It wasn't until my friend butted in exclaiming "She is ridiculous! She eats stacks of tuna out of a can, yet hates fish! Absolute contradiction" that I realised I have a problem.
And it's all so true. I hate fish, yet eat tuna out of a can. I hate oranges, yet love mandarins. I hate mayonnaise, yet on a sandwich it's sometimes okay. I won't eat an apple, but a nectarine is alright. And don't even think about putting dark blue milk in my tea, I WILL notice and be mortified.
I've always known this about my eating, I'm aware and not one bit ashamed. And what's worse…. Reluctant to change. At age 22, I'm already set in my ways.
They (some wise old folk) say there are three things we can be sure of in this world, taxes, death and change. The first two sound awfully morbid and serious yet it is the latter that can often drive me to the sweaty shakes.
Change is the component of life that brings variation, excitement, new opportunities'. When I think of it like this, it becomes odd that when I think of one thing that holds us so close to ground zero, it is the lack of balls people embrace change with.
So what needs to change?
A recent discussion in church brought to light the various 'messages' young adults are bombarded with every day. Something along the lines of "You're more special than the person next to you", "If it's broken, give up" "Your success is measured by your wealth" and my personal favourite "You are the centre of your universe".
These messages infiltrate our daily life through advertising, conversations, educational institutions' and my ultimate weak spot, the entertainment sector. I'm still relatively convinced that Johnny Depp would be the key to my happiness.
These messages live loud in society and unfortunately have infiltrated further than we can comprehend. I often wonder, in what capacity are these messages controlling our day to day life? And then I think further, how much of these narcissist worldviews are penetrating our church culture? I think we would be sadly surprised.
So what's happening?
Allowing these messages to permeate our brains and way of life is leading us to focus on our needs, our wants and our happiness, and only ours. All the while creating a Santa Claus Jesus whom we call upon in our convenience. In addition to this we often disregard the needs of others. I find it pretty painful when I stop and think about all this. Cringe.
And then I faintly remember…. I've soaked up the wrong story. It's somewhat humbling to admit I'm wrong in this instance.
The amalgamation of two polarised stories has led to conflicting messages being generated in our church culture. On one hand we have an advert explaining that coke is happiness in a bottle and if we don't get that 'fix' then our happiness is lost.
And then we have churches saying, if you don't come every week, get your fix of some pop worship, have some shallow banter and listen to the sermon, then your not really a good Christian are you? Its subliminal messages of climbing a ladder to reach the ultimate Christian level that make me cringe. I'm clearly still only on level 1 or 2.
So, change your story?
The good news is this: There is someone who is the centre of the universe and he's called Jesus. Oh and he has given you a clean slate, drenches you in redemptive love and never gives up on you. Now that's what I called spoiled. He climbed down the ladder so we didn't have to climb up it. He always knew we never could. That is some really, really, great news.
This is a far greater story than being a slave to yourself and facing endless disappointment when you realise don't look like the fun loving surfer with all the chicks hanging around, oh and sadly, your money can't buy you deep seated happiness. No, Jesus definitely offers a far greater reward and worldview. I dare you to look into it.
His story is a great story. So great that sometimes we need to swallow our pride and accept the change he is presenting us with. The change to think about someone other than ourselves. The change to allow his love to guide our life. The change to let his wisdom lead us. These changes are not arbitrary claims but a real story that can bring great freedom.
The challenge is this, we need to change the story we're driven by. We need to accept that often what is in front of us can lead to disappointment in the end.
Go on, you may surprise yourself. In the meantime, I'll be working on learning to like oranges, or fish, or apples, or mayonnaise, or milk… who knows, embracing this change could catapult a whole new range of eating experiences. WIN.
Chloe Pryor is a young adult living in Auckland New Zealand. Studying a Bachelor of Dance, in her spare time she teaches young children dance, ballet and jazz, whilst volunteering hours in the youth ministry of her local church. Chloe has a passion for God and serving the local church with a defined heart for women.
Chloe Pryor's previous articles may be viewed at
www.pressserviceinternational.org/chloe-pryor.html