I was watching a news-commentary show recently when I heard a remark that made me do a doubletake. The commentator referred to someone as “human ipecac.” I’m not sure if you’re aware of ipecac, but many parents have had to use it.

I first ran across it when one of my sons ate
a whole bottle of Flintstone Vitamins. Apparently, they’re quite tasty, and he
decided to make an entire dessert out of them. When we realized what he had
done, we called the Poison Control Center. They said he’d probably be okay, but
just to be safe, we were to go out and buy some ipecac.

As per instruction, we stripped him down, put him in the bathtub, gave him the ipecac, and kept him moving. Wriggling around in a small bathtub is not the easiest thing to do, but little kids can manage it. Sure enough, in a few minutes, our bathtub was filled with chunks of Flintstone Vitamins. It was a little disconcerting to see the colorful remains of Fred, Wilma, and the rest of the gang. Nevertheless, our son was detoxified.

So that was my one and only experience with ipecac. I had never heard of it prior to that incident and never had occasion to use it again. Thank goodness. Still, I never forgot the name of the stuff. Who could forget “ipecac?”

When I heard the commentator refer to someone
as human ipecac, it brought back images of Barney and Dino parts floating in
our tub. It was clear she was strongly implying that the subject of her
derisive statement made her sick. I was turning green just thinking about it.

I don’t know if
there’s another human being hanging around that literally makes you sick. I
have to say I can’t even think of one in my life. There have been a few over
the years that came close, but none of them actually pushed me over the
proverbial edge. Maybe I’m just lucky.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John the Apostle, there’s a church that made Jesus sick. He said that they were neither hot nor cold, so he was inclined to spew them out of his mouth. That’s not a pretty picture—even for the Bible. Yet, there it is. Jesus wants us to be on fire for him (figuratively speaking, of course). Lukewarm doesn’t cut it.

The particular church that was serving as human ipecac for Jesus was Laodicea. They were patting themselves on the back because they had earned great wealth. Apparently, Jesus wasn’t impressed. He, in fact, referred to them as “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Since they had a lot, I assume he was speaking in spiritual terms. He went on to tell them they could have spiritual riches if they would turn to him and, presumably, catch fire.

When I think of my
relationship with Jesus, there are a lot of things I’d aspire to be. Human
ipecac isn’t one of them.

[Dave
Zuchelli is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and currently resides
in Aldie, VA.]

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