from Chinese to Indian.
I realised that my main motivation is “Options” where I can pick and choose what I want to eat, and whatever I don’t want, I’ll leave it behind.
Recently, I have realised that many people live their lives like that, especially Christians. They have turned this whole lifestyle into some massive buffet, where you can pick and choose what is good for you and leave behind the ones that are a bit challenging or that require sacrifice.
I am not too surprised that some Christians see Christianity as a big buffet, especially as, in one of Jesus’ parables, the call to the feast almost sounded like a buffet call “Come [and eat], for all things are ready” (Luke 14:17). But the truth is, this life is an all inclusive one and you cannot play God by choosing the bits of (Joy, Love, Peace, Wealth, Heaven etc) and leaving the bits of (Discipline, Discipleship, Forgiveness, Sacrifice, Giving etc) out. In Christianity today, there are many Kwashiorkor stricken Christians, malnourished and ineffective.
I don’t count myself as perfect, but I am not ashamed to say I may not like the vegetables of Christianity [e.g Patience], I am ready to eat the vegetables and get my 5 a day diet that will make me a balanced Christian.
How do you know a Buffet Christian?
1.) They make a lot of noise – They are most likely the ones you will call your first Christian friends. They proclaim the bits they have chosen loudly enough to down the bits they have left behind. Not all loud Christians are buffet Christians though
2.) They think mid-week services are unnecessary – they think “If you can give your best on Sunday, [especially in the clothes you wear] why would you want to wear something less glamorous to meet the same God during the week.” Sunday service is the bomb; mid-week service is a little more than a waste of time.
3.) Grace does not work on them – They believe in grace, but the grace works on other things/people, not on them. If you tell a buffet Christian, God has given you the grace to forgive, they’ll probably reply, God should give the offender the grace not to offend me.
4.) God can’t be trusted – I know this sound like “NO WAY”, but buffet Christians are revealing doubters. They generally think that God is on their case and if you are not smart with God, you’ll lose out.
Yes, there are choices in life, but it is not quite like the mini 400m race track round the steaming pots in an all inclusive buffet restaurant {See picture above}. The choice is simple; Jesus made it clear in Matthew 12:30
“”He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord [I think Joshua said that first: Joshua 24:15]
Do you know any buffet Christians?
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