While the concept might have originated in Europe, it was William Morrison and John C. Wharton of Nashville who made it become a reality. In 1897, they created the machine which used air and sugar to popularize the spread of a new product. They called it fairy floss. It still has that name in Australia. In much of the world, it is called candy floss. In France, it is called Papa’s beard. You have eaten it since you were a child and likely call it cotton candy.
There are some interesting parallels between cotton candy and what has happened in the religious world since the Lord established the church. He established the church in a world whose appeal was to the outward aspects of religious life. The pagan world had temples everywhere, and the devotion to the gods worshiped there was popularized by gods who sought to satisfy the fleshly nature of man. They were not designed to change the hearts and souls of men.
Even Judaism in the first century had ignored the greatest commands and focused on sabbath keeping, showy religion and ceremonial rituals. The Lord described them as only having a form of godliness, while neglecting grace and the weightier matters of God’s law (2 Tim. 3:5; Matt. 23:23). Christianity was designed to change the heart and then using the truth revealed in the Bible to bring men to God. It was based on the principle that God is a spirit, and we bow before Him with our spirits and souls seeking Him (John 4:24).
But, all that has changed. So much of religion in our land is like cotton candy. Cotton candy looks so great. You can get it in any color or flavor you desire. Our religious world is so divided that you can find any “flavor” of church you want. However, cotton candy has little nutritional value (remember your mom’s devotion that you have a balanced diet) and doesn’t really give you what you need. America feeds itself on the “sugar and air” mixture of religious cotton candy.
After you eat your two ounces of sugar and air, your body still needs more. Religion without deep Bible knowledge destroyed Israel and is destroying our land (Hos. 4:6). One cannot know the Lord without knowing His word (1 John 2:4). One cannot love the Lord and ignore keeping His word (John 14:15). A child at the fair sees the cotton candy and it tastes so good, but a steady diet of this will destroy his health. This is our land. Religiously, we are feeding ourselves and starving our souls.
What an amazing world it would be if we sought to return to the spiritual food which fed the early church. Cotton candy Christianity is so far removed from the food Jesus gave the early church and seeks to give to us today.