The Sin of Gluttony



We constantly hear professed believers berate the sin of abortion, sodomy/homosexuality, physical adultery, and drunkenness and rightfully so.  Tossed in there will be a few other random pet sins of those in the religous organizations but rarely do we hear the rejection of all sin, even the ones that man considers 'little'.  For instance the sin of laziness, foolish talking, jesting, envy, strife, boasting, gluttony etc.

 Today we will focus on gluttony which happens to be a big problem in America, the land of plenty.  There are plenty of grocery stores, dollar stores, fast food and restaurants to fit every budget and inside them are many items to tempt people into overindulging.  The human body needs to eat and as we see in God's Word we are to be careful in how we take care of this duty.

 Gluttony means 'to gulp down/swallow', to overindulge in food or drink and the greek meaning is to devour/consume/voracious.  This is not referring to someone who is hungry and has not eaten for a while and eats their food fast; it doesn't refer to someone who likes to eat a variety of food or instead of meals snacks throughout the day, this is a continuous issue that a person would have with the consuming power of food having control of them and they constantly consume or lust after it.

 There are many instances in God's Word that show a warning to us today against gluttony:

 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. (Proverbs 23:2)

 Be not amont winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh (Proverbs 23:20)
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. (Proverbs 23:21)

And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. (Deuteronomy 21:20)

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (Ezekial 16:49)

We see Easu sell his birthright for some food in Genesis 25.
Numbers 11 shows us how the people were not satisfied with the manna from God but instead lusted for meat.  God gave them more quail than they could eat and while the flesh was in their teeth He killed them.

 Go read it for yourself....

The New Testament teaches us to be in control of our flesh (Galatians 5, Romans 13, 1 Corinthians 6) and that our body is not ours but that of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6).
We are to do all things to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Because we have to feed our body on a daily basis, there will be a continuous temptation to over indulge in which each believer has to learn how to master.

God at one time ordained feasts/festivals and therefore is no sin in gathering together for a time of rejoicing and sharing food with others in a festive nature (depending on the festivities); the warning for gluttony is for an ongoing nature.

Society has encouraged the sin of gluttony through food eating contests where they have contestants who line up at tables and shovel in as much of the featured food as possible and then win a prize.  There are restaurants that feature enormous hamburgers or big plates of certain foods and then give awards if someone who orders it can eat the entire amount in a certain time.  Affordable all you can eat buffets and fast food tempt people to overindulge.  We personally avoid buffets because of that temptation and since we travel a lot we do frequent fast food places but selectively choose from the menu to find the healthy options. 
Let's not forget gluttony can be through drinking.  There are untold amounts of specialty coffee houses, bars, smoothie huts, soda machines etc.  People blindly swollow these liquids in enormous amounts on a daily basis and continuously crave more.
There is nothing sinful about most of these offerings, the sin is in overindulgence.  Just as there is no sin in alcohol, the sin is drunkenness.
What consists of gluttony?  How much food can a person eat before they are gluttonous?  At what point does the sin become visibly evident  and how much is allowable before it becomes sin?

We don't have the answers to this as God's Word does not specify portion allowance, weight limits, guidelines etc.  What we need to learn is how to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit as we all know in our conscience when we have an issue of overindulgence and need to do something about it.  We can also learn from Proverbs and Psalms about not desiring the dainties. 

Beware though, people need to be very careful that one doesn't become so obsessed with this sin that they commit the sin of being obsessed with it and go the opposite way in weight loss and not eating.  This can be a great concern mostly for women, as vanity runs deep even in professed believers. (Yes men can have this obsession as well but women succumb to it more often.)  Be careful not to jump into the ditch of either and therefore consume your thoughts and take your mind off the things of Christ.

 Remember what is important because...
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. (1 Corinthians 6:13) 

Our purpose on this earth is to glorify God and be about His work so be sure that in everything you do, you do it as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23) and not to just satisfy your flesh with the vast temptations of the world.

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