If you are just joining me in this discussion, please first read the Introduction and Part 1 before beginning this segment. At the end of Part 1, we asked our next question.
Can food become a catalyst for sin?
I’ve struggled with where answering this question might go. I’ve had difficulty with how to structure this so it would make sense. Since sin often begins with “Self”, that’s the direction we’re going here. Focus on Self and resulting in S.I.N.
Self-Serving:
arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others
As I mentioned in part one, food is powerful. People will steal for food and kill for food.
“ Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. (Proverbs 6:30-31)
It may be understandable that someone who is starving might steal food but there are still consequences for the sin of stealing. I think it’s safe to say that the basic human need for food to survive might cause one to sin under the right circumstances. I doubt most of us are running around taking bread from our neighbor’s houses because we’re on the brink of starvation though.
Could we be stealing from the ministry of God by not giving to those less fortunate than ourselves? Maybe we aren’t committing an out and out crime but rather hording what God wants to use for His glory.
Self-Indulgence:
excessive or unrestrained gratification of one's own appetites, desires, or whims
Whoa, now that’s a pretty pointed definition isn’t it?
“ For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: (Prov.23:21a)
“ with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape. Jeshurun [Israel] grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. (Deuteronomy 32:14-15)
It looks like in a land of plenty, Israel might have been enjoying food a bit too much. As a result, they turned their back on God. What need did they have to rely on Him? They lost sight of the fact that everything comes from God’s hand. Are you in that place? Are you enjoying food too much? You like the taste and indulge far too often?
Tasty food has become a focus in our society. Everywhere you turn there’s a restaurant. I don’t know of too many restaurants whose slogan is, “eat here, our food may not taste as good but it’s better for ya.” No, they all focus on how much you’ll surely enjoy their delicacies over their competitors.
Overeating is a sin and we call it gluttony. Gluttony, like theft, has a consequence. That consequence is played out in our size and ultimately our health. It’s not enough though to say that overeating is sinful. We understand why a starving person might steal for food, but why would someone jeopardize their health for food? Is it just that they like the taste? Sure, that’s probably part of it. For some people that might be the only factor triggering overeating. I’d wager that for most of us, it’s something more.
Self-Neglect:
a restraint or limitation of one's own desires or interests
This may be the most difficult of the three for me to dive into. While I can relate to Self-Indulgence, I can also relate to self-neglect. This can be played out in many ways. Everything from anorexia to compulsive eating can be categorized by self-neglect. Some people starve themselves to strive for a certain size or weight. Some do it as a way to punish themselves for binging the day before. God does not want us to neglect our health. For believers, our bodies are His temple and it is His desire that we take care of ourselves.
“ What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
I know way too much about the binge/starve method of losing weight. I resorted to this a lot in high school out of fear of being overweight. I also worked out like a maniac, which isn’t good for you either. I never purged though, that was something I was afraid of thanks to Karen Carpenter’s story. If you’re reading this and you are not eating or are purging to lose weight (or keep from gaining), please, please, please seek professional counseling.
Denying your body food could also be a way to declare “control” over some aspect of your life. Some people do this when they feel that others are trying to control them. Some do it because they feel controlled by circumstance. As believers we need to turn that control back over to God. We’ve all heard of kids rebelling against authority and this act of self denial is a way of trying to take control for some.
Part of self-neglect can be ignoring a greater problem by “medicating” yourself with food (or denying yourself food). It’s really no different from the alcoholic who stops by the bar after a stressful day at work and drinks himself into a stupor. Do you reach for the tub of ice cream in the fridge in lieu of calling upon the God who made you? If we are turning to food instead of God aren’t we in a way guilty of idolatry? Has our enjoyment of food turned to worshiping how good it makes us feel while we’re eating it? What causes you to turn to food? Is it pain, stress, sorrow, guilt? This has been something on my mind a lot lately. Through this study I’m seeing that I turn to food to soothe and comfort myself. It’s my “drug of choice” if you will. It’s been long noted that our society enforces “comfort eating”. When you get shots as a young child, do they offer you a set of 20 pushups to help you feel better? No, when I was young it was a lollie. Our current pediatrician office gives the kids stickers but other pediatricians we’ve had gave candy. Scraped your knee, here’s an ice cream cone. Your dog just died; let’s have some milk and cookies.
Turning to anything or anyone other than God is a sin. God tells us to cast all our cares upon Him (Ps. 55:22, 1 Pt 5:7) but we don’t do that do we?
Why is food so comforting? Is it because even if no one in the world loves you, that mint chocolate chip ice cream will still taste the same? Maybe so. We’ve believed the lie that turning to food instead of God makes us feel good and is harmless. We miss out on an opportunity to be drawn closer to the Lord and at the same time neglect what is best for our body’s health. Satan wants us to believe the lie of course and he’ll keep whispering it in your ear because:
“ your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8b)
“ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
If Satan is trying to destroy us, why on earth are we turning to his tools of deception when Christ tells us He wants to give us life?
Personally, I think for most of us it’s become habit. Some of it is chemical as we know from studies that sugar can cause a reaction in the brain similar to addictive drugs. Some if it is spiritual neglect and rationalizing our actions because “hey, we’re not murderers or anything”. If you have an unhealthy relationship with food, you can bet that you are sinning whether you’re over eating or denying yourself.
The Joy of the Lord
So that’s all fine and good but how on earth do we even begin to overcome all of this?
“ for the joy of the LORD is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10c)
This particular passage is talking about grief but I think the joy of the Lord can be our strength in many areas. We’ve heard the acronym for JOY as Jesus, Others, You. Let’s consider how this concept of JOY might alter our behavior towards food.
Jesus
If we look at Self-Service, we can see clearly that Jesus’ example is one of Self-Sacrifice. God sent His one and only Son to be a sacrifice for our sin, paid in full and totally cleansed.
With Self-Indulgence we see that by enjoying food too much we are missing God’s purpose of balanced enjoyment, worship, fellowship, sustenance and ministry.
Self-Neglect turns our eyes from focus on Jesus for coping with life’s trials. It robs us of deepening our relationship with Christ because we can’t take our minds off our selves long enough to seek Him.
Others
Have you noticed how difficult it is to feel sorry for yourself and your circumstance when you’re giving to others? Serving others can turn our self-service attitudes into “grati-tudes”.
When we take our focus off ourselves, God can cultivate a concern and love for others.
You
Taking care of you is important of course. We just need to make sure that we are really facing the true issue that results in our unhealthy view and use of food. This is something I’m gradually trying to do. Once we face those “issues” we need to identify the triggers and address alternative ways to handle them.
So I believe it’s safe to say that we can sin with food. It may seem like a “little sin” in regard to some but we must remember that the “wages of sin is death”. God declares that all sin separates us from Him. Even as believers who have the promise of eternity, we can build a relational wall between ourselves and God with unaddressed and un-confessed sin. Be sure that Satan knows your weaknesses and if he can keep you in sin by tempting you with food, that’s exactly what he’ll keep doing.
We’ve discussed God’s purpose for food and how food can become a catalyst for sin. You may be wondering where fasting fits in with all of this. I plan to address that in the next segment where I hope to answer the question:
Is fasting just a B.C. ritual?
In Relation to Food: Intro
In Relation to Food: Part 1
In Relation to Food: Part 2
In Relation to Food: Part 3