Living Lessons: The Lure of the Golden Arches

Living Lessons:  September 23^rd 2012

Jesus the Christ had a marvelous way of conveying deep spiritual truths by using stories and object lessons from the living world around Him.  We can too.

The Lure of the Golden Arches:  Excitement was crackling in the air from 11:45pm to 12:15am on Wednesday morning as McDonald’s opened its doors to about 170 customers.  Some had endured the “harsh” elements of the day by getting their spot staked in line at 12:30pm in the afternoon.  One lost her claim due to health related complications and was taken away by ambulance at 11:55pm, just shy of the door opening mark.  Some even paid $10 to park their cars at neighboring establishments.  Oh, the sacrifice!  Some of you reading this were there as witnesses to the excitement surrounding the resurrection of Washington’s golden arches. 

     The Times Herald reporter, Nate, my neighbor, Bill, and I all cited the same reason for not joining in the line ourselves.    No matter how they redecorate, how many spotlights they have, how high tech they are, Big Macs are simply bad for our health.  Our McDonald's gave away 52 of those bad boys for the first 100 people who showed up at midnight.  Just to burn away the calories of 52 Big Macs I would have to run an extra 250 miles this year!  We just watched as we tried to be a positive encouragement and healthy-minded witness to the participants. 

     Doesn’t sin work that way in our lives?  How many times have we vowed to quit a specific sin, only to find it repackaged and marketed in a different way, and suddenly we’re sold to soulfully unhealthy actions once again.  How many of us promised God we wouldn’t speak negatively of others or promised we wouldn’t spread gossip about others in our lives, and then along came Facebook.  Spreading gossip and negativity has never been so easy and trendy.  How many of us promised God we’d be responsible with the money He has let us borrow only to find the next great redesigned cell phone that is going to revolutionize our lives?  How many of us have found ourselves waiting in Christmas lines for something we don’t even want just because so many others around us are doing it.

     No matter how you decorate it, repackage it, market it, or how many other people are participating, things that are sin are not from God.  Like the Big Mac, these things slowly add layers of plaque to our spiritual arteries clogging the flow of life giving blood to our hearts.   Brothers and sisters, don’t fall for the gimmicks or peer pressure of sin in our spiritual lives.  Don’t wait in the long lines for something you know isn’t from God.

James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death.”

Now if McDonald’s gave away 52 free salads. . .