I heard a pastor one time talk about sugar, and it stuck with me. Not just the kind you stir in your coffee or sprinkle on your cereal, but sugar as a symbol.
He said, “We don’t fully understand the detriment of sugar.” And he wasn’t just talking about our diet. He was talking about our lives. Our spirits. Our pulpits.
See, sugar feels good. It tastes sweet. It gives you a rush. But what’s sweet on the tongue can turn toxic in the body.
Sugar in your blood? That’s diabetes.
Sugar in your teeth? That’s cavities.
Sugar in your brain? That’s Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Sugar in your eyes? That’s glaucoma.
It doesn’t just stay where you put it, it spreads. It damages. It dulls. It destroys. Slowly. Silently. Sweetly.
Now think about that sugar in your preaching. Sugar in your words. That watered down, candy coated gospel that makes people feel good but doesn’t make them change. That kind of sugar causes hypocrisy. It causes us to shout, dance, and say, “Church was great today!” but leave with no power, no conviction, no transformation.
We’ve gotten addicted to sweet sermons, messages that tickle the ears but don’t challenge the heart.
We’ve settled for sugary spirituality, feel good vibes with no substance.
We’ve filled our churches with cotton candy Christianity. It looks big, it tastes sweet, but it melts to nothing when life gets real.
But sugar won’t sustain you when you’re in a battle. Sugar won’t heal your soul. Sugar won’t hold you up when the weight of the world is on your back. Truth will. Power will. The meat of the Word will.
So maybe it’s time to detox. Time to get back to the raw, sometimes bitter truth that convicts, corrects, and transforms. Because when we preach truth, we preach life. When we stand on truth, we stand in power.
Don’t let a sugar-coated gospel rot your soul.
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