Gluttony / Temperance

A man hired a pilot to take him Caribou hunting in Canada. He asked the pilot to land in a remote place. The pilot said, “There aren't any Caribou in this area.” The hunter said, “Yes there are. I was here last year.” Sure enough, in a few hours the hunter returned, dragging two caribou.

The pilot said, “You can’t load two caribou. The plane can’t bear the weight.” The hunter said, “Well, I did it last year. Same size plane, same size caribou.” The pilot finally agreed, and they took off. The plane, however, couldn’t carry the load, and crashed into the side of a mountain.

The pilot got angry at the hunter and said, “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. I knew this plane couldn’t carry two caribou. Now we’re stranded on this mountain and no one will ever find us.” The hunter said, “Don’t worry, the rescue team will find us in no time. We’re just a few hundred feet from where we crashed last year.”

The same mistakes. This is what I find most frustrating about myself – this tendency to repeat mistakes. If something doesn’t work, why do we keep doing it? I’ll never understand. They say the sign of insanity is to keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. If that’s it, most of us are insane. We get tripped up more often by old habits than by new temptations.

I wish the Bible offered a quick three step formula for breaking bad habits, but it doesn’t. Here’s the only “formula” it gives us:

Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.(Hebrews 12:1)

Lay it aside and keep running, the writer says – especially those sins that so easily entangle. Lay them aside. They’ll probably be back to annoy us another day, to knock us down another time, but for now, put them aside and keep running the race. Eventually, I think, persistence will pay off. Someday the sin will no longer cling closely, will no longer get in our way. Till then, we’ve got to keep working and to keep running the race.

We been working our way through the Seven Deadly Sins, seven sins that are particularly troublesome. We’ve looked at pride, envy, and anger. Today we pick up the sin of gluttony.

As we begin this look at the sin of gluttony, I think it’s important to define gluttony. Even though we probably already have a good understanding, that understanding might be limited.

Literally, a glutton is one who eats to excess. The origin of the word is not certain. It may have come from the Latin word gluttire – meaning “to swallow” – or from the Latin word gluttus – meaning “greedy.” Both are appropriate. However, we are not talking about one’s weight. Gluttony may or may not be related to weight. There are some who can eat their weight in food every day and not gain an ounce. Others just think about food and gain a pound. Instead, we are talking about overeating.

It is said that the Romans loved to eat. So much so, that at banquets they would eat till they could eat no more, empty their stomachs by way of vomiting, and then go eat some more. Truly, they were gluttons.

A glutton is someone with an insatiable appetite. Whatever it is they want, they can never get enough of it. And to be called a glutton is certainly not a compliment. Paul, writing to Titus said,

Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” (Titus 1:12)

Gluttony is more than just overeating though. Gluttony refers the desire for anything in excess. A glutton is one mastered by their desires. While it most specifically pertains to food and drink, it can include any natural desire or need taken beyond healthy boundaries. God gave us our appetites and he intended for us to enjoy filling them, but gluttony is over-doing it and over-indulging.

Writing an article on gluttony for Beliefenet, John Spalding describes his gluttonous approach to exercise. While doctors suggest two to three hours of exercise a week to stay fit, Spalding admits to exercising two to three hours every day. Why? Because he just couldn’t get enough of it. He says there are times when all he can think of is when can he get off work to go to the gym. That is a description of a glutton. It is an inordinate desire for that which is good. There’s nothing wrong with food or exercise. But there are limits.

King Solomon was a prime example of a glutton – one who could not control his obsessions. Because he was king, all of life was like an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon describes himself as a man who could have anything he wanted and as much as he wanted. He also says he was a man who didn’t know when to say when. Believing that if he only had a little more, he would suddenly become satisfied, Solomon took advantage of his wealth and overindulged in every activity imaginable.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. (Ecclesiastes 2:10)

Solomon says he sought for meaning and contentment in wisdom and knowledge, in pleasure and laughter, in great building projects and great wealth, even in work. And yet none of them brought him any closer what he truly wanted. He writes,

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

Solomon lived under the illusion that if some was good, more was better. Yet he could never get enough of anything to satisfy him. Whether it’s food or exercise, watching TV or playing video games, when we reach the point, we can’t say no to more, we’ve lost control and become gluttons.

Compared to the other six deadly sins, gluttony may not seem like much. Yet, the Bible warns us of the dangers of gluttony. I want to list four. Again, these dangers apply to all forms of gluttony, not just to food. They apply to any form of pleasure or gratification where we have reached the point of not being able to say is enough is enough.

The first danger of gluttony is it can be an escape from the things that really matter.

Frederick Buechner says that a glutton is one who runs to the icebox for a cure to a spiritual malnutrition. He is saying we use our possessions to hide a bankrupt emotional and spiritual life. Whatever they go after, whether it’s food, TV, alcohol, or physical exercise, some fill their lives with these things so they won’t have to face an emotional or spiritual void in their lives. Instead of facing this empty place they fill it with something they enjoy.

The prophet Amos made this charge against the people of Israel. They had turned their backs on God. They knew they were not doing right by God. Instead of facing this spiritual reality they filled their lives with excessive luxury.

You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.(Amos 6:4-6)

The nation was in political, and more important yet, spiritual ruin and yet they drank and indulged themselves to excess. In so doing they were ignoring their problems. The Israelites would one day face God’s judgement. Pretending it wouldn’t happen wouldn’t make it go away. Amos says,

Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end. (Amos 6:7)

Like someone who goes to the fridge to get a sandwich or another bottle of beer rather than to deal with the problems in their life, the Israelites were trying to escape reality, but nothing is really changed. To close your eyes to a situation does not take it away.

What do you crave in life? What do you desire more than anything else?

The story is told of a man who found a genie in a bottle. When he rubbed the bottle out popped this genie ready to grant him three wishes. He thought for a few minutes before stating his desires. He wanted to do this right since he only got one chance at it. First, he asked a billion dollars in a Swiss bank account. Poof, the man had a bank book in his hand. The genie had done it. Second, the man wished for a Ferrari in his garage. Poof, a set of car keys appeared in his other hand. The man was getting really excited. For his third wish he wanted to be irresistible to women. He wondered if the genie could grant this one, but the genie assured the man he could. And poof, the man turned into a box of chocolate.

What satisfies your soul’s appetite? Is it food, is it drink? Is it work? Perhaps for women it’s chocolate. For too many men it’s to work long hours to feel important in order to escape problems at home.

God has blessed us with work and food and with so many other gifts. So often these things do not seem that bad. In fact, these things are gifts from God. But we can so easily abuse the gift. We can abuse our talents, our work, our skills, almost anything. And when we do, we see why gluttony is such a terrible sin.

The second danger of gluttony is it can lead to poverty.

The things we crave are of no lasting value. They take away from us. Only a workaholic many become wealthier from his gluttony, but what expense of his family and personal life. Proverbs 23 warns us:

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 23:20-21)

What is most surprising in this verse is how the Bible views the heavy drinker in the same light as the heavy eater. In our traditional Christian thinking we separate drinking and drunkenness from overeating, but God doesn’t. He says that they are both wrong.

We all need food. We all need rest. We all must work. And the Bible doesn’t condemn alcohol in moderation. But it does condemn drunkenness and laziness and over eating. God condemns gluttony of any kind, warning us that gluttony will lead to poverty. We’ve seen it. Even the rich can lose it all.

The third danger of gluttony is it can lead to stinginess.

The problem with the glutton is that they can never be satisfied or filled. They have an insatiable appetite they seek to fill with the things of this world. A gluttonous person often has a hard time sharing since he can never get enough for himself.

And the fourth danger of gluttony is it can leave little room for God in our lives.

Gluttony is putting the things of this world before the things of God. To be gluttonous leads us to sin to satisfy the cravings of our sinful nature rather than to be godly. Paul wrote to Philippians warning them of the dangers of seeking to satisfy themselves with worldly cravings.

For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.(Philippians 3:18-21)

It is only when we seek to have our cravings and our emptiness filled by Christ that will we be truly satisfied. Jesus said,

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.(John 6:27)

And then, just a few verses later, we read,

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”(John 6:35)

If sin is an inordinate desire of eating and drinking that goes beyond the order of reason, then what is needed is self-control. If the sin is gluttony, then the virtue is temperance.

A century ago, it was the Temperance Movement that pushed for the outlaw of all alcoholic beverages. Temperance has come to mean the complete abstinence from alcohol. In reality, temperance means moderation – moderation in any area of our lives.

We have to have food to live. We need to work to have food. Exercise is good for the body so we can stay healthy enough to work. There’s nothing wrong with sports or being entertained. The problem is knowing when to say when. How do we know when we’ve had enough?

For most of us, especially when it comes to food, it becomes very difficult. How many can go to an all you can eat buffet and not leave feeling uncomfortable? Mary Anne was reading an article a couple of years ago that said the average meal served at a restaurant contained enough food for seven portions. How does that make you feel? Restaurants are encouraging us to eat more. “Would you like to super-size that?” Can we say no?

I am fully aware that there are no easy answers. Perhaps I should confess my own problems in this area. Since I’ve been at West Side, I’ve gained almost thirty pounds. That’s an average of three pounds a year. I don’t want to keep that up. What would I weigh in another ten or twenty years? Mary Anne and I have gotten in the habit of splitting meals when we go out to eat. My mother has started asking for a to-go box when she orders her meal and puts half of it away before she starts eating. That’s a start. But if it’s true that one meal contains seven portions, we’re still eating enough for three-and-a-half people.

I don’t have any easy answers, but let me quickly give you a few passages not to make you feel guilty, but to at least encourage you in the right direction.

First, don’t allow yourself to become a slave to your appetite.

You have to eat, but you don’t have to be a slave to your appetite. Saying no is difficult when the food tastes so good and there’s so much of it. But learn to say no. Put a limit on how much you are going to eat before you start. Put a limit to how long you will watch TV. Put a limit to whatever it is you have trouble controlling. Put a limit before you start.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his desire to remain in control of his appetites. Perhaps they were having a problem with gluttony in Corinth. Quoting some phrases well known by the Corinthians, Paul wrote:

“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” – but God will destroy them both. (1 Corinthians 6:12-13)

According to these verses, every action should be preceded by two question:

Is it beneficial?

Will is overpower and enslave me?

While food in and of itself may not have much spiritual significance, Paul insists that it is possible to become so enslaved by our desires that it becomes a factor.

Second, realize that we are to please God with our bodies.

God has been so good to us and blessed us with so many things. We aren’t thankful enough that we don’t have to worry about our next meal. I wouldn’t doubt that our families throw away more food each year than some living in third world countries eat in a year. We should seek to please God with the abundance he has given us. A few verses later, in this same chapter to the Corinthians, Paul writes:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Our bodies are temporary. Both Paul and Peter refer to our bodies as tents, temporary dwelling places while we wait for the eternal. But that doesn’t diminish the importance of the body God has given us now. We are still responsible for what we do with it, which is even more important considering that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we have the Spirit dwelling within us. We are therefore admonished to live accordingly. Treat your body accordingly.

And third, realize that our ultimate desires can only be fulfilled in God.

The hunger we feel is a much deeper hunger than to fill our stomach. There is a great cavity within each one of us that yearns to be filled. We often fill that hunger with things – clothes, jewelry, cars, pleasure, or food. We eat out of boredom, we eat to rewards ourselves, we eat out of frustration, we eat when we are depressed, we eat when we are stressed or angry. We eat because we hope it will satisfy our longing. But it doesn’t. Our real inner longing isn’t for food. It is for something deeper and more meaningful. Our longing is for purpose, for love, for community, for God. That is why God put that hunger in us – that we might desire him. And God promises in Isaiah 55 that he will fill our hunger if we will come to him.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.(Isaiah 55:1-2)

Are you hungry – and not just because it’s almost noon? Do you feel empty inside? Have you tried to fill that emptiness but somehow could not? Have you tried to be so busy that you could pretend that it is isn’t there? These things have not really worked, have they? Confess to God that you have not brought your hunger to Him. That you have had your desires filled elsewhere. That you have lived for work or pleasures that have not satisfied. God calls you to come to him.