Razzle-Dazzle Not Needed

I like to cook.  Some of my cooking is pretty good.  The secret?  Buy quality food products to begin with. 

When I’m buying steak I usually choose Rib Eye or New York Strip.  When buying vegetables, I choose fresh produce.  By using a better cut of meat I can skip all the crazy seasonings or drenching marinades.  When I throw a marbled steak on the grill, all I have to use is salt and pepper  for seasoning because that’s all I need – and the steaks come out perfect.  When I’m cooking fresh vegetables, I’m careful not to overcook them (or cook the color out) and the only seasoning I use is extra virgin olive oil, and, – you guessed it – salt and pepper.

There’s no need to overpower the food with secret sauces, heavy spices, or multiple seasonings if you start with a quality product up front.  Sure, heavy seasoning is needed for foods like "Potted Meat" or "Deviled Ham" or "Vienna Sausage" because that stuff so nasty and unhealthy that it's the only way you can get it down.  But with quality food, simple is better - you never want to mask the flavor of the original food item.

Simple.  Quality.  They go together.

In church work, it’s the same.  You don’t have to dress it up with a bunch of razzle-dazzle.  A worship service with good music and a good message doesn’t need any hype added to it – like putting a bed on the roof of the building for 24 hours and calling the new sermon series SEXperiment or SucSEXful Marriage.  That’s immature and silly.

When you do a good job on the basics – like God-honoring worship, strong meat from God’s Word, fellowship with the saints, and communion at Lord’s Table – flash is not needed.  Solid food makes disciples while dazzle entertains spectators.