Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
How is Christmas Candy Similar to the Church?
This morning, I was remembering my mom in the kitchen making her Christmas candies. She made divinity (My brother Tim declared it the best in the world!), chocolate, as well as peanut brittle and pecan brittle.
She combined all the ingredients in a pan and stirred them together. At this point, you could still differentiate the different ingredients in the pan. Then, she placed the pan on the stove and stirred as the ingredients began melting from the heat. There was a precise point in cooking that the ingredients ceased to be individual parts like chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, nuts, etc. As the heat melted the chocolate and butter, the other ingredients blended with them to make a delicious treat. You could tell the candy was ready to pour out when the candy looked shiny.
In addition to making my mouth water and wishing mom could be here to make candy with me, I began thinking about the similarities between mom’s Christmas candies and the local Body of Christ (the church).
Mom’s candies were made of a wide variety of ingredients, yet they had one common ingredient—sugar. The members of the church are varied and represent myriad socioeconomic, psychographic, sociographic, and demographic segmentations. Yet, they (we) all have in common One ingredient (Person), Jesus Christ, our Savior, and Lord.
In the same way the heat causes the ingredients of the candies to blend together, change consistency, and become one treat; the Holy Spirit works in and through the experiences in the lives of the church members to blend them (us) together in unity and to change us into “the shining light,” as Isaiah 60:1 admonishes the church to Arise, shine for the Light has come!
Regardless of the differences among members of the church, the church is to be radiant with the Light of God and the Light of the World in such a way that She (the church) shines with the Light of the Gospel. The church is Christ’s Body through which His glory is to be shown to the world, to make all men see (Ephesians 3:9).
I pray we will all be mindful of our responsibility to shine brighter than any man-made Christmas lights or ornaments!
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
– Matthew 5:14-16
*All Scripture passages are from the King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible.
Join the discussion
One reply to “Christmas Candy and the Church”
A great comparison.