Gluttony

Gluttony I. Definitions. A. gluttony: The vice of excessive eating. (One of the seven deadly sins.) Also rarely an instance of this. B. glutton: One who eats to excess, or who takes pleasure in immoderate eating; a gormandizer. C. gormandize: intr. To eat like a glutton; to feed voraciously. II. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not to only beware of something that is sinful but also of things that are occasions to sin. ROM 13:13-14. A. Christ was not all about pleasing Himself. ROM 15:3. B. Following Christ is much about self-denial rather than self-pleasing. MAT 16:24. C. Love of God must exceed love of pleasure. 2TI 3:4. III. We are to so walk as to not be ashamed before God. 1JO 2:28 ct/w ZEP 3:5. A. ashamed: Affected with shame; abashed or put to confusion by a consciousness of guilt or error; disconcerted by a recognition that one's actions or circumstances are in any way not to one's credit. B. shame: The painful emotion arising from the consciousness of something dishonouring, ridiculous, or indecorous in one's own conduct or circumstances (or in those of others whose honour or disgrace one regards as one's own), or of being in a situation which offends one's sense of modesty or decency. C. Sin is something obviously to be ashamed of. ROM 6:20-21. D. But there is also shame not necessarily because of a sin yet should govern our thoughts and actions accordingly. PRO 18:13; LUK 14:9; 1CO 6:5; 15:34. E. We have all experienced both kinds of shame: consciousness of guilt because of breach of law and regret for inappropriate words or deeds or delinquency (especially when such are unbecoming of our Savior’s gospel). PHIL 1:27. F. All shameful conduct should be avoided but not all shameful conduct is expressly sin. 1. As a minister I must shame sinners for their shameful sin. 2. I strive to not equate all things shameful with sin yet I must also call out shameful things. G. Beware of those who glory in shame, who celebrate what is ungodly, dishonouring, indecorous, disgraceful. JUDE 1:13; PHIL 3:19; 1CO 11:6, 14. IV. Drunkenness and gluttony are common companions since they have a common cause: excess of what would be permissible in lesser amounts. DEU 21:20; PRO 23:20-21. A. False religion specializes in unbridled indulgences. 1PE 4:3-4. 1. banqueting: Giving of banquets (obs.); indulgence in luxurious entertainment, feasting, carousal. 2. Spiritual religion rejects such. ROM 8:5 c/w GAL 5:23. B. The great feast of our religion is simple, meager, meaningful and not to be exploited for the flesh. 1CO 11:20-22. C. We are to heed Israel’s destructive excess. PSA 106:14-15; 78:30-31 c/w 1CO 10:6. D. Christ warned against surfeiting. LUK 21:34. 1. surfeit: trans. To feed to excess or satiety; to sicken or disorder by overfeeding (†or by unwholesome food). 2. Reasonable men recognize that certain things are unwholesome. Making such Gluttony 1-13-24 Page 1  “foods” a regular or major part of one’s diet is contrary to our Lord’s wisdom. One could disorder his digestive system, heart health, internal organs, brain chemistry, etc. V. We are called to soberness, temperance, moderation. 1TH 5:6-8; 1CO 9:25; 2PE 1:6; PHIL 4:5. A. sober: Moderate, temperate, avoiding excess, in respect of the use of food and drink; not given to the indulgence of appetite. B. moderate: adj. Of persons, their attributes, actions, etc.: Observing, exhibiting, or acting with moderation; avoiding extremes; characterized by temperance of conduct or expression. C. temperate: Of persons, their conduct, practices, etc.: Keeping due measure, self-restrained, moderate. D. temperance: The practice or habit of restraining oneself in provocation, passion, desire, etc.; rational self-restraint. E. We are not to let our bodily desires have unqualified power over us. 1CO 6:12-13; 9:27. F. Indifference to these principles can set one up for loss of kingdom inheritance. 2TI 3:1-5. 1. incontinent: Want of continence or self-restraint; inability to contain or retain. 2. continent: Self-restraining, or marked by self-restraint, esp. in relation to bodily passions, appetites, or indulgences; temperate. 3. Since temperance is a fruit of the Spirit (GAL 5:23), if someone refuses to govern his appetite or has no power to do so calls into question the state of his soul. VI. Be cautious of presumptuous or superficial judgments. JOH 7:24; MAT 11:19. A. Gluttony is a common cause of unhealthy obesity but: 1. one may be a glutton and yet have a metabolism that doesn’t pack on fat. 2. obesity also may be owing to genetic factors, unwholesome consumptions (even in limited quantities), lack of exercise, aging, etc. B. Caloric intake is a general but not a rigid universal measure of gluttony. An Olympic swimmer may consume three or four times the amount of calories that the average person consumes but does that make the swimmer a glutton? C. Commercialized, industrially produced and processed foods are known to have adversely affected bodily metabolism in our modern culture. Because someone has put on weight may not be absolutely owing to the quantity of his “food” intake but to the adverse implications of “Frankenfood.” D. To conclude that fat is always evil is extreme. 1. Spiritual flourishing is likened to fatness. PSA 92:13-14; PRO 28:25. 2. If there was not something positive about fat, spiritual fatness would be oxymoronic. 3. Israel’s judgment was likened to waxing lean. ISA 17:4. 4. “A time to get, and a time to lose...” (ECC 3:6). :-) VIII. Let us not be as those who feed themselves without fear (JUDE 1:12) and rather be able to in good conscience eat to the glory of God Who instructs us to soberness, temperance, moderation. 1CO 10:31. Gluttony 1-13-24 Page 2