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| Photo by Justyna Furmanczyk |
Christians and the Love of Food
By Erika Lynne Szendrey, 04.23.07
In a culture of super-sized portions, all-you-can-eat buffets and dining for entertainment, it seems like the biblical sin of gluttony has been overlooked in America - even among conservative Christians.
The word gluttony, originally derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp or swallow, is mentioned by name in the King James Version of the Bible four times and alluded to many more. The term means eating or drinking to the point of excess. A gluttonous person, in the Bible, is referred to as one whose god is their belly.
Throughout history, the sin of gluttony has been treated with varying degrees of seriousness by theologians. Thomas Aquinas, an early church leader who lived in the Middle Ages, believed the definition of gluttony included eating excessively costly foods and an overly eager anticipation of meals. In contrast, the modern-day church’s view of gluttony may be the most negligent in all of church history.
Today, it is highly uncommon to hear abut this offense preached about from the pulpit or even spoken about in American Christian circles. What modern-day Christian has been confronted by his or her pastor for eating too much at a church potluck or for indulging in that extra doughnut?
Daniel Stamman, a pastor in Mass., holds a Doctorate from Luther Rice Theological Seminary. He believes gluttony is oftentimes ignored because it is considered personal and because it just “feels right” to so many people.
“It’s one of those pardonable or glossed over sins. I suppose the reason is that it’s not considered so overtly evil like adultery or murder,” Stamman said. “They think that it’s not so bad - God gave us taste buds and glands, what’s wrong with using them?”
But what’s the difference between use and abuse? Let’s face it, the American culture is one of indulgence and excess. A 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination study shows that over 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. An earlier study, done in 1998 by a Purdue University sociologist, shows that members of the Christian church are more likely to be overweight than other Americans.
Pastor Paul Browne, a graduate of Westminster Seminary, believes many people are trying to find a sort of happiness and satisfaction through food.
“Any kind of self-denial is not popular nowadays. It’s all about self-indulgence. I would say that gluttony is like so many sins - taking a good thing [like food] and making it idolatrous,” Browne said. “People believing that they can eat a certain kind or quantity of food and will gain some sort of satisfaction from it.”
Browne said that during periods of church history, Christians were concerned about the sin of gluttony and that their concern was directly related to the amount of food available.
“We think of gluttony less than any other Christians who have ever lived, but we also have much more food,” Browne said. “When your survival quantity of food is smaller, you’re much more conscious of this. We live in such a surplus that we don’t think about this.”
The sad fact is that many people in today’s world do not live in this American surplus. Thirteen percent of the world’s population is starving according to a 2006 report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That’s 854 million people. A 2003 report stated that nearly 16,000 children die daily from hunger-related causes.
So while most Americans are feasting, many others in the world are starving. This problem of uneven distribution of wealth is not a new one. Stamman stated that modern American culture is very similar to the culture in the day of the prophet Amos who lived in Israel around the eighth century B.C. Stamman described Amos as the social activist prophet - the one most likely to say “the food you scrape off your plate could save other people.”
The culture of Amos’ day was one of unprecedented economic prosperity. In his writings, Amos rebukes the people of his time for forgetting the poor in their affluence. In chapter four of his book, the prophet even refers to the women of Bashan (a region in Palestine) as fat cows and says that by their negligence they have oppressed the poor and crushed the needy. Are we, as affluent Americans, crushing the poor and needy by forgetting them in our prosperity?
Maybe the next time you’re at a restaurant, stuffed from your meal and about to order dessert, you should think of those 854 million people who are not as privileged as yourself. Perhaps your $5.95 could go to better use.
