What do Mentos, Diet Coke and the Bible have in common? More than you may think.
The topic of Mentos and Diet Coke came up tonight. I recalled a teaching I did one summer in regard to this experiment. As most people know, there’s a way to make Diet Coke explode by dropping Mentos into it. The science behind it is actually remarkable, and I learned and showed experimentally that it does not work with fruity Mentos. A quick internet search will yield plentiful results.
So I took everyone outside and I had a bottle of pop and I let a kid drop a pack of mentos into the 2 liter. It erupted and everyone was like, wow.
Then I took another bottle of pop-colored-liquid, and let the kids drop mentos in again. This time nothing happened. Boo Hoo.
Then I took everyone inside and I explained what had happened.
First, consider James 1:14-15
ESV 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
I explained that one of the bottles had pop in it, and the other bottle had colored water. I explained how in each case, the pop looked similar externally, the same outside agent was added, but in the latter case – the substance, or the makeup of what was inside the bottle was not such that it would react with an eruption with the very same external stimulant.
I then related this to our sin, particularly anger. I pointed out that we cannot blame others when we sin because we are tempted, but rather, as James says, we are lured and enticed by our own desires.
So it is possible for someone to have outside stimulants which are introduced into their lives – and regardless of the outside influence – men will either sin or not sin, erupt in anger or remain in control – based on what is in them, not what is introduced from the outside.
Now, I don’t like to present people with a problem and no solution. So I then offered Psalms 19:12
ESV 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
I suggested to everyone there that they pray to the Lord to help them with their hidden sin of their heart. The sin they would only be aware of if they had opportunity introduced which evoked the sin. But our God is merciful and Good. We shall not even know in this life the number of times He protected us from our own evil before we had opportunity. But praise to Him for this wonderful gift.
