Slow Read, Week 3: Chapter 2 (Sins Related to Food and Drink)
A parable about Chick Fil'a fries and the children who love them so
First, the latest podcast about Cultural Christians in the Early Church, out this week, is with Preston Sprinkle (Theology in the Raw podcast)! This was a lot of fun—we talked about quite a wide range of topics.
On to this week’s read: chapter 2, which examines cultural sins related to food and drink. It is either extra timely or just plain mean to be thinking about this during Lent, a season when many Christians are giving up something—and that something is statistically most likely to be chocolate. Or, if you are my friend
, it’s donuts.So, I’m not going to talk to you about chocolate. Or donuts. But I will talk briefly about Chick Fil’a, which my children dearly miss. Especially the fries.
No, we didn’t give up Chick Fil’a for Lent. Rather, this loss is geographically induced. You see, up until July 2023, we lived in a lovely Southern town that boasted not one but TWO Chick Fil’as, just as the Lord intended. For just like two of each animal were needed on Noah’s ark, so does each proper Southern town need two Chick Fil’as—in case one shuts down for six months for a complete remodel (yes, this really happened). But the Williamses are not in the South anymore. In the Midwest, there is so much goodness and beauty. But the nearest Chick Fil’a is 40 minutes from our new home. My children are still mourning this fact.
This is a good reminder that in their hearts, they are still Southerners. They come by it honest, Atlanta-born as they are. But also, to state the obvious, our views of food and our very tastes are deeply shaped by culture. To taste something is not just to nourish the body, but to bring up complex memories, associations, stories, experiences. We remember people with whom we shared a particular meal no less than the meal itself. For my children, waffle fries stand for a place where we gathered with friends to partake not only of delicious fries, freshly harvested from the grease pit that transformed ordinary potatoes into something extraordinary, but also indoor playground time on rainy days. Their longing is no less for these friends we have left behind than for the glorious Chick Fil’a original sauce that my youngest loves to eat with a spoon.
As it happens, both Judaism and Christianity had very particular and (in their context) counter-cultural expectations vis-à-vis food. Food—what, where, how they could or could not eat—both separated ancient Jews and early Christians from others around them and brought them together with their new family in the house of God.
In other words, culture brings an essential dimension into the connection of food and religion—both in antiquity and today. So, questions for this week:
1. What food/food tradition is YOUR “Chick Fil’a fries” equivalent—the food that brings to mind essential memories, associations, joy?
2. What were some of the restrictions in the dietary laws that God gave to the Jews through Moses? What was the purpose of these laws?
3. What were some of the more unusual meats that the Romans ate? What were the implications of the diversity of meats in Roman cuisine for Jews and early Christians living in the Roman Empire?
4. What vision did God reveal to Peter in Acts 10:11-15? What is the significance of this vision?
Next week: we will focus more closely on the Lord’s Supper and its misuse in the Corinthian church. So, if you didn’t get the chance to finish chapter 2 this week, it’s all good! We are camping out here for a while longer.
Next book update: Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic
I’m excited to report that my next book, slated for publication on October 15, is now available for preorder at IVP’s website and on Amazon! More details to come in the summer, along with the opportunity to join a book launch team etc., for anyone interested. Also, while it’s not listed yet, there will be an audiobook version of this book as well.
Giving up donuts was a big mistake. Especially when your friends will not let you forget it. *Ahem.*
Food culture is such a fascinating thing and one of the aspects of Roman culture that has always been most intriguing to me.
Even though I'm a razorback by birth, I grew up in the Midwest, SoCal, and a little bit in New England. I was 27 before I tried my first Chick Fil'a (and reluctantly gluten free at that point) so it never imprinted on my tastebuds. BUT my kids are like your kids. Growing up in Virginia they LOVE the Chick Fil'a. Unfortunately for them, the nearest one to us is now 30 minutes away and we're usually only up that way on Sundays. Poor kids. They hate the Tim Hawkins song, because for them, it's often a reality. XD