Casandra Martin

Warning: This blog may require napkins.

There is a popular idiom that both makes me hungry and demands I give my all – the whole enchilada. While the phrase can be used when ordering food at a Mexican restaurant, its cultural significance lies in communicating the idea that we want it all – nothing left out, everything included, no exceptions.

It makes perfect sense to me. Nobody wants pieces of an enchilada. No one orders just the enchilada sauce, leave everything else out. It is the combination of meat, beans, cheese, tortillas, and sauce wrapped together and cooked to delicious perfection that make our mouths water and satisfies our cravings for Mexican food. If I am going to eat enchiladas, I want the whole enchilada.

Christianity requires the whole enchilada. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Every Christian must be fully Christian by bringing God into his whole life, not merely into some spiritual realm.” God doesn’t want pieces of who we are. He wants the whole enchilada. He wants to inhabit our praises as well as our playtime. He longs for us to meet Him in the pages of the Bible, but also in our basements, bedrooms, and while brushing our teeth. Too many times we are content to give God a piece of our hearts, when He really longs to touch and transform every part of who we are.

My Jesus Resolution today is to give God the whole enchilada. I am going to take an inventory of my heart. While there are some things I give God willingly, I know that there are pieces that I hold back – maybe because of fear, shame, guilt, or the truth that I relish the pleasure or just like the control. Christianity isn’t like ordering a la carte. It isn’t a pick-and-choose life. Looking like Jesus is a whole enchilada kind of life. Doesn’t that sound delicious?