Is gluttony a sin?

Short answer: yes, it is.

Proverbs 23:20-21: 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 23:2. Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.

Israelites known to be drunkards and gluttons were to be killed by stoning: Deuteronomy 21:18-21.

Self-control is a quality of the Spirit-filled man, 2 Peter 1:5-7, Galatians 5:22. Lack of same is listed as a trait of an evil person.

The lusting of the children of Israel in the wilderness was not after women, it was after food.

Wouldn’t you say that the Biblical record is clear about over-doing it with eating?

Then why do we see so many fat Christians? Sorry, there’s no other way to say it. And yes, with a little more caution and as much respect as I can muster up, there seems to be a lot of this condition standing behind the pulpit.

We allow these things in ourselves and those we love because the Christian culture as a whole in the well-provisioned West has come to a belief that, really, it’s OK. A little embarrassing, yes. Maybe some health issues down the road, yes, but not so bad as “other” sins. It’s how we think. It’s what we were and are taught.

Of course, Webster doesn’t help. He says that gluttony has to do with “greedy and voracious” eating or drinking. Somehow, those growing pounds on our front side, back side, and every side, don’t seem to be “voracious”. Cuddly, some would say. “Love handles”, some remark. “Enjoying the fat of the land, as God said we should,” joke others. Then there’s the inevitable “King’s Kid” remark, which shoves all implied criticism under the bus, under the simple idea that as a Christian, I’m free, and I’m blessed, and leave me alone.

Unfortunately, we have to submit, not to Mr. Webster, but to Mr. Strong, of Concordance fame, in this matter. He says that the word translated glutton comes from a word meaning (morally) loose, and even worthless.

Seriously, of what value are we, as Christians, to a watching world, if they know that we cannot control our appetites? Why should they trust us in the unseen parts of our lives if we have demonstrated we are not able to deal with the seen?

Food is a great thing. God has given us a lot of it. But some of it is out there to test us, not to control us.

And we have not even mentioned the fact that most of the world does not get to eat like this. For most Christians, this discussion is meaningless, if not a thing of wonder. Your mother was right. You should not be eating so much food if poor starving Chinese people don’t get more than a bowl of rice every day.

Why have we laughed that concept off? Why have we not cared more about our hurting brothers and sisters, setting aside portions of food-money for them, instead of assuming that every dollar we receive is to be budgeted for our use and ours alone?