But What About Gluttony!?!

Why do conservative Christians make such a fuss about homosexuality and give everyone a free pass—most notably themselves—when it comes to gluttony?

That's a question you hear a lot of us these days and one you should expect to hear again and again, posed in a hundred different ways, in the years ahead.

Why are we asking about gays in heaven when we should be asking if there will be fat people in heaven? How can we say "their" sin of homosexuality is terrible while "our" sin of gluttony is no big deal? Everyone's a biblical literalist until you bring up gluttony. Besides, the Bible contains three times as many exhortations against gluttony than against homosexuality.

How should Christians think about these claims? Well, the operative word in that question is "think." We can't settle for gotcha headlines and arguments that are more slogan than substance. We have to be open to reason, open our Bibles, and think this through.

1. Do we really want to suggest that one sin is no biggie because we've been pretty lax about a different sin? If it's the case that Christians are wrongly intolerant of unrepentant gluttony--or any unrepentant sin--then shame us. Sins separate us from God. When we choose to embrace sins, celebrate sins, and not repentant of sins, we keep ourselves away from God and away from heaven. Continue at Kevin De Young

Sham Unity is Not Worth Working For

A couple years back, while at a big leadership conference for church leaders, I was listening to a statistician discussing the state of the church in Canada. He explained that he believes Roman Catholics and Protestants need to come together if we’re going to find any success in turning Canadians back toward Christ. After all, he said, the more discussions he had with Catholics, mainline Protestants and Evangelicals, the more he found we had in common (which, basically amounted to “all of them pray and take their faith seriously”).

Sitting in this session, I was kind of annoyed, and more than a little depressed. I mean, seriously? This is the best advice that could be offered to church leaders wanting to impact their communities? Hook up your carts to the United Church and Mainline Presbyterianism (both of which are haemorrhaging members) and bury the hatchet with the Roman church?

Sadly, this is the same advice that’s been given to Evangelicals for decades—dating back to the 1940s and earlier. J.I. Packer addresses how we should respond to this sort of thinking well in his 1958 release, “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God. He writes:   Continue at Aaron Armgstrong

The Socially Acceptable Sin

Most Christians today like to say that all sins are “equal” in the eyes of God, that there is no scale of less or worse sins, that a white lie or a homicide alike would have been enough to require Christ to die on the cross. We say this in theory, but in practice, we know that a white lie won’t get you kicked off the church leadership team. And a homicide likely will.

In practice, there are some sins that are socially acceptable, even in the Church. There’s one sin in particular that has pervaded our society and churches so silently we hardly give it a second thought, and that is the constant hunt for more over what is enough. Or, in an uglier terminology, what is known as gluttony.

When I think about gluttony, I think about my desire to shove a dozen donuts into my mouth and wash them down with chocolate milk. Or perhaps it’s my tendency to mindlessly feed chips to a stomach that’s no longer hungry. Many of us can look at the sin of gluttony and think, “That’s not really my struggle.” Or, we think, “What’s the big deal?” After all, most congregations have compulsive over-eaters among them, and they’re not considered “less spiritual” or “backslidden” for it.   Continue at Relevant Magazine

Obesity, Christianity, & the Gospel

Is it ok for a Christian to be overweight? I’d seen that question before, and I always turned away because I didn’t want to know the answer. As an obese person and a follower of Christ, I knew the answer but didn’t want to face up to it.

 

Avoidance doesn’t make the question any less valid. We can pluck verses from the Bible to support different views. How about “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” from 1 Corinthians 6. That one is used quite a bit in support of being fit and healthy.

If you think that focusing too much on physical fitness is a problem, then you may lean toward 1 Timothy 4: “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

I always found myself in the bodily-exercise-profits-a-little camp. Why? Because I didn’t like exercise, I wanted to be obese, and the less I thought about it the better. But once again, avoidance doesn’t mean the removal of the problem.

About a year ago, the opportunity opened up for a brother to speak to me regarding my weight. He told me plainly, yet lovingly, that being obese was a hindrance to my testimony. I knew it was true. I had known it all along. Now, I had to face up to it.

Here are the hard facts: obesity, in the majority of cases, is a result of gluttony. Gluttony is a lack of self-control. A lack of self-control is not fruit of the Spirit that now resides in me. It is a fruit of the flesh. I do know there are some who are overweight due to medical issues, but those cases are few and far between. For most of us in America, the problem is an abundance of food mixed with fleshly, out of control appetites.   Continue at JT Crawford

Keeping Christ in the Holidays Takes Little Effort

A number of America’s holidays have Christian overtones, particularly Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Because these holidays originated as times to celebrate God’s graciousness to us, it is not all that difficult to restore their original spiritual meaning. This will happen only if we value doing so and are willing to expend a bit of energy. I would like to share some considerations and suggestions.

My first consideration is that we become comfortable with the secular. As followers of Jesus Christ, we find ourselves in the world, though we are not of the world. This means we must walk the tightrope of participating in our society and its decent (good or neutral) ways, while at the same time refraining from its wrong ways.

Gift-giving, decorations, Christmas cards, rich treats, a Christmas tree, touring light displays, or gorging oneself with a Christmas meal are all part of the fun. Secular is not necessarily evil, but secular is not enough.

My second consideration is that we remind ourselves that we are not enslaved to traditions that may negate a truly blessed Christmas. We need not incur amazing debts or keep up with our siblings by matching extravagant gifts. Although most of us want Christmas to be a family time, we are free to dissent from family customs when those customs are offensive or counterproductive to our own families. Continue Reading>>>

Your Grandma was Right: All Things in Moderation

The holiday season is here!  This is the time of year when we overeat and strap on a few extra pounds. But it doesn't have to be. Especially if you allow God to convict you about what eating is really all about.

The good

He made you dependent on food and water, so it is good to hunger, thirst, and then be satisfied. Being hungry even draws us to the Lord (Deut. 3).  
He made the plants and vegetables we eat and the animals that provide meat and dairy (Gen. 1:11-13, 20-25). Continue Reading>>>