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LOST RIVER CHURCH OF CHRIST | |||||||
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Seven Deadly Sinsby Lawrence Kelley Gluttony The purpose of this and all of the sermons on the Seven Deadly Sins is to make us feel guilty. However, as the apostle Paul told the Corinthians, conviction of sin produces different results in different hearts. First, there is the sorrow of the world. Now, worldly sorrow comes in different flavors. Sometimes it resists the counsel of God's word, stiffens its neck and hardens its heart. On other occasions it wilts and despairs of ever being good enough. In both instances the result is deadly and the cause is the same - a refusal to look to the cross. But the conviction of sin can also produce godly sorrow leading to life, which is always accompanied by reformation of character. Gluttony is a sin that we must seek to avoid, but we must do so with a full appreciation of what God has to say on the topic of food and feasting. We also need to recognize that here as everywhere else we are primarily addressing an issue of the heart, not the mouth. In the main, the Bible's teaching on food is very positive and along with reproduction is a potent argument against man's ascetic tendencies. The outright banning of sex and severe restrictions on food are the doctrines of demons, not of God (1Tim 4:1-5). God created a world full of delicious things and invited Adam to freely partake of them all, but one. The Jews were commanded to take part in dozens of feasts and were required to fast only one day a year. Furthermore, God's counsel on how to have a good feast may sound glutenous to calorie Nazis (Deut. 14:26; Neh. 8:10). In the gospel's Jesus is frequently eating. His dining practices were outside the norms of the Pharisees who accused him of being a glutton and a winebibber (Luke 7:34). Of course the accusation was false according to biblical standards, but probably accurate according to the conservative religious standards of Jesus day. We need to understand that Gluttony is not (necessarily) having a second helping, or enjoying desert. Furthermore, it is not always discernable by a persons size or body mass index. Takeru Kobayashi is ranked number one in the world of competitive eating, and he weighs under 160 lbs. Among other sins, he ate 97 Kyrstal Burgers in 8 min. Gluttony is being mastered by your appetites. And while it most specifically pertains to food and drink, it can include any natural desire or need taken beyond healthy boundaries. Gluttony has a lot in common with lust and sloth in that they are natural, legitimate God-given appetites but somewhere along the way they wander beyond healthy boundaries and people who are indulging in them outside of God's will find themselves out of control. How to tell if you are a glutton. If you live to eat, you have a problem. If you gorge yourself regularly, you have a problem. If you feel compelled to constantly be munching on something, you have a problem. If you eat because you are depressed, anxious, or struggling with some other emotional stress, you have a problem. If your excessive eating is causing disease and lethargy, you have a problem. 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 (Prov 23:20). According to this verse the problem is severe, for the passage equates gluttons with drunkards. The problem these people have is idolatry (Phil 3:17-19). God has been replaced by their stomach. This is the central issue and it ties in neatly with the earlier passages that speak of the goodness of food. In those passages the eating was to be done before the Lord. Food for the believer is a gift received from the benevolent hand of God. We are grateful for His gift and receive it in an appropriate measure. The glutton forgets about God and thus gives all authority over to his belly. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!" (Isa 22:13). This is why we may say that a glutton is one who runs to the icebox for a cure to a spiritual malnutrition in the same way we use our possessions to conceal a bankrupt spiritual life or that we seek status and position to camouflage our low self-esteem. We are craving fulfillment, but snickers cannot satisfy. Only God can satisfy and when we find our contentment, pleasure and peace in Him, we will learn to enjoy food in its proper proportion. The cure for this is the gospel of Christ (John 6:35; Isa 55:1-2). |
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