What's In Your Milkshake???

In my last post I wrote about the adventure that my friend, Stephenie and I recently had in Birmingham which led us to a fancy little gourmet hamburger restaurant.  This super trendy restaurant, called Flip Burger Boutique, is known as ' fine dining between two buns.'  At Flip Burger  you don't just get a  plain old burger, instead you get a work of art.  Whether it is the crab burger with green curry coconut sauce or the Kobe beef burger with portabello mushrooms and red wine jam, you can rest assured this is not your run of the mill burger joint.

Just walking in the restaurant is delightful with its swanky decor which  features red carpet, white leather banquettes and aluminum chairs along the bar. The atmosphere is as fun as the food.  After taking in the atmosphere and a burger we realized  the restaurant was also popular for  liquid-nitrogen milkshakes.  The ice cream used in the milkshakes is  frozen using liquid nitrogen, which results in a thick and smooth treat that has a faint plume of smoke emanating  from the cup, creating a  bit of drama.  We decided that we would come back later that evening for one of the shakes, but which one would we choose-the nuttela with burnt marshmallows, the Krispy Kreme, the pistachio and truffle or the foie gras milkshake.

Now if you are reading this carefully, you may have thought, "foie gras" (which is not pronounced 'grass' but 'grah') and not be real sure what this milkshake would contain.  Well, truth be told, we didn't either.  After telling the server of our plans to return later for the milkshake we asked which shake was her favorite.  She raved that the foie gras was her favorite and continued to tell how the shake was made. "The foie gras is made into a paste and then the ice cream and milk are added.  You really don't get hunks of the foie gras, but instead a smooth butter pecan taste," she said. 

Leaving the restaurant we were so excited about our return to get the foie gras shake.  Just the sound of the French word tumbling off our lips made us feel that we were in for a delectable treat.  After several hours of mentioning the foie gras, Stephenie turned to me and asked the question we should have asked earlier, "What is foie gras?"  I admitted that I was uncertain but it sure sounded good!  Retrieving my phone from my purse I searched the internet--much to my horror, there it was!!  Foie gras is  made from  the liver from duck that has been intentionally fattened.  I will not go further into the process that is  used to get the duck's liver to such a point but let me assure it is gruesome. 

Needless to say, we decided that there are just some things that don't belong in a milkshake and mashed up duck liver is one of those things-in fact liver of any sort doesn't  belong in a milkshake.  We did return for a milkshake, but settled for a much more traditional selection.

I began to think about the milkshake and the similarity to the life of the believer. Just as there are some things (foie gras)  that just don't belong in a milkshake, there are also those things that do not belong in the Christian's life.  False gods are a problem, however most of us think that we are not  worshiping those carved images so we must be okay in that area.  Though we may not have idols that we physically bow down to, we may have other things in our lives that can or have become like an idol.  Anything that takes first place in our lives, above God is an idol.  How often do we bow down to the god of shopping, food, technology, materialism, television, internet, friends, family, sports, popularity, power or position and put them before the one true God?  Ouch!  That got my toes, how about you?   God's Word says,

"Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."  Exodus 34:14

Scripture also tells us there are other things which do not belong in our lives. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us to get rid of every bit of

• anger (short madness)
• bitterness (anger that has boiled, simmered and been stored away as deep resentment)
• rage (explosive anger)
• brawling (fights)
• slander (statements which damage a person's reputation)
• malice (intent to do evil to someone)

Do you know that to make the foie gras the farmers stick tubes down the throat of the ducks and force feed it over time causing it's liver to  increases to  10 times its normal size. The process causes  many birds to tear out their own feathers and cannibalize each other out of stress.  Is that what we have done with anger?  Have we taken in so much anger and resentment through the years because life hasn't turned out the way we thought it  should, people have disappointed us, deserted us, broken our hearts, our health failed, our marriage is difficult, we struggle financially, lost our employment or a  family member to death- that in all that we have become so bitter that not only is it destroying  us but we lash out at others in an attempt to do them harm as well?  Women especially struggle with this and can be like the ducks that "tear out their own feathers and cannibalize each other."

According to Christ's teaching in Matthew 6:15 we are to get rid of

• unforgiveness

Ephesians 5:4 tells us to get rid of

• obscenity
• foolish talk
• coarse joking

In addition Galatians 5:19-21 directs us to rid ourselves of

• sexual immorality
• impurity
• debauchery (excessive indulgence in things that delight the senses-sight, taste, touch etc)
• idolatry (as we also mentioned above)
• witchcraft (influence or preoccupation with evil; use of incantation or spells--what about superstition?)
• hatred
• discord
• jealousy
• fits of rage
• selfish ambition
• dissensions
• factions (cliques)
• envy
• drunkenness

May we seek to eliminate these from our lives because hunks of bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy etc are never very palatable.  Instead let's replace them with that which always goes down smooth-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Gal 5:22-23), thanksgiving (Eph 5:4) and humility (Eph 4:2).