Jesus and the Sawdust Ratio

I recently saw a video about how much sawdust you can put into a Rice Krispies treat before people notice. There's something hilarious about this entire premise, and I was hooked.

Here is what the experiment revealed about different concentrations: 

• 15% sawdust: At this level, an average person is unlikely to detect the sawdust. The texture is slightly different, but the flavor is masked by the sweet marshmallow. Only someone with an extremely sensitive palate might notice an "off" taste.

• 33% sawdust: At this point, most people would notice something is wrong with the taste. While they might not immediately identify the ingredient as sawdust, they would likely be hesitant to continue eating the treat.

• 50% sawdust: At this concentration, the treat is clearly and obviously wrong. 

I assumed the 15% sawdust would be obviously wrong for everyone. But it had enough of the main ingredient for the sawdust to creep in. And when you more than doubled this ratio at the 33% mark, the fact that everyone could not immediately notice that sawdust had been added was equally shocking. 

This reminds us that we aren't as discerning at noticing when something is off as we might imagine.

Which has got me thinking about more important things.

For example, how much Christian Nationalism can you put into Christianity before people notice?

It seems the answer is a lot. The difference between my question and the Rice Krispies prompt is that the more sawdust is introduced, the more likely the person is to notice. But I've found that the longer a person entertains ideas of Christian Nationalism, the less likely they are to notice. You can keep increasing the ratio, and they still don't recognize a difference.

How else do we explain how many Christians hold up Charlie as a model example of what it means to follow Jesus? Or how many Christians support masked ICE agents against vulnerable minorities? Or how many Christians continue to find ways to defend and dismiss any argument against supporting the President?

At the memorial service for Charlie, President Trump said, “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.” I literally could not show you a more direct contrast to the words of Jesus.

Something else has been introduced, and it has crept in without most Christians realizing it.

This doesn't make these Christians inherently evil. In fact, the ones I know are amazing people. And many of them continue to have these blog posts sent to their email each week, even when they don't always agree with my take on things.

It just means they might need a reminder to show them what's been changed. In the example of the Rice Krispies treat, the best way to show someone that they are eating something tampered with is to offer them a 100% Rice Krispies treat to compare. Let the full flavor be the insight.

In the same way, we must remind our fellow brothers and sisters that the Gospel of Christ is incongruent with the desire for power and influence and dominance of those we deem the other. We must get back to loving our enemies rather than mocking and dehumanizing them. As John Fugelsang has recently written,

Only in America can you be pro death penalty, pro war, pro drone bombs, pro torture, pro cutting services for the poor, pro for-profit privatized healthcare, pro dismantling USAID, and still call yourself “pro-life."

We must let the full beauty and radical teachings of Jesus be the insight into what we've lost. I grieve the state of Christianity in the U.S. today. And some days it's easy to just want to be cynical about it all and move on. But as Bell Hooks reminds us, "Ultimately, cynicism is the great mask of the disappointed and betrayed heart." 

We must refuse the mask and put in the work. We must love across the aisle and work against all forms of othering. Let the fullness of Christ in our midst be the insight to guide us back to what matters.

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