Cultures

I have been thinking about cultures quite a bit since my weight loss two years ago. In trying to answer the question of why I was so over-weight for so long, I realized I was a product of some cultures that fed (pardon the pun) my addiction. I am writing a book right now and am doing a chapter on this. I am a product of several cultures that are food driven. It is the perfect food storm.

First, I am a Southerner. I don't know if you have ever looked at the statistics or not but the South leads the league in obesity. Why is that? Several reasons. Economics is one reason. Cheaper foods are more fattening. We clean our plates because we don't believe in wasting. Did your Mama ever make you feel bad if you didn't clean your plate and tell you about those starving kids in China?

Another reason is the way Southerners cook. Lots of fattening ingredients. Even our green beans are cooked with ham. Biscuits, gravy and sausage? Lord, have mercy. Southerners also love to fellowship and that means eating. We will even take a pie or cake to a funeral viewing. So, the Southern culture is a food driven culture. Another culture that made me eat was the church culture. We go to church and eating after church is a big deal. Even on Sunday nights, we may go out for pizza. You can't be rude and not join in. You know the Bible clearly says for us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together and that means Golden Corral. Church people like to eat. Growing up in a strict religious culture, we couldn't do much else.

I am a preacher's kid. This was another issue. Everybody wanted to feed the preacher and his family. We could not turn down someone's home made desert. It just wouldn't be right. People loved bringing us food. We had to eat it because they are going to ask how we enjoyed it and we did. So, I can use these cultures along with my DNA as my excuse of being over-weight. I have done lots of thinking about cultures. While I was losing weight, my daughter, Tiffany, invited me to do a 5k. That was Thanksgiving 2009. I did the 5k and enjoyed it but what I discovered was a culture of runners. I had no idea it existed. I had heard of these 5ks but thought it was just people wanting to help a fundraiser. They were just being nice. I was also aware of the sport of running in high school, college and at events like the Olympics. But, I seriously didn't know that there was a whole culture of running. I liked it and have embraced it. I have rejected the eating cultures that I grew up with. Sure, I'll go out to eat and enjoy fellowship, but I don't eat like a horse any more. I have learned to substitute foods. In fact, another chapter in the book deals with maintenance. After the weight is lost, what do you do to maintain? The main thing is food substitution. So, I have changed cultures. I am not the old Eddie Robbins.
 
For my Christian friends: Jesus never intended for us to create a culture to hide in. He wants us to GO into ALL the world...or cultures...and preach the Gospel to every creature. Get out of your comfortable Christianese culture and take Jesus to other cultures. I have enjoyed engaging the running culture. I have developed relationships. I have taken Jesus to another culture, not as a missionary but as one I have embraced. I really believe this is what He would want us to do. There are other cultures that I need to invade. I am working on that. If you are comfortable hiding inside the church culture, get out of it and take Jesus to other cultures. They are not coming to yours. Who knows? You may make a difference in someone's life and you may have fun as well!! Let's do it!!