Rice and Beans Faith
“…and placed it beside Dagon.”
Religious syncretism is popular today, but the Philistines practiced it many centuries ago. Syncretism, as the word indicates, is the union or mixture of different religions or beliefs. There are many individuals with a syncretistic heart. They “believe” in Jesus and in a host of saints, “virgins” and other strange doctrines and human philosophies.
This is a “rice and beans” kind of faith. When white rice is mixed with red or black beans, it ceases to be white as it acquires the color of the beans. Rice and beans is a typical Cuban dish. I have enjoyed rice mixed with many different kinds of beans. There is the classic black bean, but I prefer red beans and rice better. Others mix the rice with white or pinto beans, lentils or split pea.
As a dish, I love rice and beans, but in regards to my faith, it is Jesus and nothing but Jesus. Jesus Christ is the perfect Bread from heaven that needs no additives or preservatives to spice up the flavor of our lives.
In our hearts, there must be only one throne, which belongs only to Jesus our King. The reformers fought for the salvation that comes by grace alone, through faith alone (Sola Fide). They also believed in “Sola Scriptura” or in other words, that the Bible is God’s Word and as such, is the only message that brings salvation to this world.
You can mix rice and beans and it is not a sin. I also believe that you can have “mixed” marriages and this does not offend the Lord at all. What is truly offensive is for believers to marry unbelievers or to mix our faith in Christ with anything or anyone else.
