Seems to me that we don’t hear much about cannibals these days. When I was a kid, I had the impression that cannibalism would be much more prevelant in my adult experience. Not that I would be personally involved, either “giving or receiving”, mind you. While I’m thinking about stuff that I figured would be more common, doesn’t it seem odd that quicksand hasn’t impacted our lives or the lives of loved ones more often? And when is the last time a damsel that was tied to train tracks had to be rescued from an oncoming train? Side note: probably not a great idea to frame your notions of the future by watching Saturday morning cartoons. As we matured, we were horrified by the concept of cannibalism portrayed in the Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man. Anyone remember shuddering when seeing Patty cry, “Mr. Chambers, don’t get on that ship! The rest of the book To Serve Man, it’s… it’s a cookbook!” When adding to your cannibal-themed Netflix queue, don’t forget Soylent Green, in which Charlton Heston, playing NYC detective Frank Thorn exclaims at the end of the movie, “Soylent Green is made out of people!” Ah, good times!
As reasonably civilized people, we are rightly aghast by the concept or practice of cannibalism. That said, it is not so rare; we may even engage in it ourselves, figuratively speaking of course. Recently, yet another culturally prominent Christian said some things that were, biblically speaking, not very Christian. There is never an occasion to compromise on biblical truth. And we certainly want to refute the watering down, twisting, or outright denial of doctrine. But shouldn’t we respond in a way that is scripturally sound as well? I’ve seen more than enough on blogs and social media calling out these “so-called Christians”. Apparently it wasn’t enough for the writers to simply contrast what was said with faithful and sound adherence to the Word, to “speak the truth in love” as we are told. Instead, motives and hearts were judged and pious sounding invectives hurled. I’m pretty sure there have been more people thrown under the church bus than any others all through the town. Do we not think that the secular world watches with bemusement as we eat our own? Now you and I might not have a public forum in which we can correct what ails Christendom. But we do have those that pay attention to us, even if only a few. Based on this website’s statistics, I fall comfortably in that group! I don’t want to be considered a Christian Cannibal. Do you?
(Click “Stand On Firmer Ground” for deeper look into Christian Cannibals)