Quite literally, faith is like a bowl of vegetable soup. So lets think about that for a minute, what does it take to make a good soup. Soup is a very simple meal, with the exception of the one making it. It is easy to heat up and eat, it only takes a bowl and a spoon. But if you have ever tried to make soup, you realize how difficult it can be. That is why I trust in God to be the chef of our faith soup, it would be far to difficult for us as simple humans to accomplish such a daunting task. But the reality is this, we are not the consumers of the great bowl of soup, life is the consumer, we are the ingredients. What I mean by that is, each one of us us uniquely different in our own way. Yes, there are many different types of vegetables, meats, and broths that go into vegetable soup. For every one type of vegetable there isn't one that is the same, simply put, it is nearly impossible without some outside interference to make to pieces of carrot look exactly the same. Yet when you put all of these ingredients together, a wonderful medley is the result. Ultimately what I mean by all this is what I have experienced recently in the church. From the confusion of certain people who forget they are not the master chef, and they are not the consumer of the final product, that they are just like me, a simple God made ingredient in a big bowl of faith. Just like there are not two carrots the same, I nor you can be compared to other carrots, we are similar, yet still not the same. The real point I would like to make is that if you happen to be a green bean in the soup of faith, you cannot expect the carrots or onions to act like a green bean. It is not within our nature or our creation to be like something we are not. It is shameful that we encounter green beans in our lives accosting us and treating us as if we have done something wrong simply because we cannot ever be a green bean, we are carrots, and vice versa. We have to learn that it takes all kinds of people in this world to make faith work, if we were all the same, it would be bean soup, not vegetable soup, and in faith we would be called a cult, not a religion. We must learn not just tolerance of people who do not know the Father, but also become more tolerant of each other. We must realize that God has made us all unique for a reason, and that reason is not for us to decide. In conclusion, God made me the way I am for a reason, and I offer no explanation nor should you expect any reason for the way I am. The Lord God accepts you for who you are just like he accepts me, and for that reason we must learn to better accept each other, regardless of whether or not we completely agree with what the other is doing or saying. I am a work in progress just like you, and I will stand before the man just like you, you are not better than me because you are a green bean, so let me just be a carrot, created unique by God, for the betterment of Faith itself. When they talk of the great feast in Heaven, I am willing to bet the first course is vegetable soup.
If the enemy attacks you, and if he hates you, you must be doing something right. JT
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