Gluttony a Deadly Sin!
“When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.”
Proverbs 23:2-3
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of Gluttony: "Gluttony denotes, not any desire of eating and drinking, but an inordinate desire... leaving the order of reason, wherein the good of moral virtue consists."
Gluttony seems to be a sin that Christians like to ignore. We are often quick to label smoking and drinking as sins, but for some reason gluttony is accepted or at least tolerated. While the church is quick to condemn other sins that result from a lack of self control and personal discipline, overeating is like the proverbial elephant in the living room that everyone sees but no one talks about. Many believers would not even consider having a glass of wine or smoking a cigarette but have no reservations about gorging themselves at the dinner table. Many of the arguments used against smoking and drinking, such as health and addiction, also may be applied equally to overeating.
One quick word before we move on about the fable that gluttony is the fat people sin. People are overweight for a variety of reasons. We can stereotype people by unfairly accusing them of being gluttons and be in violation of Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” At its core, one's weight is a complicated matter. Our genetics, overall health, medications and physical condition all play a part in our weight, in addition to what we eat.
Gluttony means to gorge ourselves to the point that we feel we will explode. It would often refer to those who would attend banquets, eat abnormal amounts of food, purge and return to the table for more. The true importance of gluttony is in the mind rather than the fork. It is a deadly sinful life of excess and waste.
Physical appetites are a correlation of our ability to control ourselves. If we are unable to control our eating habits, we are most likely also unable to control other habits, such as those of the mind (lust, covetousness, anger) and unable to keep our mouths from gossip or strife. We are not to let our appetites control us, but we are to have control over our appetites.
Both Old and New Testaments illustrate the patterns of this deadly sin:
Proverbs 23:20-21, “Do not carouse with drunkards and gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty. Too much sleep clothes a person with rags.”
1 Corinthians 6:13, “You may say, "I am allowed to do anything." But I reply, "Not everything is good for you." And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. You say, "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them. But our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies”
Overeating is bad stewardship and should not have a place in our lives. Proverbs 25:16 says, "eat only as much as you need."
Scripture ties both gluttony and laziness together Proverbs 6:9-11 states: “But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”
Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.”
Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”
Most of us overeat from time to time, and many people feel they frequently eat more than they should. Eating large amounts of food, however, does not mean that a person has binge eating disorder. Doctors are still debating the best ways to determine if someone has binge eating disorder.
Most people with serious binge eating problems eat until they are uncomfortably full. They often eat alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten. There moods determine their eating habits and are unable to control what or how much is being eaten. They eat more rapidly than usual and have a sense of disgust, depression or guilt after overeating.
These are all manifestations of what we might call “sins of the flesh” because they give us pleasure. Eating is one of the things God has created for us to both need and enjoy. By His grace, He has created foods like the colors of the rainbow with an infinite number of tastes. The problem is when a person allows his lust for food to cause him to violate the Word of God, master him, or harm him, and then eating becomes a sin.
Other sins of the flesh such as adultery, fornication, pornography, and drug abuse are clearly wrong. Yet all of them are perversions of things acceptable. Sex was created by God to be pleasurable form of procreation in the context of marriage between a man and a woman. Yet, when sex is taken outside of the biblical context and purpose that God created it to be enjoyed in, then it becomes a sin. Medications are wonderful gifts of God used to help cure various diseases and relieve suffering. Nevertheless, when drugs are taken in excess, without prescriptions, or for the purpose of merely indulging the flesh, then taking drugs becomes a sin.
Hypothetically speaking… let’s say a man came into my office because his wife discovered that he was struggling with and indulging in the sin of pornography. Pornography being one of the “sins of the flesh.” Now… if I was out of control in my eating and was visually fifty pounds overweight, could I counsel that man to stop indulging in pornography without being a hypocrite? If I was not using self control and discipline in my eating, how could I tell someone else to use self control and discipline in what they look at? The man would have every right to ask me, “Why are you showing partiality? Why are you trying to take the spec out of my eye while you have a log in your own?” Being out of control and mastered by anything other than the Lord is wrong, regardless of what it is.
The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to say “no” to anything in excess; self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit common to all believers “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22). If you do not have God’s self-control operating through you… you will have very little victory over gluttony or other such things as bad tempers, judgmental and critical spirits, an unforgiving spirit, and vices such as smoking and the abuse of alcohol.
Due to our fallen and sinful natures, all of us are weak to some degree in the quality of self-control. This is why God the Father made sure to have this fruit listed as one of the 9 fruits of His Holy Spirit. We all need God’s self-control operating in our lives and in our personalities if we are going to have any hope in getting cleaned up and properly sanctified to the degree that He would like to get us to in this life.
The Bible tells us that our spirits and our flesh will war against each other in this life. Gal 5:16-17, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” Our flesh wants immediate self-gratification at all costs and will stop at nothing to try and get it. Our spirits know that some of our fleshly desires are not right for us and as a result, there will be a tug of war between the two – and sometimes it will be a major tug of war. And the only thing that will be able to curb and control some of the desires of our flesh is the quality of self-control.
If you are willing to yield to God’s Holy Spirit and allow Him to start to work the fruit of self-control into your personal life… then you will find yourself starting to grow in ways and in areas that you never thought were possible in this life. His supernatural power in this area will blow you away once you see how far He can really take you to become the person that God would like you to become in Him in this lifetime.
God has blessed us by filling the earth with foods that are delicious, nutritious, and pleasurable. We should honor God's creation by enjoying these foods and by eating them in appropriate quantities. God calls us to control our appetites, rather than allowing them to control us.
In conclusion, too many of God's people are not taking good care of their bodies. If we all destroy our health by our lifestyles… who then will carry the gospel to the lost and help the poor if we are all dead. This is truly something to think about!
Peace,