Addressing Gluttony while condemning Body Shaming
In 2021, a clip from a sermon went viral for all the wrong reasons. The clip shows a Baptist pastor preaching the “need” men have for attractive wives. The clip is uncomfortable and misogynist. He rants about women often gaining weight after marriage, how a wife shouldn’t look “butch”, and directs wives to not “let themselves go”.
I wish we could shake our heads at that embarrassment of a sermon and shrug it off as a fringe one time controversy. But, as many pointed out when this clip first viral, this is part of a larger issue in many churches.
Body shaming happens to both men and women, but women especially have been targeted, and when the Church should be the first place to not be shamed for your bodies, it can sometimes be where it happens. Many women have experienced toxic teachings similar to that 2021 clip, placing heavy burdens on their shoulders in a way Jesus never instructed.
Scripture speaks against such superficial judgments multiple times, showing God’s concern for the heart and character of a person far more than their outside looks. (1st Samuel 16:7) To show favoritism to men or women in our fellowship due to their weight or looks is no small sin. (James 2:1-13)
This is personal for me, because for most of my life I have been overweight. I’ve gone through periods of working out and cutting back certain foods, but have often relapsed back to overeating. My weight and looks have been an insecurity of mine for as long as I can remember.
It is with all of this in mind that I want to talk about the sin of gluttony with a sensitive spirit. Despite western culture seeing these topics overlap, as Christians, I suggest we detach gluttony from body shaming. Gluttony has historically been seen as a sin for Christians, but not because of how it affects someone’s weight or appearance.
When my overeating was occasionally confronted growing up, I felt so much shame, especially from a spiritual perspective. One of the things that helped me change my eating habits for the better was having a theological conviction of gluttony but not feeling shamed or less than.
Therefore, I hope that while talking about gluttony in this blog, that not only we distance and condemn body shaming, but that anybody who struggles with overeating does not feel shamed by my words. I know what it’s like, and I don’t want to add any pressure and discouragement to you. Rather, I hope this blog can be informative and help develop a better mentality on the subject.
A Theology of Food
If we go back to the beginning, God created food to be a blessed nourishment to us. (Genesis 1:29) Rich abundance of food is often incorporated with God’s blessings. (Genesis 27:28; Exodus 3:7-8) The very sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a meal, and a foreshadowing of a meal to come in eternity. (Mark 14:22-25)
Food is good! God desires us to eat and enjoy food with each other. Like other sins, gluttony is a corruption of something good from God’s design.
Why Gluttony is a sin
It’s interesting how eating something specific was the first sinful action committed by humans against God. (Genesis 3:6) God allowed Adam and Eve to eat from any tree in the garden, just not from that one tree. And yet, that was the one that was appetizing to the eye. In a way it shows how something as necessary as eating can be twisted into something corrupt.
Gluttony is mentioned in different places throughout Scripture. In the case of Proverbs, it seems to be condemned for being both self-indulgent and unproductive. (Proverbs 23:19-21)
While this is how I most often hear gluttony being described in Christian circles, I would say the majority of times gluttony is mentioned in Scripture it is tied to a bigger sinful pattern of luxurious living. Yes, it is self-indulgent, but in a way that elevates food and personal cravings over God. In other words, it is a form of idolatry.
“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things.”
It seems like overeating had parallels to greed. Both idolize necessities for daily living. If abused, not only does it distance oneself from God, but it neglects the needs of one’s neighbor.
We can see examples of money and food being tied together throughout Scripture and Church history. One simple example would be the Sermon on the Mount. It’s interesting that Jesus ties three spiritual practices together in Matthew 6: Giving to the poor, praying, and fasting. (Matthew 6:1-18) Jesus calls us to do these things, but to do them in humility and sincerity.
After addressing the way to use money to give, Jesus then instructs to not hoard and idolize money. (Matthew 6:19-24) Finally, the chapter ends with Jesus instructing followers to not worry about the daily necessities and instead seek God’s Kingdom first. (Matthew 6:25-34) The daily necessities Jesus mentions in this passage are food and clothing.
I’ve blogged previously about the “do not worry” passage and the way it’s often been misused. In that blog, I mentioned how the heart of the passage is about not seeking luxury, but instead trusting in God’s simple provision. It ties together Jesus’ previous teachings about money and wealth.
This shows Jesus connecting the idolizing of food with money and possessions. Some of the Church Fathers like Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, and especially Basil address this, tying excessive eating to greed and selfish living.
In some ways, this is seen in Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians regarding their abuse of the Lord’s Supper. It seems some of the wealthier Christians in Corinth were hogging the meal while the poorer Christians were left with little to nothing:
“When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!”
Applying this today
Rethinking my theology of gluttony has given both relief and new challenges. It’s relieved me from obsessing over my weight, and more specifically, my looks. If you’re overweight and desire to slim down and develop a healthier lifestyle, that’s a great aspiration. I’ve been doing this myself for the last year and by God’s grace I’ve lost quite a bit of weight so far. But the desire to lose weight should be for the right reasons, and no Christian should be using the pulpit to bully others into looking a certain way.
The challenge for me has been realizing just how much I obsess over what my next meal will be. Planning meals ahead is fine, it can be a responsible way to stay organized. But to overthink and be distracted from the present is unhealthy, and for me, it is an idol.
Gluttony also goes beyond body weight because there are people who aren’t overweight yet do have an issue of overeating and overspending. At it’s core, it’s an issue of idolatry. Food addiction is real, so for anybody reading this that has an addiction, I don’t mean to bring any shame or judgment. There are programs out there that can help, and as someone who is personally in a 12-step program, I can honestly say they can be one of the best things to happen to you.
In my working out routine, I do have a set weight loss goal, but that isn’t my ultimate goal. It more or less just helps give some direction in my calorie intake. My ultimate goal is to use food for what it is meant to be, and not elevate it beyond something else.
Caring about someone’s health is good, and our country does have a health issue with obesity. But as the salt and light of the earth, chosen by Christ through His grace alone, we can do better in addressing physical and spiritual health without conforming to the superficial judgments and elitism of this world.
I hope our churches can move forward in helping Christians develop healthier habits while not treating anybody differently based on their size. Overweight, underweight, or any weight, we are equal in Christ.
Bibliography
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.