Thirty One Flavors of Christian

A few weeks ago, in his sermon, my pastor Wade said (when talking about us being salt,) “Christians are to bring flavor to the world.” This statement reminded me of something a friend once told me, “If we were ice-cream flavors, I’d be vanilla and you’d be pistachio!” I’m not sure that was a compliment. But I think she meant that she was classic, conservative, traditional, predictable, and a popular choice and that I was …well … not.  I almost started laughing in the middle of a serious sermon as I remembered this.

I’m pistachio. Is that OK?

Consequently, this led me to a study of flavor. There are supposedly seven flavors recognized by humans: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami (savory), spicy, and metallic. I’m not sure where pistachio fits in. Hmm,  maybe umami?

I learned that smell can’t really be separated from taste.  Any company in the food production area has to consider smell as part of their product appeal. The flavor creation in their food product is done by specially trained scientists called “flavorists.”  These flavorists insure the smell and taste of the food will work in the application for which it is intended.

Well God seems to be our Flavorist. He has created us to be a taste that will work in in His plan for presenting salvation to the world.

Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt and seasoning (flavor) that is in the earth. But if the salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything.”

 Wow, we are called to be a flavor of the gospel to the world. We are no good for God if we’re not actively flavoring those around us. I guess it takes all kinds of flavors to meet the needs of those around us.

 Sometimes we need to show the sweetness of Christ’s love. Sometimes we need be the salt preservative and make sure God’s standard in His Word is upheld. Sometimes we need to even be the bitter reminder of the punishment for sin. Sometimes we need to turn up the spicy heat and remind the world of the brevity of life and point the way to salvation. Sometimes we will even leave a metallic taste that the unsaved don’t like in that we point out the difference between our Christian life and theirs. And, yes, sometimes we get to be umami, the yum of being a follower of Jesus.

Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your message to the world be always gracious, flavored so that you know how to respond to everyone.”

We need to depend on our Flavorist to make sure that the flavor we present works for His intended application.

2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.”

Our Flavorist makes sure that the fragrance (the knowledge of God) matches the taste (salvation through Christ) as we spread the gospel.

We may be vanilla or, thankfully, we may even  be pistachio or any flavor in between as long as we are using the flavor God has given us to spread His good news to mankind. It reminds me of the ice-cream shop that offers thirty-one flavors so that any customer can get what they want. You are one of God’s flavors to the world so that everyone can get what they need as you point them to Christ.

I’m pistachio.

What flavor are you?