Who can be saved?

Billy Chan

Thursday, October 29, 2015

A few days ago, the World Health Organization, or WHO, reported that all processed meats such as bacon, sausages and ham do in fact cause cancer; moreover, red meats were categorised as “probably carcinogenic.” My first reaction after reading the report was, “Then, who can be saved?” (Luke 18:26).

I think most of us knew that processed meats were not good for our health way before the WHO report came out. However, most of us, at least me, chose not to believe it. All that bacon, sausage and ham tastes extremely good. And if that is the case, what are we supposed to eat for breakfast? No Sausage McMuffin? No Ham? Bacon? Western omelet? I can’t eat any of them. But hold on, wait a minute, what about hot dogs, and most importantly, pizza? I can’t eat that. This is going to be bad. What do we have left to hope for? Will I get cancer? Will I die soon? My God, save us!

I am pretty sure that when Jesus gave this response to the rich man’s question: ‘There is still one thing you lack, sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ (Luke 18:22), the people around Jesus, including the rich man, felt more or less the same way I’m feeling today. The question that Jesus answered was “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Jesus simply stated the truth. More importantly, nothing has changed since Jesus’ response to the rich man. It is very similar to the report about processed meat. We knew what the truth was a long time before the report came out.

Indeed, let’s give thanks to the WHO report. It is a wonderful reminder that helps us to choose better and healthy food for our body in order to avoid any serious diseases such as cancer. Also, let’s give thanks Jesus’ fantastic answer. It reminds people that we should not worship money, instead, we should help the poor! This almost guarantees ticket to eternal life.

From now on, we should not worship “processed meat” anymore because we want to be healthy. If the “processed meat” can cause cancer, maybe we shouldn’t consume it. This is giving up something we want now in exchange for a greater good that we’ll receive later in life. On top of that, we should also make conscious decisions to help those people who are poor and hopefully we will all get a ticket to heaven!

P.S. I think if WHO read my blog, they would reply,

“How hard is it for those who eat processed meat to enter into the kingdom of health! ”

Billy Chan, a former radio host and motivational speaker, spent the past ten years working with youth in Montreal. He enjoys using humour to illustrate his relationship with God. In his blog, you will find reflections on his experience with youth ministry and his special way of working with youth today.