Pop Thoughts: "A Meaty Subject"

There's just no way to get all the subjects of pop culture into a short sermon series.  So I've decided to take some time in my blog to look at trends, influences, and events that won't get covered on Sundays.

It seems harmless enough, and even kind of cool.  We've finally reached some of the futuristic visions that Star Trek, Epcot Center, and thousands of other Sci-Fi influences of the 80s and 90s dreamt up.  Today's big news:  scientists have finally succeeded in their efforts to create completely synthesized meat.  The burger, cultured out of lab grown muscle cells, requires no animal cultivation or slaughtering, offers a much leaner, cleaner serving, and is what many say may be the answer to both starvation in underdeveloped countries and future instances of overpopulation.  Goodbye dear cow.

Beef without a cow?  Cool.  Cool because it's amazing to see how far the human race has come; cool to see how smart we are.  Synthesized beef isn't simply an isolated achievement.  Every development of this scale implies further advancements in other fields, for other intentions:  cancer research, HIV/AIDS research, etc.  Who knows how this new technology will affect the rest.  Amen for that and the ways we have channeled our resources, time, and intelligence into outcomes that help others in the world.

But where do we draw the line?  It was once a pretty big deal when we found a way to put meat in a can and sell ultra processed meat parts at ultra low prices, only to find out now that these new and affordable conveniences may be some of the very things that are killing us.  Often in our world it seems like we're so busy creating alternatives to problems that we forget to look at what is causing them.  We may be far better off going upstream a little, rather than simply addressing the results.  Ultimately what I'm talking about goes far beyond synthesized meat, canned food, plastic in everything, and other late food trends to even bigger things.

So many times we simply want to fix our world and create easy bandages, rather than get at the heart of our issues.  In my opinion, the solution to overpopulation is not simply to find ways to make food artificially, just as the resolution to marital strife should never be infidelity, just as large amounts of money poured into an economy is not likely to be a lasting resolution to poor spending, saving, managing, and investing practices.

Furthermore, God has never promised or offered a world without pain, struggle, hard work, or sacrifice until we are fully redeemed through Christ in the end.  Paul tells us so many times that we should see the true blessing that is offered to us in our struggles.  And yet, we consistently work to find ways to relieve ourselves of such things:  hard work, pain, struggle, challenge, rejection, sacrifice, etc.  Instead, we may be better off embracing our challenges and pains and listening to them, praying about them, and finding ways to grow closer to God and be witnesses to his glory.

In closing, maybe easier really isn't the answer to all our problems.


More to come!

Jason <><