"Eat Whatever Is Set Before You"

Sav's Grill in Lexington, Kentucky
Photo by author

"...eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience" 
(1 Cor 10:27).

A few years back my father in law, knowing my penchant for being a picky eater sat down at the dinner table, opened up to the verse above and began reading.  It was meant as a joke (I think), but he was also making a good point, even if he was taking that verse out of context.  In that part of 1 Corinthians, Paul is instructing the church not to stress out about knowing if certain foods have been sacrificed to idols prior to eating them.  He tells them they can buy whatever they want in the market (where meat sacrificed to idols was often sold) without having to ask first about whether it had been part of a sacrifice.  Like wise he says that if an unbeliever invites you to dinner you can eat whatever you want without question on the ground of conscience.  Ultimately he says this with the argument that "all things are lawful" therefore eating meat once sacrificed to idols is OK.  Paul goes on to say that if we are informed about the meat's sacrificial past we should not eat it, not because of our own conscience but because of the one who offered it to us...they might get the wrong idea about why we are eating it.

We don't really have this problem today.  There aren't many places here in the U.S. or in most of the destinations Americans travel to where one can find food sacrificed to idols.  And my father-in-law was really just giving me a hard time about my selective eating...I think he was trying to get me to eat a salad or something, I can't remember.  But ever since that day, whenever I'm confronted with an opportunity to try a new food I think back to Mary's dad and that verse.  At minimum it helps me to at least consider trying something that I might not otherwise have done previously.  (Though I still don't eat salad, or mayo, or soft white cheese, or sour cream, or a host of other disgusting things).

I had all of this in my mind last year before we went to Ghana.  I wondered about the food and whether I'd like it.  Manny, being Manny, was no help.  As he is apt to do, Manny sprinkled a bunch of tall tales about the food in Ghana with the truth, so that you were never sure what to believe or disbelieve.  The one item most of us were unsure about that trip was Fufu.  Fufu is a kind of giant dumpling like food made from plantains and cassava that is served in soup.  In Ghana they eat it with their hand, tearing pieces off, dipping it in the soup (which may have beef, chicken, goat, or fish in it) and then swallowing the piece of Fufu whole.  That's right, no chewing, just swallowing it whole.  The more Manny talked about Fufu the more curious I became.  As it turned out we didn't have to wait to get to Ghana to try out the food.  There's a West African style restaurant in downtown Lexington and we decided to try it out as an experiment for our American taste buds and stomachs.  I tried Fufu with goat...and it turned out I loved it (even with the pieces of bone that were in it). 

Once we arrived in Ghana I was on a mission to try the real thing.  During that trip I was privileged to be served Fufu twice, one time sharing a bowl of it served with fish with our driver Francis.  That experience has stuck with me, not so much because there was whole fish in the bowl, or because I had a problem with my gag reflex trying to swallow it without chewing (though that stuck with me too).  There is something about sharing a meal with someone that bridges divides between people, especially if it is a cross-cultural experience.  Sharing a meal levels the field a little too.  After all, everyone has to eat.  When you share a meal with someone you are brought into their sphere just a little bit; you are invited in to their space.  Through shared food and conversation a meal is one of the best opportunities to engage in the building of relationships between people.  And that was a large part of what we were trying to do last year - build relationships.

I fell in love with food in Ghana.  And not just Fufu.  Another favorite dish was Jollof Rice, a rice dish served with chicken and this hot sauce made from palm oil that is delicious.  You can also get pineapple Fanta there which is just about the best soft-drink in the world.  I've been looking forward to eating the food again ever since we left.

This past Sunday our team decided to try some food from West Afria so that the "newbies" on the trip could get a taste of what is in store for them.  Thankfully we have Sav's Grill & West African Cuisine (pictured above) here in Lexington.  It was a family event and we even invited Manny.  While the food isn't exactly like what we'll get in Ghana it's pretty close.  I think everyone who had not tried it before liked it.  At least nobody said they didn't...and the kids got massive amounts of ice cream! 

Now that I've had another taste of West African cuisine I'm hankering for some more.  In just a few more weeks I'll be able to sit down with friends old and new in front of a bowl of Fufu, or some Jollof Rice with ice cream or fresh mango and pineapple for dessert.  I can't wait!  In the meantime I'll take some time to remember that verse from 1 Corinthians, and maybe I'll try something new this year...

Jason