how far should we take “natural” living?

No GMOs. No MSGs. Stay away from wheat. Eat low fat. Eat lots of fat. Your mattress has toxins. Your shampoo has toxins. Bleach is bad. Careful, that has carcinogens. Did this chicken eat soy? Your deodorant will give you Alzheimer’s. Fluoride is poisonous. You shouldn’t do ___!” Exercise more. Exercise less.

Oh. My. Gosh. When does it end???

Living a clean, natural, primal life is an uphill battle. With every discovery, with every small change you make, with every toxin you eliminate- there’s 20 more where that came from. Everything, and I mean everything, seems to be Genetically Engineered. From the food you eat to the mattress you sleep on; from the car you drive, to your home you live in. Our pet food is even GE for crying out loud. Unless you go “into the wild” and bring absolutely nothing with you, and build your life from the wood you chop down, its almost impossible for us to live an unadulterated life.

Living a natural life can easily become an obsession, and not a good one. It’s easy to know that eating at McDonalds isn’t good. It’s easy to know that eating highly processed food is not good. It’s easy to know that treating animals poorly is not good. What’s not easy to deal with the over abundance of information that is available. It’s VERY easy to let it become an obsession. Every minute detail becomes an issue. For instance: the other day I tweeted about if using white vinegar (derived from corn, most likely GMO corn) for cleaning is ok. Im not sure that there is a right or wrong answer to the question, but either way you decide it has ramifications for your lifestyle.

Living a natural life can become a means to control your life. We need to care for our bodies because we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We need to care for God’s creation because He entrusted us with it. We can drastically improve our quality of life by making clean decisions. However, no matter how “healthy” you eat, and how many toxins you avoid, and how many immunizations you don’t give your children, it won’t make you live longer. God controls your life, not you.

Living a natural life can become idolatry. Natural living is a way of serving our Lord. But it can easily cross that line and become your idol. When your life is driven by your need to live “primal” or live “natural” you are no longer serving God. Here’s a perfect example we find in the Word.

Isaiah 44:12-17.

¹² The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³ The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

Your life should be driven by The Word of God, not by your need or desire to live natural. Your worship should be to Him and Him alone.

In the face of the modern world, filled with toxins and pollutants, GMOs and industrial meats, you have a decision to make: How far are you willing to go to live a natural life? And after you have made this choice, you have another decision to make: Will you let natural living become your god?

What steps will you take to protect your relationship with God in the midst of living a clean, natural and primal life?