Flexitarianism might be a great approach to eating but in Christianity it is dangerous

Woman Alive's editor Tola Doll Fisher explains that as Christians, it's a bad idea for us to adopt a 'flexitarian' approach to faith.

Here’s a popular joke that has been around for a while: "How can you tell if someone’s a vegan?" and the answer is: "They’ll tell you." It’s funny and in my experience, true because people can get very evangelistic about their diet preferences and quite frankly it’s annoying. However, I’m also no stranger to ordering off the menu at restaurants or opting for an alternative milk with my morning coffee and while some people might see this as faddish, for me personally, they are essential for my body to be at its best.

In the last decade or so, society has caught on to the health benefits of abstaining from or restricting certain foods. So we now have a dedicated month to those who want to try out that way of life. Veganuary, which takes place in, you guessed it, January, claims to have inspired and supported more than 2.5 million people to try a vegan lifestyle since 2014. This has also resulted in a new group who call themselves, flexitarians. According to Healthline the "Flexitarian Diet" is a style of eating that encourages eating mostly plant-based foods while allowing meat and other animal products in moderation. Essentially the term – which includes me - means we pick and choose when we want to adhere to a certain diet and while it’s probably fine to do this with my food intake, I was recently challenged to consider the parallels when it comes to spiritual integrity.