SE7EN: Gluttony

Posted by Joe Thorn - 03/10/05


Part Two in a series on The Seven Deadly Sins

How often do we hear sermons on the sin of gluttony? Have we ever passed a resolution on this prevalent sin? Gluttony’s obvious presence in our country and Convention, and its absence from our private and corporate confession is the mark of hypocrisy and careless Christian living. The Bible names gluttony as a sin associated with wastefulness, stubbornness, rebellion and disobedience. It exists on the same level of drunkenness (Deut. 21:20; Pr. 23:20, 21). In fact, gluttony is more dangerous than drunkenness because it goes on with no one taking notice.

We all know that gluttony is eating without restraint. But we can open it up to get to the center of the sin by considering it as the abuse of God’s earthly gifts. It is not the indulgence of sinful things, but the over-indulgence of things lawful. In food, drink, even recreation and work - gluttony, in principle, involves the mistreatment of the good things that God has given us.

Gluttony is seldom, if ever, admitted to, confessed and repented of because it is the norm. We stuff our faces and boast about how sick we feel and no one is offended. I have sat with Christian leaders who will not only over-indulge, but mock those who eat more temperately. Richard Baxter said that when gluttony becomes the common custom no one is offended “unless men eat til they spew.” Even then, I’m not sure it would produce more than some laughs. He wrote,

And so every man is an example of evil to another, and encourages one another in the sin. If gluttony were but in as much disgrace as whoredom, yea, or as drunkenness is, and as easily known, and as commonly taken notice of, it would contribute much to a common reformation.
(A Christian Directory, pg. 311)

And so gluttony continues on in the church, and we do little about it. It not only destroys the body, but it reinforces the American value of instant and excessive gratification.

If gluttony is the abuse of God’s gifts, if it is self-centered overindulgence, what would repentance look like? Since many (most?) Baptists cannot control their appetites, should we pass a resolution against eating? Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top. How about forbidding tasty food, or agreeing to eat no more than one small meal a day? Sound crazy? This is how we’ve handled similar problems.

repentance would look like the proper enjoyment of God’s gifts, not the ascetic refusal of themThe cure for gluttony is not abstinence from the gift, but understanding the gift itself. Gluttony misses the greater good of the gift and focuses on the lesser good - if any good at all. For example, food is a gift of God given for us to enjoy while being refreshed and strengthened for the tasks he has given us to do. Gluttony only sees the gift as something to be enjoyed. In fact, gluttony hardly recognizes food as a gift, for if it did we would be thankful for it, and gratitude would restrain abuse. In this case repentance would look like the proper enjoyment of God’s gifts, not the ascetic refusal of them. Speaking to this issue John Calvin said,

First of all if we want to curb our [ungodly] passions we must remember that all things are made for us, with the purpose that we may know and acknowledge their Author. We should praise his kindness toward us in earthly matters by giving him thanks.

But, what will become of our thanksgiving, if we indulge in danties, or wine, in such a way that we are too dull to carry out the duties of devotion or of our business?

Where is our acknowledgment of God, if the excesses of our body drive us to the vilest passions, and infect our mind with impurity, so that we can no longer distinguish between right and wrong?
(Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, pg. 89)

The key for Calvin is to “enjoy abundance with moderation.” Spend some time with 1 Cor. 7:25-31. I was blessed by it today in a new way.

In essence we let faith work. We acknowledge God as the author of good gifts (food, drink, pipe tobacco - whatever), and from this recognition emerges gratitude which produces enjoyment and moderation. This is the path to mortifying the sin of gluttony, drunkeness and similar sins.

Resources I have found helpful concerning gluttony:

General Directions for a Comfortable Walking with God, Robert Bolton
Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, John Calvin
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
Supersize Me, Documentary by Morgon Spurlock

(Artwork by D’Serge “Gluttony” for Fingertips issue #9 www.fingertips.us)

15 Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. Great series, Joey!!

    I am looking forward to the post on Sloth.

    Comment by MRB — October 4, 2005 #

  2. America produces so much food we pay farmers not to produce. Other countries have tight zoning ordinances to save farmland; we pave farmland over by the mile. Food in America is cheap. Very few Americas under the age of seventy really know what fear of starvation is.

    In many other places and in other times, food is not cheap. People go to bed hungry day after day, week after week, month after month. They will fight over a bag of rice. In those nations, the sin of gluttony is a very big deal.

    The prosperity and comfort of America has made us numb to many things.

    Comment by Ryan DeBarr — October 5, 2005 #

  3. Very convicting post.

    You wrote: “The cure for gluttony is not abstinence from the gift, but understanding the gift itself.”

    Does fasting play any role in dealing with the sin of gluttony, or is that missing the point?

    Comment by noahdlee — October 5, 2005 #

  4. Yes Noah. I think fasting is an important (an overlooked) discipline, and relevant to the issue of gluttony. One of the benefits of fasting is that it teaches us to do without, to have not, and find contentment in things eternal over things temporal. I would love to hear others thoughts on it as well.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — October 5, 2005 #

  5. Thanks for this series (are you preaching through these?). This is really good and convicting stuff.

    Comment by Alex — October 7, 2005 #

  6. Thanks man. No, I am not preaching through this, but I have been thinking a lot about them and decided to begin working through them for myself. I may preach through them next year.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — October 7, 2005 #

  7. My wife and I have been convicted by your post and others.(Master’s Table and Bible Believer’s Diet). We have repented our sin of gluttony and are embarking on a mutually accountable effort to discipline ourselves in the areas of exercise and properly appreciating the wonderful blessing of the food that God provides for us.

    Comment by Tom — October 17, 2005 #

  8. That’s great Tom. Hopefully we are all repenting in the appropriate measure when we look at these sins. I know I am. The next post in this series has been surprisingly tough for me. It will be up this week.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — October 17, 2005 #

  9. Notes & News

    More notes than news today: before I cleaned out the posts I’ve saved on bloglines I thought I’d at least link to them. I found each post thought provoking in some way.
    A Youth Pastor lists books on ministry he’s just purchased. I…

    Trackback by Counseling Notes — November 12, 2005 #

  10. Thanks Tom! I am so glad someone is finally speaking out about this forgotten sin. Many times people when they come to Christ have given up smoking and drinking and yet continue to eat uncontrollably. They don’t realize that they still have a very strong addiction- FOOD. Food addiction is real and it is a sin no different from any other addiction!

    Comment by Kita — January 21, 2006 #

  11. Well said! I am a physician who desperately wants to see Romans 12:1-2 applied more at the covered dish dinners here in the deep south. I am speaking to a group at First Baptist Birmingham tonight about emotions and food. I am grateful to have some Baptist fodder to hit them with tonight (I’m Presbyterian, PCA, reformed). Pray that I will gently communicate that this group will put their faith where their mouth is!!!

    Solo Deo Gloria

    Comment by gary bullock — May 18, 2006 #

  12. Gary,

    God bless man. I hope it goes well. Feel free to come back share how it goes with us.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — May 18, 2006 #

  13. I think you should refrain from the making a gluttony resolution. If it passes, there will be no way our friend Ed Stetzer will be able to do anything in the SBC. Dever looks like he has eaten his fair share as well. And I love to hear Junior Hill preach. We need these guys now more than ever, so don’t get them excluded.

    Comment by john — August 18, 2006 #

  14. I assume you are kidding John. But this post is not about a resolution, and it distinguishes between the sin of gluttony and being overweight. One can be a glutton without being big, and one can be big without being a glutton. Of course many who are gluttonous are overweight. Please note what I actually say here. Thanks.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — August 18, 2006 #

  15. Extremely interesting- mainly the part of ‘mock those who eat more temperately’ struck home. People will often brag of stuffin’ their mouths till they burst.

    Anyway, just passin’ through - your page showed up while googling. I’m doing a research about the sins, you can check ttp://www.kuvas.blogspot.com/ to see my project and maybe leave a comment or idea. Thank you :)

    Comment by chris — January 31, 2007 #

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Powered by WordPress with GimpStyle Theme design by Horacio Bella.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS.