Pop Tarts & Froot Loops

Kellogg’s – Yes, the Battle Creek, Michigan-based Cereal Company – has a new campaign that caught my eye recently. It’s called “Healthy Beginnings.” Their slogan for the campaign is “Step Up! To a healthier you.” In one of the print ads promoting it, they even have a picture of a woman with her hands raised in the air. Interesting language and visuals -- especially since this is the same company that provides such nutritional breakfast foods as Pop Tarts, Froot Loops, and Cocoa Krispies. I must note that I did not see any of the aforementioned products in the “Healthy Beginnings” ad for some reason.

However, seeing that ad got me thinking. Not so much about cereal, but about Christianity. Specifically, about the health – spiritual health, that is – of the believer. I really like Kellogg’s slogan. Step Up! To a healthier you! To be healthy and growing Christian’s we need to “step-up.”

God’s call to us is always an upward call. Paul said in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” God is constantly challenging people to “get-up, step-up, and move-up.” The society and world in which we live is in a downward spiral. The way “up” is in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to lift our level of living. In John 10:10, Jesus shared that he had come to bring life “more abundantly” – that’s a healthier you!

Even the good folks at Kellogg’s realize that in order to “Step up to a healthier you,” it is not going to happen by eating “Froot Loops and Pop Tarts.” As tasty as those items may be, they are not going to make a “healthier” you. Pounding down Pop-Tarts isn’t going to give you Matthew McConaughey abs. Feasting on Froot Loops isn’t going to give you the body of a Supermodel. In order to become healthier, you have to eat healthier. To eat healthier, you have to change your diet.

To become a healthier Christian, you have to have a healthier spiritual diet. Faithfully attending church (“Does that mean like every week?” Uh, yeah.). Faithfully reading the Bible. Faithfully spending time with the Lord (it’s called prayer). Faithfully getting together with other believers. These are some of the necessary dietary changes that – when stepped up into -- will lead to a “healthier you.” A better you, a more disciplined you. Isn’t that what a disciple truly is?

So take a Step Up.
Neither the world nor the church needs more “Pop-Tart” Christians.