Don't Be a Sausage

Silvanus (aka: Silas, fl. 1st century) was probably Peter's amanuensis (scribe) and, according to Roman Catholic tradition, went with Peter and John Mark to Rome in 42 AD/CE. He is also known to have been a companion of Paul. His most famous teaching is "Do not be a sausage which is full of useless things."

We are to devote all of our attention and resources to serving God (Deuteronomy 6:5; Romans 12:11-12; 1 Peter 2:12; Psalms 19:7, 10-11.), so what did Silvanus mean by "useless things"?

In the Christian context a useless thing could, of course, be mindless accumulation of things, but what Silvanus was probably talking about were personal distractions or hindrances to one's Christian witness and/or things about the believer which could cause distractions or hindrances to others.

Useless things to a Christian could be: pride, always having to prove that you are "right," gossip and judgementalism, hobbies which obsess you, failure to forgive (especially when they don't "deserve" it), and church "busyness." Useless things are things you would throw away to lighten yourself when the Devil was chasing you.