Main Course - Happy New Year 2010

There's a song we sometimes sing at church down here; its chorus starts like this: "Cristo es mi roca fuerte...". That means "Christ is my strong rock". The other day, a Tuesday, I woke up to the sound of Erin laughing. She came into the bedroom and said that ever since she had woken up she had been singing that song, but she kept singing it slightly differently. Erin's version went like this: "Cristo es mi plato fuerte." Which means, "Christ is my main course." As in, meat loaf or something. Haha! But while we laughed, we also noted that it was kind of a good analogy. I thought about it some more, and here's what I came up with:

Jesus is and should be our main dish. After all, the Bible teaches us that whatever is not of faith is sin. And that it's impossible to serve two masters. Ergo, there must be a "main course". We must choose.

You can fast, for a limited time. But eventually without food, you will die. This is like atheism. "I don't believe in my need for food..." Sorry, but the fact is you need food.

Or you can order the veggie plate, which, while tasty, always leaves me ultimately unsatisfied. You need some protein at some point. You gotta have a main course. Pluralism is, perhaps, the veggie plate of the faith-life - just a little of this and a little of that, but no meat!

And once you decide that a main course is necessary, you have to choose which one. If you go to the Picadilly and stand there wavering back and forth between the fried chicken and the country fried steak, eventually the Picadilly is going to close. You have to decide. Culinary agnosticism also does not fill your belly.

You need to eat, you need to eat something of substance, and - and here my silly analogy breaks down - you need to pick the right one, the true one, THE main course. A.k.a. Jesus. We're talking about a search for ultimate truth and purpose here, not just what to have for lunch, which will be digested and present the same decision again at dinner time or lunch time tomorrow.

In all seriousness, my hope and prayer for each of you this new year is this:
If you have not chosen to trust Jesus with your life and future, that you will.
And if you have chosen him, that you would keep doing so, rededicating yourself more and more deeply in faith every day and every decision and in every relationship in your life.

That's right folks, my 2010 New Year's wish for myself, for my own family, and for all of you is that Christ would be your "plato fuerte" - your main dish - your BFF - your Lord and Savior - your all in all. That's what he came to do.

Much love, best wishes, and all blessings to you and yours in 2010.