“The Danger of Fad Diets”

Friday, January 10, 2025

The Danger of Fad Diets

By Seth Mauldin & Joshua Cleveland

“Have nothing to do with worldly fables…discipline yourself 
for the purpose of godliness…Prescribe and teach these things…Give attention to 
the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” (1 Tim. 4:7,8,11,13)

        Have you heard of the grapefruit juice diet? Its heyday may be long gone, but back in the 1930s it was all the rage. Grapefruits, or so it was said held the magical key to lasting health and putting off those pesky extra pounds. Eventually this made way for other revelations like the blood type diet: Whether you were O-Neg or B+ was what really unlocked the secrets of your nutritional needs. Of course, this was nothing compared to the fat shredding power of the ketogenic diet; which was nothing compared to the Paleo diet; which was nothing compared to the Mediterranean Diet…etc.

        There is a strange phenomenon that tends to occur shortly after each of these lifestyle choices reach their apex. The nutritional powers that be will release a study that confirms everyone’s worst fear: The best way to lose weight and maintain health is a combination of regular physical activity and the common-sense consumption of healthy foods. We are reminded that there is no silver bullet other than to simply do the things we know we ought to do.

        So where exactly does this relate to matters of faith? Could I suggest to you that one of the dangers we need to be aware of is the prevalence of spiritual fad diets. Just as each of these nutritional plans purport to have found the one thing that is wrong with our eating habits, there has recently been a plethora of voices who claim to know the one thing that is wrong with our churches. Recent books have all claimed to have the answer! One book claims that churches are falling apart because they are neglecting the work of the Holy Spirit—a supposedly forgotten God. Another comes along and declares that we just aren’t being radical enough; we just don’t understand discipleship like we should. Still another has come along to let us know that church woes are rooted in our neglect of the Ten Commandments. If you keep looking you’ll find that the list goes on and it runs quite long.

        On the one hand, various religious books can be quite helpful in stirring up our thoughts. While we must be cautious to engage in doctrinal sifting, there’s something to be gained by reading through the study efforts of others. And yet, in this pursuit we must practice extreme discernment. A great deal of what’s churned out is not worth the paper it’s printed on. While this may be obvious with books that promise “Your Best Life Now”, it is equally true of each new book that comes along claiming to have solved the problem. These are fad diets for Christians. While it may not excite the masses, the answer to church problems is much less mysterious. As Paul reminded Timothy: Stick to the basics. Prescribe and teach. Proclaim sound doctrine. Read the Scriptures. Exhort and teach.

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