Bold. I Respect it. I don't really want to address it. To be compassionate and understanding might require preachers to be pastors, and churches to be families. Who would want to do that?

*Also, this is big step for me, entering the blogging world again. Thanks for the inspiration to interact, sir.

As a teacher, I value education.  Without education we lack the knowledge to make educated decisions.  At school I teach PE and health.  I teach children all the time about how to eat healthy and exercise.  This is a passion of mine.  I also know that a lot of food disorders are manifestations of other issues.  However, sometimes, it just comes from a lack of knowledge of what is healthy and what is not.  We live in a society that markets to peoples needs or wants.  People do not want to give up soda, so they can drink diet soda, which can be worse for a persons body.  It says diet, so it must be good.  To me this can be solved with education.  Now I am not going to promote one diet over another.  I grew up in a home in which my parents did and continue to do every fad diet known.  Some are more healthy than others.  What I do promote to my students is a well balanced and moderated diet.  On the other hand, different diets can be very effective for different health issues.  The glutton free diet has helped many kids with adhd behaviors as well as other medical conditions.  

Looking at this from a different perspective though, I struggled with pornography as a teenager.  No one really talked about it in church.  Part of me knew that it was wrong, but then again, no one was talking about it.  I actually started when a role model of mine, who was a christian, was talking with other guys about pornography that he was looking at.  I was then able to justify this in my own head.  With no one explicitly telling me this was wrong, I got sucked into this addiction.  Like all addictions, the first step was admitting that there was a problem.  It was then a struggle to get out of this addiction.  I even prayed and prayed to be freed from this addiction, but it wasn't until I confided in a friend my addiction and the fact that I was weak that God was truly able to free me from this addiction.  The truth was, my friend didn't even suffer from pornography addiction.  He did listen and keep me accountable in Love.  

Like my friend, as a church, we need to help people recognize the problem, whatever it may be, and help people get through the problem with love.  We need to know the people in our church enough to help them through the problems.  The church should be a place we can talk about our problems, no matter what they are, whether it is pornography, alcoholism, or gluttony.  This will only happen if the church is a place free from judgement.  I am completely against condemning people for their sins, but I am for the church educating people to grow closer to what God desires for our physical and spiritual lives. 

two separate streams of thought. a) banning beer is terrible idea. studies show that alcoholism is worse in cultures that have bad drinking habits or ban drinking. rates of alcoholism among jews, (with a wierd recent anomaly among orthodox which I think is about repression) are very low historically. don't ban drinking. model good behavior. and dialogue with those that break healthy patterns, and be willing to ask them to leave the community if they can't keep sober. 

b) gluttony. before we can talk about gluttony we need to talk about gary taubes. google him. humanity has been around for a long time, but carbs became major into our diet 12,000 years ago when we became agricultural.  then stupidly after world war 2, nutritonists decided fat was bad and carbs were good. secondly sugar is a drug. I had a friend who was 100 pounds overweight. he tended to overeat. was he a glutton? he cut out all carbs, and also dairy which also ups glucose. he ate if he was hungry. he had no more cravings for overeating. oh btw, giving up carbs was like giving up cigarettes. he said he nearly lost his mind. He said his body knew how to regulate what it needed when it had no carb interference. his problem was that his body had become carb sensitive. a year later, after eating whatever he wanted, he lost 100 pounds, and said he never really over ate. he said "overeating just meat and vegetables sounded and felt stupid."  

native americans on 3000 calorie dies (estimated) that was meats and vegetables) were buff, but then 50 years later on poverty diet of coffee and bread 2000 calories, 10% of women were underweight (not carb sensitive and not getting enough nutrition) but 40% were obese. obesity is an insulin/glucose related problem. carbs up your glucose. the more carb sensitive you are the more the "high" you get is from carbs and the worse the crash. 

that said gluttony then becomes the sin of "too much" -- it may even be talking about precursor to addiction and addiction. a "glutton" is a husband who comes home and watches 7 hours of tv and ignores his family. but is calling him a glutton a helpful language designation? "hey I prayed about it and you are a glutton."   I think the word glutton might be fine as an academic term but any word you have to redefine to use quickly becomes jargon. 

some people in the church are over-eaters. most of them are carb senstive with insulin issues and don't know it. but behind that is probably the emotional reality that carbs bring comfort as well. when I gave up carbs totally (I am now on a drug that lows my blood sugar so I can have carbs, trying to live carb free in america is really hard) I actually cried one day. I missed the emotional comfort. carbs were a comfort closer than a friend. 

interestingly, guess what helps lower blood sugar levels? fasting one day and then eating a normal diet the next day. 

Do I hate you? No. Do I think you are missing the mark? BY A MILE.

Why do people think that somehow "fat" people don't know they are fat? Don't know they have a problem? And why do they assume they are not already trying to do something about that problem? Why also do non-fat people assume that fat people "got that way" from a lack of self-control? 

Gluttony is not the only reason for obesity, not to mention gluttony is also not the only sin afflicting the Church.

Where are you going to draw the line here? Are you going to also tell the smokers at the back door "no tobacco on the premises, and oh, by the way, smoking is bad for your health."?  Yeah, I can see that flying in a Southern Baptist church... NOT. (At least not the one I grew up in.)

I think you need to back the train up and start dealing with the REAL issues of weight (and other health problems) and if people were to understand WHO they are in CHRIST, and really understand what their position is in Christ, it would be a monumental start on the road to healing. 

Obesity has many causes so automatically assuming that gluttony and obesity go together is ignorant and harmful. Our worth is not determined  by the number on the scale and our intimacy with Christ doesn't depend on my calorie intake.Maybe many churches don't preach on it because they let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit do the convicting.Check out Romans 14:1 "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.". All we need is church members monitoring each other's food intake and calculating waist measurement.

Many many years and diets ago I was having great success losing weight on the plan I was on. It included a baked potato at lunch. A co worker went off on me about how could I possibly lose weight eating that? In her judgement, in her lack of knowledge, she believed me to be "cheating" on my diet. Fast forward to this past August. At a birthday party I had someone criticize the eating of bacon. The Paleo eating plan includes bacon. I can list several "plans" that include food that others would disapprove. All of this sets us up to judge each other without even knowing the heart of another person. Yes, it would seem that those of us with weight issues wear ours on the outside. We have no choice but others are able to hide their "sins" away. 

Another thing about this whole notion that really chaps my hide is that just by looking at my appearance, you think you could judge how I eat or don't exercise. Would you know that I have been keeping a food diary for 3 weeks and I have to work to eat enough calories in a day so I don't get alerted that I am not eating enough? You can't tell that my metabolism is shot by the continual dieting and near starvation I've put it through in my life. You wouldn't know about the six months I spent in an eating disorders unit after drinking only shakes (under a doctor's care) for six weeks putting my heart into an irregular beat with my weight loss journey. If you didn't visit my home you wouldn't know that you will not find fried or processed food in my house. My pantry looks like a health food store but my body looks like I frequent McDonalds *shudder*. My heart rate and BP are well within the normal range but you won't see that in my dress size. You can sit back and discuss willpower till you are blue in the face but until you have sat in my place, until you have been part of my struggle your preaching will only create an environment of judgement rather than an environment of grace. Grace will eventually win.

Two recent studies have shown that two major factors to obesity are lack of sleep and stress. Are you going to ask pastors to monitor bedtimes and provide help for those of us caring for a disabled family member? (I sound stressed don't I?)

Gluttony can also be defined as someone who is so picky about food that they won't attend gatherings if they don't think they will like what is being served. Are we going to also rail against those who make food an issue in the other direction? Gluttony isn't going to be cured by asking someone to leave the fried chicken home. If gluttony is a spiritual issue, then you need a spiritual answer. Some diets give allowance for a biscuit, some bacon and even dessert. Focusing on the physical will just focus us all on the physical. Let us preach what really matters. Spiritual health, grace, love, relationship and the beauty that our Lord brings to our souls. Let the Lord speak into each individual if food is being abused or misused.  Thank you in advance for allowing me to vent. I'm sure it was inarticulate but I woke up several times through the night wrestling with this article. I just had to beat it out on my laptop before I exploded and before some churches started signing up their congregations for gastro bypass surgery at a group rate.

About four years ago our congregation began having lunch after morning service for the widows and widowers, so that they wouldn't have to eat lunch alone. It has turned out to be a luncheon for the whole congregation. Needless to say, I bet we have gained several hundred pounds together.

Not everyone in the congregation attend the luncheon, and it is very nice to get to spend this time together visiting... But it is amazing to watch how the folks have changed in their attitudes. At first people would wait in line to get to the tea and desserts or wait to see if there would be a stuffed egg left. Now they get their tea, their dessert and an egg. They don't want to miss out on getting the dessert and egg, nor do they want someone to get their "spot", so they set their tea where they want to sit. And if their cup is moved one seat over, it messes up their whole "chemistry" and they become a bit disgruntled.

Over the years I have had to battle the "greed" monster myself. You know what I mean, there is so many choices. It all looks so good. Your tummy is growling because you had to skip breakfast to drive the church bus or get the classroom ready for the children. The taste buds are watering before you get your flatware. You start out with, "I am going to be careful this time. I am going to make better choices. Only a taste of this or a bite of that..." And by the time you are at the end of the line the plate is heaping with food.

My husband is over the bus ministry. Many of those who ride the bus are children or the "un-churched." These weekly meals have given many opportunities of growth. First there are the children who have eyes as big as saucers, and then there are those less "taught" adults who either are hungry, they don't know better, or who don't have a "turnoff" switch for their tummies. At first these few would be first in line and would heap their plates so high without even realizing that they needed to share with those behind them.  Many times the meat dishes would disappear before everyone could get any (kind of sounds like the problem at Corinth.) No one knew what to say, especially to the adults. The hosts/hostesses grumbled and finally moved the meat dishes to the end of the line so that plates would be filled with veggies and salads first. But no one in the leadership ever addressed the issue of greed.

My husband and I finally pulled the children aside and were able to slowly teach them to limit their choices to 1 meat, a starch, a salad, a veggie and 1 dessert. (Not that this is what happens each time, but we try to remind them.) We didn't know how to handle the adults who over indulged, we just hoped that they would hear us teach the children. Finally when one woman had 2 strokes and a mild heart attack, we felt that we could be more forceful in keeping with her diet. (It's sad that we think that if we admonish one another we will offend. We don't realize that by admonishing we could save their physical life as well as their spiritual life.)

Admonishment does need to be administered, but first we need to teach as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We need to be taught that any form of gluttony is greed which is idolatry. Idolaters will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. We must flee from every form of evil. But in order to know these things we must first be taught. And we cannot be afraid to teach the truth, even if it does cause a brother to grumble. After all, to offend means to cause to stumble (to fall.) Will we be offending or just hitting a heart string and cause grumbling?

Over the years I have learned some valuable lessons about food. First in 2000 I was blessed to go to Ghana, West Africa. We were to carry with us food for 14 meals for ourselves and our interpreters. Now this amount of tuna, crackers, dried nuts and fruit can really add up. I followed the guideline and took this food only to realize that each day as I worked in the field there wasn't much time to eat a lunch. And when I did I had only time to eat a couple peanut butter crackers, sharing the rest with my interpreters. I also realized that I didn't have much hunger. My stomach didn't travel up my throat to see if my tongue had been cut or if my mouth had been tied shut. Upon reflecting why I wasn't hungry I came to understand that God's word was actually feeding me with each Bible study that I taught. His word became life for me! (Oh, we left a lot of food, and today we hardly take any at all.)

With more Bible study I realized that it is not the food that we eat, but the amount which we consume that causes obesity. There is actually much to say about the food that we eat, and the word does not tell us to limit the types of foods, but says to not have any god before our God. I began applying this knowledge to how I think about food. I still struggle. There are periods that I have more victory and times that I fall. I am learning to eat when I am hungry, stop when I am satisfied. When I obey God in my eating I have less indigestion, I sleep better, and I shed weight.My biggest problem is that when I eat according to what my body needs, I eat very little, and guess what? I don't like it! (There is the rub...the real issue...greed.)

I have learned that food has been an idol to me, that I didn't trust God to provide for me, and that I believed man's wisdom concerning foods (what is healthy and not healthy...) I also have learned that if I feed myself the word of God throughout the day I have more victories with food and even in other problem areas in my life.

Shane, I hope that you will continue encouraging the brethren to check their hearts and repent. We do need to be a people who honors God with our bodies in all things, and food is only one of them. Thanks for blogging. Glad I saw it. Love and miss you guys.

This is a timely and appropriate article with which I find agreement.  But from a pastoral perspective, it is THE third rail in theology and the church along with homosexuality.  No, it is a bigger third rail, because at least the church has been talking about homosexuality (albeit not always a productive theological discussion) for some time now, but almost no one wants to touch this one.  

We live in a "super-size" culture that is so food-oriented.  I think also the western church has developed an anthropology that leans heavily at times toward gnosticism, either spiraling off toward asceticism on the one hand or hedonism on the other.  Of course that characterizes almost every act in a fallen world- dis-eased people cannot find balance apart form God in Christ and abiding faith in him.  For me,  (getting dramatic), it took walking on a treadmill at 47 years of age and getting radioactive dye shot into my veins to test for blockage along with taking 2 blood pressure pills daily and a very powerful statin drug to lower a total cholesterol rate of over 1000!  That finally got my attention and I realized this was a spiritual issue for me.  I couldn't claim to be walking in the Spirit as I continued to treat my body like I had been treating it.    

But this is a swim against the tide.  I completed a revival last year that was totally food oriented (in the Baptist context). The people were God loving people, but honestly, there were 4 people out of 100 that showed up for prayer meetings before the revival but everyone showed up for the meals.  Traveling in other parts of the world where people live with food insecurity every day has totally changed my outlook on this.  Now I see how gluttonous this culture is.  Yes, we need to eat, and we can enjoy food, but I fear the reality in the USA is that we are increasingly living to eat, and not eating to live.  

Yet, I am not sure there is a more sensitive and emotionally charged issue in the church than this one, because food is closely linked with culture and emotions.  

I am aware of an associate pastor who just passed away at 50 years of age from obesity. He ate himself to death.  It was one of the tragic things I have witnessed.  

I've been wondering where this sermon was!  The churches I've been to sure talk enough against drinking and gambling, right after they stuff their faces with donuts and right before they load their plates at the pot luck!  I, for one, struggle with weight, but more specifically, gluttony.  Whew!  I said it!  That was a hard one to actually put in print!  And I think a lot of people struggle with the same thing! Churches I've been to usually have an unwritten and sometimes written rule about abstaining from alcohol, why not at least START talking about the sin of eating too much. After all, isn't self-control one of the fruits of the spirit?  Stepping on toes hurts, both the steppee and the stepper, but it's got to start sometime!  Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

You are absolutely correct. I am a pastor who weighs in at almost 300 lbs. I put on my facebook page this weekend that the sermon could have been ripped from the front page of The Onion. "Morbidly Obese Pastor Preaches About Hunger". It was a sermon helping to promote Crop Walk. Did I acknowledge the irony? Yes. Am I working towards losing weight? Yes.