Spiritual Cancer
Soul Talk: What the Bible Says - A Series
A Story to Set Up The Discussion
In 2010 I was diagnosed with Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma (SMZL), also known as B-cell Lymphoma.
One of the litany of scans done to make the diagnosis was a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
The patient is injected with a “slightly radioactive form of sugar” which collects primarily in cancer cells, thus directing the treatment locality.
Thankfully, SMZL is a mild form of lymphoma that is very responsive to treatments. I was set up with eight immunotherapy sessions, followed by a splenectomy.
I have been clean now for 13 years.
It shocked me to learn that sugar is a cancer magnet.
Can’t say for sure, but maybe that’s why so many people are being diagnosed with cancer these days. We, as a culture, are addicted to sugar.
We hear about the exploding epidemic of Obesity and Diabetes, especially among young children and teenagers.
But, when I learned how cancer cells attract sugar, I began asking family, friends, and colleagues what they knew about that.
Crickets.
However, when one’s eyes are opened to something, you cannot unsee it, whether physically, mentally, or spiritually.
It seemed that everywhere I turned after I learned this, I would find books and articles about it.
To be sure, sugar does not cause cancer.
We all have dormant cancer cells in our bodies. Consuming a lot of sugar could be a trigger in activating those cells and they will draw sugar like a magnet because of their voracious appetite.
The more sugar intake, the faster the cancer grows.
That is why sudden, rapid weight loss is associated with cancer. All carb intake goes to feed the cancer, not leaving much for the body.
As I analyzed my sugar intake, I noted that, thankfully, I ate very little sugary junk food.
But what I did do was put a lot of sugar in my coffee. Sweet tea was my constant companion.
Hey, I’m from the South, remember?
The first thing I did was stop these practices. Unsweetened tea and substitute sugar became the norm for me.
Those Pesky Chemicals
But, then I began reading about the harmful chemicals in the sugar substitute that were cancer catalysts as well. So that also went bye-bye.
Around this time I also became lactose intolerant. That meant I had to stop using half and half. So, I started using artificial creamers.
Until I read all the chemicals that were in them.
Those pesky chemicals kept showing up. Makes one wonder if there is an agenda behind it …
What to do? I loved strong dark roast coffee. But, I was also battling Lymphoma.
So, I bit the bullet and learned to drink coffee black. I soon got to the point where I could not drink it any other way.
For years everything was fine.
Then, just a few months ago, in the middle of the hot Summer (2023), I began making iced coffee. I could drink that black as well, no problem.
But one day, I had access to some Italian Sweet Cream artificial creamer. I put some in my iced coffee and it was like I had never stopped.
For a couple of months, I consumed at least a container of Italian Sweet Cream a week in my coffee (I drink a lot of coffee - another story).
When I realized where this was headed, I vowed not to buy any more.
Cold Turkey, as the saying goes.
I developed a love for plain black coffee. Delicious. Who needs additives, right?
So, as we have seen above, additives that sweeten or add flavor to make something more pleasing to the palate are not necessarily good for us.
Dabbling here and there will probably not hurt us, but we tend to be excessive about things that give us pleasure. I mean, look at the myriad of coffee drinks now (and the prices people pay for them).
Addiction isn’t the topic today, but that’s the way addictions are. A former addict (insert addiction) is triggered just once, and BOOM …
From everything I’ve read, an addiction can be dormant for years. Then, just like that, it takes up right where it left off and it is even worse than before.
Read more on Addictions in this post from a couple of years ago:
Spiritual Application
Humans are much more than a physical body.
1Th 5:23 describes man as having a body, soul, and spirit:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We sometimes pay a heavy price, possibly an eternal price, for adding to what the scripture plainly says.
When we add things to help us digest and practice scriptural teachings, there is a great danger that those things become like a growing cancer that takes over our lives.
The Jews had a problem with this and Jesus called them out for it.
One place this is recorded is Mark 7:6-13. He concludes:
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (v.13)
This had been a continuing issue. Centuries before, Isaiah had these words for the Jews:
To the law and to the testimony (the Bible at that time): if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20
There are plenty of areas in the scripture to differ in opinion and practice (worship), that do not impact our eternal well-being.
However, when we begin adding man-made teachings that have no basis in the scripture, or we look to some spiritual entity (other than God himself) to “help us”, we put ourselves in great danger of developing a deep-rooted dependency upon those things.
Please don’t misunderstand - traditions are not necessarily bad, except when they replace or add to truth. Also, traditions are not just found in mainline denominational churches. Many “independent” churches, particularly the Baptist.
I will touch on a few of these “traditions” in future posts.
Paul, in writing to the Colossian church, also asks (rhetorically) whether there is any inherent value in the “doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:20-23).
Adding to the plain teaching of scripture can become a sort of spiritual cancer, sometimes deadly with an eternal impact upon our souls if we are not careful.
While we may deny it, the process becomes our focus rather than God and everything we do must conform in order to justify our good standing as a Christian.
I’ve even had a preacher tell me once that “some people just can’t worship without a certain type of music”. The music had become their addictive crutch.
In another church, my wife and I were told that we could not join unless we were baptized in a Baptist church, even though both of us had been saved for decades and had been scripturally baptized.
If we endeavor to be a follower of Christ, we should constantly measure what we believe and practice against the “plumbline” of the Bible.
There are plenty of areas in the scripture (and in practice) to differ in opinion that do not impact our eternal well-being.
However, when we begin adding man-made teachings (traditions) that have no basis in scripture, or we look to some entity (other than God himself) to “help us” pray or obtain salvation, we put ourselves in great danger of developing deep-rooted and sometimes incurable spiritual cancer.
In this series, we’ll take a look at some scriptural teachings on subjects such as salvation, prayer, eternal life, worship, etc. that could fall into the spiritual danger zone.
Our Spiritual Alarm system should be activated at all times.
Maybe you disagree or have another take on things. Let’s talk.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll stick around for future posts in this series.
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Traditions are definitely a crutch, not just for Christians but humans in general. I agree with what you said. There's nothing wrong with it unless it adds to or takes away from what the Bible says. Of course, that's exactly what has happened in many churches. Some people become so focused on the tradition they no longer know why they do it or what the Bible says about it.
Christmas and Easter traditions are big culprits for lots of people.
Thanks Cork
I think you have jumped into a minefield of traditions and justification for them.
Keeping Sunday rather than the Sabbath is a tradition which you will not find in scripture
Keeping Easter and Xmass are two others
God expects us to follow him and not to add or subtract from what he has said.