Gluttony: A Matter for the Waistline or a Matter of the Heart?
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May/Released)
Perhaps you come to this article with a little reticence. If weight and health are issues for you personally, you may fear that this article was written by some kind of health nut with a supercharged metabolism who is eager to heap shame on top of your lifelong struggle. If weight is a problem for someone you love, you may wonder whether this article will contain some inspiration and conviction that will give your friend a boost. If weight is not a problem for you or someone you love, you probably haven’t even read this far! A little self-disclosure may settle some of your concerns as we reason together what God’s Word teaches us about gluttony.
First, I have no supercharged metabolism. I effectively killed my metabolism through poor eating habits during college and my early days of marriage. Second, like many of you, I struggle to find. the time to exercise as regularly as my body requires. I love to cook, and I love good food. With what you have learned so far, it should not surprise you to know that I am obese by legitimate standards of measure.
A person is defined as obese if his body mass index (BMI) is thirty or higher. Our body mass index is determined by multiplying our weight (in pounds) by the number 705. Then divide that number by your height (in inches) two times. For example, a man may be six feet tall and 240 pounds. He would multiply 240 by 705. The result is 169,200. He would then divide that number by 72 to get 2350. He would divide that number by 72 to get his body mass index. In his case the number would be 32.64. That man is obese (BMI over 30). To deal with the excess weight, that man must start a regimen to burn more calories than he is providing his body in his daily diet.
This article, however, is not about obesity. I personally know many gluttons who are not obese. I know some people who have complicating factors—such as medicines—that affect their weight and their ability to lose that weight. Their present eating habits may not be considered gluttonous. For many of us, our obesity is the result of past or present gluttony. Obesity is not a sin—it is a consequence. If we focus on the consequence rather than the root cause, those with no visible consequence will be tempted to ignore what God says about gluttony and those with obesity may continue to feel guilty about something they have corrected by God’s grace.
God does have something to say about gluttony. In His wisdom literature He says, “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags” (Prov. 23:20, 21). Proverbs 23:2 says, “And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” Ecclesiastes 10:17 says, “Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” We acknowledge that these portions of Scripture are not commands per se, but as wisdom literature they establish life as lived according to divine wisdom. At the very least, the gluttonous individual lives a foolish life. Deuteronomy 21:20 describes a rebellious son over whom the parents have no power of discipline. He was to be brought to the elders for a very severe discipline. His lack of discipline is described as drunkenness and gluttony. Again, while no explicit command is given, gluttony is mentioned as a perverse description.
These verses do little to teach us what gluttony is. The contexts show us that it involves food and that the person in question has exceeded the amount of food he should have consumed. But they do not give us any divinely prescribed limits.
A little more light is given to us as we consider a Biblical example. Psalm 78:17, 18 reveals God’s view regarding His people and their attitudes toward food. “And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.” This psalm reflects on the Israelites’ rejection of God’s provision of manna for something that better suited their palates. They wanted more. They wanted different. They wanted better. Driven by their lust, they complained and eventually indulged.
The Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a glutton as “one given habitually to greedy and voracious eating and drinking.” For the sake of clarity, gluttony should be understood as the sin of being controlled by the lust for more and different food and drink than what is personally needed. Three aspects of this definition need our attention.
Desire
First is the aspect of desire. Desire for that which is personally delightful is part of the image of God in man. But all desire should have limits. If desire controls a man, that desire becomes a god. The creation becomes valued above the Creator. This is a serious offense. God gave us sleep for rejuvenation. But to idolize sleep is to be lazy. God created intimate pleasures within the context of the marriage relationship. But to idolize those pleasures leads to a myriad of perversions and sensual vices. God created wealth to meet our basic needs. But to idolize that wealth is to become covetous, greedy, or stingy. God created food and drink for our nourishment. But to idolize these things leads us down the path of gluttony.
Paul addresses this issue to the Philippian believers about certain enemies of the cross of Christ: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things” (Phil. 3:18, 19). The desire of the Christian ought to be to delight in God above His creation.
Limits
Second is the aspect of limits. The Bible does not seem to offer practical limits for food and beverage intake. It simply warns us against consuming too much. I believe that we receive good help from our medical and health communities. Consult your family doctor. Read health and nutrition magazines. One way to set appropriate limits is to consult a calorie counter. Services such as a calorie counter are available online (such as at http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm). A calorie counter takes into consideration your age, weight, fitness goals, etc., and advises you on how many calories are needed to maintain your body weight. Advice is also given on how to lose weight. As you count calories you can come to a determination on how many calories are advisable for you. It is important to note that this will not look the same for each individual. A sedentary person would need significantly fewer calories than would an athlete. Practical wisdom will guide you in answering the question, “How much is too much?”
This is not simply a bandwagon approach to health. Each believer must remember that his body is a stewardship. Paul commands believers to offer that body as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1). Not only is our body a stewardship, but it is the temple of God. First Corinthians 6:19, 20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Control
Third is the aspect of control. Each believer is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and not by his base appetites. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23). The believer is to add self-control to knowledge in 2 Peter 1:5–7. Second Corinthians 10:5 teaches the believer to “[cast] down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and [bring] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Every thought—this includes our impulses and desires. Romans 13:14 teaches us to “put . . . on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
For each of you who struggle with the sin of eating more than is appropriate, please embrace this summary:
First, gluttony is a sin. Acknowledge that your overeating is a sin and that those desires have been given too much obedience from you.
Second, prayerfully make a plan. Consult your doctor or other health specialists for an eating plan that is healthful and appropriate for you.
Third, make your food consumption a matter of your daily conversation with God.
Fourth, make yourself accountable (honestly and completely) with a willing friend who desires your spiritual success.
Finally, intentionally choose to fast and give the food you would have eaten to someone in need.
Dr. Robert Condict is an FBFI Executive Board member and pastor of Upper Cross Roads Baptist Church, Baldwin, Maryland.
(Originally published in FrontLine • November/December 2010. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)