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Overeating, Alcohol, & Holiness

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 10:57 am**

I'm reading the discussions about smoking and drinking and overeating. It certainly seems to me that there are certain sins that are more comfortable to us than others...and even more acceptable than non-sin taboos.

Dancing has historically made us unbelievably uncomfortable. We have preached against it. There are many Church of God dads who didn't dance with their daughters at their own wedding because we made it a taboo. I've heard some good men heart broken over that. That sure wasn't sin.

At the same time, we are very comfortable with gluttony. We know it when we do it. A food addiction is every bit as enslaving as a drug, sex, or alcohol addiction.

We should come clean on this when a prophet points his finger in our chest. In this area, we honestly struggle. I'm thankful to Eddie Robbins and the journey he took in front of all of us. His life and words were very convicting to me. He helped me re-evaluate my life and come to grips with the fact that somewhere, somehow, I had become a poor steward of my life and family in the way I engaged with food and physical health. I have repented...and continue to do so. It's been a 4 year process. It's still a struggle.

Abusing food is just as dangerous as abusing alcohol....though, maybe in a less dramatic way. Consider overeating to be a slow-motion drunk driving accident. If we continue to overeat and abuse our bodies, this is what we may be able to expect:

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1. Diabetes, heart attack or stroke, cancer, etc....

2. An innocent spouse or child that may spend chunks of their life caring for us as we rot in a chair or bed somewhere unable to care for ourselves. Because ministers tend to live sacrificial lives, there is a higher than normal chance that it will be our family providing back breaking care for us because we failed to care for ourselves.

3. If we fail to steward our bodies in a way that honors the Lord, there is a high probability that our children will do the same, repeating the whole cycle.

4. We undermine the power of the Gospel when we live in a way that is incongruent with what we preach.

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The last thing I want to do is be condemning in this area or judgmental in some other area. I know that all of us are prone to addictive, bondage-making behaviors. I don't want to down anyone because we all are battling sin. We are all in this together.

But, I would like to propose to us, as holiness people, that it seems to me we have excused our own sin, while condemning other sins that aren't ours...and even while condemning behaviors that are just taboo to us...and not even sin.

Good post Travis...

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5161 **10/19/12 11:08 am**

I agree that gluttony is damaging to our body. However, I disagree that gluttony is equal to the occasional drink. We are taking an extreme and measuring it next to moderation. If we want to be intellectually honest, then wouldn't we more appropriately compare gluttony to alcoholism and the occasional drink compared more to having a hamburger rather than a chicken-burger?
The comparison is always made about one thing that is called a sin and one that isn't....which isn't a fair comparison. If we want to compare things we should go apples-to-apples at least.

While I agree that gluttony is a sin, and gluttony is ALL TOO RAMPANT in our movement. I can't wrap my mind around that being the same as drinking wine with communion in a foreign country.

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 11:25 am**

Clint, I'm not comparing gluttony to a glass of wine. I'm simply saying that we are much more comfortable with gluttony as a sin than we are with non-sin taboos (fill-in-the-blank here...there are many).

I've never tasted alcohol. I've never smoked. I never went to a dance in school. There are a lot of things I completely avoided for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons were that I didn't want to put a stumbling block in front of a weaker brother (notice Scripture encourages us in this regard for the weak...not for the strong). Some I didn't do because we just weren't supposed to do it. There were some sins that were completely acceptable to our tribe. And, I engaged.

Of course, there are other things that I've done that are straight-up sinful in rebellion....things I've done I didn't want to do but, I was compelled because I calculated the risk/reward and opted to sin. But, that's another story.

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 5161 **10/19/12 11:32 am**

Completely agreed.

Re: Overeating, Alcohol, & Holiness

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **10/19/12 12:40 pm**

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **10/19/12 12:49 pm**

Defining gluttony simply as overeating, while true, really doesn't help clarify much. It is incredibly easy to eat just 200 extra calories a day, as anyone who has ever tried to diet knows. Would we call eating on extra biscuit or drinking one Coca-Cola more than we need a day, gluttony? And yet that is truly all it takes for a person to put on TWENTY extra pounds a year.

This is not even taking into consideration the level of activity a person's job involves, slow metabolism, or physical problems they may have with exercising, etc. Add into the mix the fact that God designed our bodies to be able to survive things like forty-day fasts by living off stored calories in our bodies, and it definitely should give pause to simply condemn anyone who is overweight as a glutton.

I am not trying to justify sin. What I am doing is questioning what gluttony is and how we define it. Are we really saying that eating 200 calories more than you need to survive is gluttony? If not 200, then how many? Maybe 500?

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 12:57 pm**

Please know I am not condemning anyone. I deleted the post about three times before I posted it. At the end of the day, it's something that we have to wrestle through in every area of our life:

Do we master our money? Or, does our money master us.

Does our food serve us to live? Or, do we live for our food?

Apply that to most any topic and therein lies our struggle with sin. As such, I personally think we should walk softly with one another, especially as it pertains to the things (cultural taboos) we quickly reject and the things we are more lax with (sins we openly embrace).

I think you're asking for a hard line. Aren't we all? Somehow, God tends to leave us with a lot of open loops to wrestle with....probably because He's interested in our hearts.

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **10/19/12 1:08 pm**

Well I am also asking how do we know a person is guilty of gluttony? Just because they're overweight? There are several factors which could contribute to someone being overweight. Also, gluttony in the Roman culture involved gorging oneself until one could not eat another bite, throwing up, and then gorging oneself again and again.

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 1:22 pm**

Friendly Face Posts: 122 **10/19/12 1:37 pm**

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **10/19/12 1:42 pm**

If we say things like obese preachers are hypocrites if they preach or teach that one should not smoke or drink, we are, by definition, saying that being obese is a sin, a thing which the Bible nowhere says.

I certainly agree it all comes down to the heart.

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 2:49 pm**

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **10/19/12 3:02 pm**

While I hear what you're saying, Travis, I really don't think we should be calling things sin that the Bible nowhere says are sin (like being fat or drinking without getting drunk).

Jesus said the pure in heart shall see God. If our hearts are not pure, it is only because we are not receiving Jesus in his sanctifying power as we ought.

Acts-dicted Posts: 7821 **10/19/12 3:15 pm**

Call me convicted....

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **10/19/12 3:33 pm**

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **10/19/12 4:19 pm**

Fat is good. Fatness breaks the yoke. The yoke = oppression.

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16509 **10/19/12 5:50 pm**

Thanks, Travis. I really appreciate that!

Forget all of the "the Bible doesn't say_____."

If God loaned you a house for a while, would you trash the place or take great care of it in honor of Him? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. They are to be treated like it. That is what I had to come to grips with after abusing my body for 35 years. I asked forgiveness and turned my life around. I am so thankful I did. I want YOU to do the same. Not because I think you are sinful but because it is God's best for your life.

Friendly Face Posts: 122 **10/19/12 6:24 pm**

Acts-celerater Posts: 975 **10/19/12 6:34 pm**

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16509 **10/19/12 6:45 pm**

That's why I talk about eating a "healthy" lifestyle. We do so much stuff to our bodies that we are not aware. I have learned so much SINCE I lost weight. Things like all of the chemicals we are eating when we use canned foods. Sodas are bad for us. I drink one a day but I used to drink a lot of them because they had no calories. But, they are bad for us. I am convinced that it is the reason cancer runs rampant. The stuff that is in our foods and drinks.

So, it's becoming knowledgeable about our food intake. Being healthy.