What Italy’s Carbonara Day Teaches Us about the Gospel
As someone with a great appreciation for delicious food, April 6 is a day close to my heart. Carbonara Day is an event organized by the Italian Food Union. Since 2017, this international event has been celebrated through the sharing of carbonara recipes from world-renowned chefs via live streaming directly to your kitchen. The world’s largest “spaghetti social” can be followed on social media.
A simple search for #Carbonara or #CarbonaraDay will reach millions of people who appreciate this famous Roman dish. Living in Rome, I continually add to my list the best places to find this delicious gift to humanity. It truly leads me to worship our Creator. A taste of a well-cooked carbonara can lead even non-believers to thank God out loud as their palate explodes with the delicious flavors of the pasta, egg cream, cheese, pepper and guanciale. It is truly an incredible experience to thank God for, and a sign of his common grace towards sinners.
Joking aside, this simple yet delicious dish is truly a national treasure that Romans are proud of. While there may be many debates about how best to prepare this dish and what type of pasta to use, Italians are united in one thing: you can’t change the simple ingredients of this dish by adding or taking away anything. And this doesn’t just apply to carbonara. Many people witnessed Neapolitan chef Gino D’Acampo’s ire on British television when his guest wanted to add some cream to bolognese sauce. “Che schiffo! . . this is what’s wrong with your country!” he said. We laughed, but his anger was real. After living in Italy for almost ten years, you can’t deny that Italians are food purists in the strictest form.
If you want to add cream to bolognese, fine. But don’t call it bolognese! If you want to add pineapple to pizza, go ahead, weirdo. Just don’t call it pizza anymore! If you really want to see an upheaval in Rome, add peas and mushrooms to carbonara. Now you’ve gone too far and you definitely can’t call it carbonara anymore! Some things are simply too precious to change.
The same is true of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of God’s salvation to both Jew and Greek (Rom. 1:16). I’m talking about the biblical message of the gospel that was rediscovered and boldly proclaimed during the Protestant Reformation. It is a simple recipe not to be trifled with. It is the message we find in Scripture of God’s salvation that comes by his grace alone, through faith alone, in the works of Jesus Christ alone, and to the Glory of God alone. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians,
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this does not come from you: it is the gift of God. It is not by virtue of works so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8–9)
This simple recipe cannot be subjected to additions or subtractions, otherwise it becomes something else and you can no longer call it gospel. Just as a Roman would be astonished to see someone add peas to carbonara, so the apostle Paul would have been astonished to see the simple recipe of the gospel altered. In fact, he was! He angrily wrote to the Galatians who were tempted to add new requirements to the gospel (adherence to certain dietary and ceremonial laws) saying,
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Gal. 1:6–7)
Just like adding mushrooms to carbonara changes it completely, adding anything to the simple gospel changes it completely. In Rome, a city that understands the significance of this when it comes to food, it is sad to say that it does not understand this point when it comes to the gospel. Scripture says that it is by grace alone that you are saved. But Rome says it is grace plus works. Scripture says it is by faith alone in the works of Christ, the only mediator between God and man. But Rome says it is by faith plus the works of Christ, plus the priests, plus saints, plus Mary. Is it not clear that the recipe has changed? The simple gospel is no longer the gospel, and that was Paul’s point. Call it what you will, but it is no longer the gospel, and therefore it no longer has the power to save.
P.S. If you are ever in Rome and want to join me for lunch, I would make myself available to worship the Lord with you over a plate of carbonara!
Clay Kannard Clay Kannard lives in Rome, Italy, with his wife and children. He serves as co-pastor of the church Breccia di Roma and as Communications Director for the Reformanda Initiative. Alongside Italian national partners, they seek to communicate and live out the Gospel, develop new leaders, plant new churches, and educate the global evangelical church to understand Roman Catholic theology and practice so that we might better communicate the Gospel to Roman Catholics. Clay earned a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies (Moody Bible Institute), a Master of Theological Studies: Preaching and Pastoral Ministries (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), and is pursuing an MTh in Scripture and Theology (Union School of Theology: Rome Learning Community). You can follow him on Twitter @claykannard.