Sunday, April 17, 2016

Colonoscopies, Fried Chicken and Repentance

Most men are pressured to get their first colonoscopy around age 50. I had the pleasure of receiving mine about 7 years ago at age 29.

It all started one week when I had some of the best fried chicken and fried okra from a great barbecue joint down the street. The next day I ate a large pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars, and the constipation had taken full effect. This story is already gross, I know, but it gets worse. I bled every time I went #2 that week.

But instead of telling Stephanie, I just kept on doing what I was doing. And the second week was quite similar to the first. Tasty, yet excruciatingly painful. Eventually, though, I let her in on my struggles and she gave me a thorough tongue-lashing. It was well deserved.


According to medical professionals, you shouldn’t bleed every time you poop. It is probably a sign of some bad plumbing.

So I went to the doctor and got set up for a colonoscopy, which freaked me out. But, of course, the actual procedure was not anywhere as frustrating as the colonblow. You know, the preparatory drink they give you to cleanse your system that keeps you up all night? It’s the worst.

My problem, evidently, was that I consumed way too much fried food, pizza and soft drinks, and not enough fiber and water. That, and I had developed a case of diverticulosis, where small pouches had formed in the wall of my colon.

The doctor basically gently rebuked me for about 10 minutes about my poor eating habits and need for greater self-control. At first I felt myself getting defensive, but then I realized that this man was trying to save me. He wasn’t against me, he was for me. But in order to be for me, he had to call me to repentance.

Repentance? From what sin? James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” I knew I shouldn’t have been eating that way, and yet I kept on doing it for so long. Living in a self-destructive way, all because it made me feel… good?

I was being a bad steward of the body God gave me and I needed to repent.

2nd Century writing the Shepherd of Hermas says this about repentance:

Repentance is great wisdom. For he who has sinned understands that he acted wickedly in the sight of the Lord. He remembers the actions he has done, and he repents. He no longer acts wickedly, but he does good generously. He humbles… his soul because he has sinned. – Hermas 150CE, Volume 2, p. 22

For some reason, our culture has turned repentance into a negative word. Even large circles of Christianity have cleverly maneuvered their way around scripture to develop systems of theology that insinuate that repentance is no longer necessary because of the cross.

Let me assure you that’s not what the earliest Christians believed. And that’s not what the Bible teaches. Repentance brings life, heath, peace and reconciliation. So may you experience the wisdom of repentance today! 

1 comment:

  1. I hear you. I'm guilty of much the same stuff: to eat meats and breads and everything but fibers and vegetables, eventually barring the back door. When it happened to me, I thought of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NASB):

    Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

    Each day, I try to be more thoughtful and deliberate about what I put in my body. Even as an avid carnivore, I can recommend Morningstar Chipotle Black Bean patties (available at Sam's in the frozen section), which tastes and smells awesome...and has fiber in it!

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