I’m more of a cook than a baker. So, when my friend Charlene shared her world-famous chocolate chip cookie recipe with me, it took me several attempts to get them right. Now, when I take two slightly warm cookies and sandwich some frozen yogurt or ice cream between them, I concoct a treat my grandchildren call Choco-Heaven!
I’ve heard there are people who actually like chocolate chip cookies WITHOUT the chocolate chips! How crazy is that? What in the world could you possibly call chocolate chip cookies without the chips? I couldn’t imagine such an imitation, so I Googled it. Would you believe there ARE recipes called “Chocolate Chip-less Cookies,” “Non-Chocolate Chip Cookies,” even “Unchocolate Chip Cookies”? Total heresy! Why don’t they just call them “Cookies Without the Good Stuff” or maybe “Cookies Your Dog Can Eat”?
Whenever hot cookies come out of the oven, it is impossible to distinguish the eggs from the flour or the salt from the sugar. But those chocolate chips? Now those are recognizable! They are dark dots of gooey goodness begging us to take a bite.
Maybe we (the Church) should become the irresistible chocolate chips in this crazy, mixed-up world. After all, we’re living in a bowl full of rancid ingredients – anger, fear, racism, insecurity, self-centeredness, and pride. Wholesome ingredients like character, integrity, good manners, common courtesy, and respect have been stirred in for so long by Satan’s spoon that we can’t tell the good from the bad. Things once tossed out with the trash are now acceptable in the world’s recipe. So, what’s a chocolate chip to do in this contaminated mixture?
-We keep our form in the batter. We don’t lose hope or conform to the world’s batter, but we help transform it by renewing our hearts and minds. (Rom. 12:2) We understand, without a doubt, that we belong to the only God who continually lavishes us with love and blessings. That kind of continuous goodness creates an unquenchable craving to love Him back. (1 John 3:1) We may be in the world, but we are not of the world. (John 17:15-16)
-We take the scorching heat of pain and suffering, recognizing that in this world we WILL have trouble, but Jesus has come to help us overcome it. (John 16:33) It takes intense, sometimes prolonged, heat to transform us into oozing morsels of unexplainable joy that the world can’t help but notice.
-We connect with other dark dots of gooey goodness (even within other church families) to keep the gospel of Jesus as the main ingredient in our lives. We encourage one another to stay warm so that others will be drawn to the fragrance of Christ. (Hebrews 10:22-25; 2 Corinthians 2:15)
-Finally, we NEVER grow stale. We turn up the worship music when the world turns up the heat (Psalm 100), and we scrape away any burnt bits of our lives with a sturdy spatula of prayer. We rejoice always and give thanks no matter what. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Staying immersed in the Word helps us soak up the flavor of the One who made us. The more we know Him, the more we will love Him. The more we love Him, the more we will love others. That’s when the sweet fragrance of Christ drifts beneath their noses, and they can’t resist tasting His goodness.
So, go ahead! Add an extra handful of sweetness, enhance the flavor of the world, and bake up a scrumptious life. After all, I don’t think God meant for this to be a chocolate-chip-less world. Do you?
“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
(Romans 12:10 NLT)
Donna Jackson
Lean into Jesus Ministries
Perfection Road
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