Thursday, September 07, 2006

Gluttony?

Once it was one of the Seven Deadly Sins but now it's everywhere but nobody talks about it (except to say that they don't talk about it).

Perhaps it's time to renew not only our condemnation of it, but also our help for those who suffer from gluttony. So to start, let's make sure we all know what this word means (let's face it; it's been ignored so long in Baptist circles that many have forgotten what it means).
Dictionary.com defines gluttony as "excessive eating." It seems that with the rise of obesity in America we should open our eyes. If this is an issue with which people struggle, the Church should be on the front lines of the fight.

Now to establish my own credibility here I'll say (as my friends may be tired of hearing me say) that in order to join the Air Force I had to lose 40 pounds last year. I did that by making some hard decisions and being disciplined about my eating and exercise.

Gluttony is a sin. If we've ever said after a meal "I shouldn't have eaten that" or "I shouldn't have eaten all of that" then we're guilty. James 4:17 (NASB)says "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin." The right thing is "stop eating so much" or "don't eat certain things." Hey if it was easy we wouldn't have so many fat people.
(Yeah I said Fat).

If our bodies are the Lord's Temple, what are we saying about our Lord?
Food for thought:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Cor 4:19-20 NASB

2 comments:

Kevin Bussey said...

Matt,

Good thoughts. Everyone I know thinks I am skinny but the new BMI index says I need to lose weight.

BTW,

My parents work with Chaplains with the Military Ministry of Campus Crusade. I admire what you are going to do.

Monk-in-Training said...

Matt,
Good thoughts, but how about considering this, Gluttony can be comitted by a thin person who is way to fussy over their food, or perhaps gluttons behavior can spread to how we feed our lust for anything (car racing, football, etc). Being out of balance I think is one of the keys to the issue.