GMO stands for “genetically modified organisms.” Increasing attention is being given to what agricultural researchers and companies are doing to adjust, alter, and mix the genetic code of fruits and vegetables with the aim of making certain plants and fruits more disease resistant, better looking and/or tasting, and so on.

Of course, genetic manipulation has been practiced for centuries at some level. Though it is difficult to understand exactly what he did, when Jacob took care of Laban’s sheep, he did a number of things to produce a certain outcome among the herds (Gen. 30:25-43). However, since the 1970s, scientists have been able to move DNA across organisms that do not have a similar genetic code and a plethora of new crops or variations on crops have been produced.

The genetically modified crops most used today are probably corn, canola and soybean, which are widely used in many different processed foods, but also products such as plain oil. I am told that to the extent that products do not say “GMO free” on the package, it is most likely a product that contains one or more “GMO foods.”

Complex⤒🔗

Many boast that GMOs have led to more reliable harvests in some cases, less pesticide use, and also the ability to produce great quantities of health-promoting products, disease-fighting products, or managing products such as insulin, interferon, etc. On the other hand, increasing numbers of people are concerned about new diseases, which this development may be bringing on. European countries are much stronger in their opposition to genetically modified foods than we are.

One or various concerns against GMO foods that have been registered is that GMO foods use certain chemicals in the growing process that interfere with enzyme systems, one of them being the glycophosphate pathway. Those promoting these foods claim that this is not an issue in the human body. However, others claim that this fact interferes with probiotics in the intestines, which are extremely important for a healthy immune system. It is claimed that many allergies (including gluten intolerance, Crohn’s disease) and maybe even to some extent auto immune diseases (though there are often many factors involved, like, e.g. vitamin D deficiency) are due to GMO foods present everywhere in our diet.

I acknowledge that I have not thought – until recently – about some of these things mentioned above. My wife tells me that every time she goes to the store, she feels she is constantly making significant ethical decisions. Various young mothers and grandmothers have switched to more snack food and candies from Europe, because they have stricter guidelines. It seems a bit of a muddle for a lot of women who are health conscious. This can be very daunting and confusing.

Response←⤒🔗

What should our approach be to this issue?

1. First of all, it should remind us that we live in a fallen creation. When God created everything, it was all “good,” including foods for the use of our body. God said, “I have given you every herb bearing seed ... and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat” (Gen. 1:29). Only since and because of our fall in Adam, there are diseases and death. Though Adam was given the task of ruling over creation, dressing the garden and keeping it, this did not require the dilemmas that we now have. Perhaps going to grocery stores can be an opportunity to remember how good it was in Paradise and how glorious the new heavens and new earth will be.
    
2. Seek to help those people and families that struggle with food allergies or diseases that require careful attention. There are allergies and diseases that require parents and health care providers to monitor the food intake of their children very carefully because a life could easily and quickly be lost. This can be a heavy burden. As church communities we should help parents struggling with these situations as we are able. Ask them what you can do to help, and how the church itself and your homes can be made a safer environment for those with these diseases or difficulties.
    
3. Educate yourself on the risks of various foods and medicines. This can be very difficult, because there is a lot of propaganda on both sides. Many are out to make money on both sides of the issue. Part of the problem with the GMO foods is that they are relatively new and so studies on their long-term impact have not been made. This should give considerable pause. The things that we might be taking out of food, thinking it to be useless, may very well be useful in ways we don’t know now. One thing we learn from science and history over and again is the wisdom of the Creator and the folly of the creature.
    
4. Food and lifestyle cannot be your Saviour. There are some who are obsessed about food and drink in a way that the Lord never has called us to. Indeed, God gave the people many laws for their good that concerned food. Scientists are still discovering how beneficial these laws actually are. However, the New Testament makes clear that there is now liberty regarding eating various foods. Some early Christians were obsessed about food offered to idols. We think it is difficult to shop in our stores. Think of what it might have been for them. Paul, however, gave this guidance: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Obviously, the Bible tells us to take care of our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19). We should not fill them with things we know are bad for us. Nevertheless, undue anxiety of what we shall eat is prohibited by the Lord (Matt. 6:25).
    
5. We should not be surprised that our culture is embarking on a scary venture. Man is proud, and what happened at Babel is happening time and time again. We should be especially concerned about scientists who want to tinker with the genetic code of human beings, both born and unborn. The Babel complex is all around us. Man endeavors to try to play God and control everything and achieve “the great society.” God will confound all such efforts, but not without having many reap the folly of his sin.
    
6. Christian scientists and farmers should seek to be of influence for good in this whole question. Obviously, many of us will never find out what exactly is happening. What information is being hid? What is being overlooked? As Christians we are to steward our knowledge and abilities in ways that come under the revealed will of God. Perhaps too often for all of us the bottom line has been only dollars and cents. Our ultimate aim, in whatever we do, should be the glory of God in line with His revealed will.
    
7. There is never any problem with Christ as the living bread. He was the perfect corn of wheat that was sown in the earth and died (John 12:24). He was raised and brings forth much fruit (John 12:24). None can make Him better than He is. But He can make us better. He quickens dead sinners by His Holy Spirit. He justifies them freely by faith alone. He engrafts wild shoots of Adam into himself, the True Vine (John 15:1). To be engrafted into Him is our great need and that of our children by nature. May the Lord mercifully conform us after the image of His Son.