Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (Proverbs 23:19-21 NIV)
Gluttony is defined as excessive eating and drinking. More broadly, it is over-consumption. Here in America, we are very good at excess, aren't we? America is the land of the all-you-can-eat buffet and free refills. Our portions are so huge in many restaurants that Shirley and I split a meal and still take home leftovers many times. We even have cable TV channels devoted to cooking shows, and cookbooks outsell the Bible in the US by a 10 to 1 margin! Whether it's about dieting or deliciousness, we spend a lot of time thinking about our next meal, don't we?
Christian comedian Tim Hawkins takes note of this cutting commentary on Christians' attitudes: "I've noticed the people most uptight about smokers and drinkers don't really have a problem with gluttony and gossip." It is hugely ironic that the deadly sin we're contending with this week in our worship series is gluttony, and the Godly virtue is temperance on Super Bowl Sunday - perhaps the biggest tailgating and snacking party of the year.
Scripture warns us about the dangers of gluttony. "...drunkards and gluttons become poor..." Overconsumption is accompanied by overspending, and overweight leads to medical conditions that require medications and more to keep in check. Here's another thing about gluttony: we can overconsume many other things besides food. Gluttony is not just about overeating. As a matter of fact, gluttony is often not really about food, anyway. There's a deeper hunger going on, and food is used to comfort us when we're sad or reward us when we're happy.
Jesus teaches something about worry and anxiety over provision in our lives, pointing to the heart issue behind overconsumption.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:28-33 NIV)
Jesus is the Bread of life (John 6:35), and He satisfies the deepest hunger of our hearts. A full stomach does little to satiate the hunger of an empty heart. Satan wants to keep us from intimacy with God, and he knows an inordinate concern for food or excessive desire of earthy provision can create an idol in our hearts.
Trusting God for provision of all we need is a first corrective step toward contending with gluttony and replacing it with temperance - with self-restraint. Temperance is habitual moderation in the indulgence of natural appetite or passions. Simply put, temperance is self-control, which is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)
God is not interested in making us feel guilty about our brokenness. God is interested in healing that brokenness by the power and work of His Holy Spirit. The fruit that grows in our hearts by the presence of Jesus and His holy love filling more and more of us includes temperance - self-control.
One practical Christian discipline that can give us a leg up on temperance is fasting. Food is necessary to live, so the struggle with gluttony is not like the struggle with alcohol or drugs. One cannot just quit eating altogether as part of recovery. But we can practice mastery over hunger through fasting. Fasting tells our hunger, "You are not my boss." Fasting seeks spiritual food in place of physical food, and that more deeply satisfies our hearts.
Fasting is abstaining from food or drink for a set period of time in order to focus on prayer and seeking God and His will. It is driven by a desire to know God more intimately and grow closer to Him, and to develop a healthier balance of gratitude, trust and contentment in our lives. Our spiritual father, John Wesley, routinely practiced fasting by abstaining from food from sundown on Tuesdays and Thursdays until mid-afternoon teatime on Wednesdays and Fridays. He urged the Methodists to practice this spiritual discipline in order to draw closer to God in prayer. Perhaps God is calling us to take up this practice in the face of gluttony and to seek Him for all provision of our daily bread - for enough without excess.
The point is not to make us feel guilty. The point is not weight loss. The point is health and vitality and a deeper relationship with God that feeds our hearts with true food. Jesus was right. We do not live by bread alone - or pizza or chocolate. Perhaps God wants us to take seriously the pitfall of gluttony and practice the Godly virtue of temperance so we can experience the satisfaction and depth of relationship with Him that cannot be known in any other way than by fasting and prayer.
To God be the glory!
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