by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Gluttony seems to be one of the under-taught issues of our day. This is, likely, due to our being uncomfortable with the idea that we ourselves might be guilty of it. While we think of it as generally referring to overeating, it is tied to other problems like laziness (Titus 1:12) and drunkenness (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Matthew 11:19). Gluttony is connected to the idea of lust or excessively craving something to the point of acting foolishly and beastly (cf. Numbers 11:33-34). A glutton is undiscerning (Proverbs 28:7) and would lust after the delicacies of rulers (Proverbs 23:1-3). It is a form of greed and lust. It’s not just about eating one too many pieces of bacon at breakfast. It is tied to laziness, lack of discernment, and a total failure at any self-control. Covetousness, greed, and lust are the companions of gluttony. It is another version of the lust of the flesh and eyes.<\/p>\n
Gluttony is not to be equated with just being overweight. While being a glutton can contribute to being overweight, it would not be correct or fair to think that all overweight problems are caused by gluttony. Judging an overweight person to be a glutton by mere looks is judging outwardly and unrighteously. Being overweight has many causes, and those who are overweight often struggle seriously with losing it (the struggle is real). It is hurtful and unkind to pigeonhole the overweight as gluttons without discernment or knowledge of their situation. In fact, a person need not be overweight at all to be a glutton, a lazy sloth, or a drunkard. Yet these are different sides of the same coin. Like other sins, gluttony begins in the heart and is a manifestation of an inner man lacking any desire to deny self to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).<\/p>\n
Speaking of the vice of gluttony, Basil (4th century) wrote, “This vice of gluttony delivered Adam up to death; by the pleasure of the appetite consummate evil was brought into the world. Through it Noah was mocked, Canaan was cursed, and Esau was deprived of his birthright and married into a Canaanite family. Lot became his own son-in-law and father-in-law, by marrying his own daughter” [Ancient Christian Commentary<\/em>].<\/p>\n What can we do?<\/p>\n This has certainly not been exhaustive, but in the end, what John says applies as much to gluttony as to any other sin: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever<\/em>” (I John 2:15-17).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer Gluttony seems to be one of the under-taught issues of our day. This is, likely, due to our being uncomfortable with the idea that we ourselves might be guilty of it. While we think of it as generally referring to overeating, it is tied to other problems like laziness (Titus 1:12) and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[677],"class_list":["post-53287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-gluttony"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gluttony-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":0},"title":"Gluttony (Jacobs)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod Jacobs The subject of gluttony is misunderstood by many people. Sometimes, during the Thanksgiving holiday, or after some big meal, someone will jokingly say, \"I hope the preacher doesn't preach on gluttony.\" At other times, I have been accused of \"not preaching on gluttony\" or \"not condemning gluttony\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/pig-eating.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61476,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gluttony-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":1},"title":"Gluttony","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Definition: Being morally loose or without moral restraint on behavior, whether it comes to food or other fleshly appetites. In regards to eating and drinking: Numbers 11:4-34 Psalm 78:18 Proverbs 23:1-3 Proverbs 23:20-21 Matthew 11:19 Luke 7:34 Philippians 3:19 Titus 1:12 In more general terms: Deuteronomy 21:20 Proverbs 28:7 Romans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gluttony\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":2},"title":"Gluttony (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey Hamilton Text: Numbers 11:4-34 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Someone, reading an article on the Roman Catholic teachings of the seven deadly sins, was surprised to find that gluttony included \u201ceating too soon, eating with condiments, eating too expensively, and eating with pleasing the palate in mind.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wrote to ask, if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18863,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-gluttony-and-are-all-pleasure-seeking-activities-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":3},"title":"What is gluttony and are all pleasure-seeking activities wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently stumbled upon a Wikipedia article on\u00a0the Seven Deadly Sins, one of which is gluttony.\u00a0 I had always thought of gluttony as an immoderate consumption of food, but Catholicism apparently expands this definition to include: 1) eating too soon 2) eating with condiments 3) eating too expensively 4)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34245,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thanks-for-the-thoughtful-scripture-based-article-on-gluttony\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":4},"title":"Thanks for the thoughtful, scripture-based article on gluttony","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for the thoughtful, scripture-based article on gluttony. It was helpful in my study of this topic. Answer: I'm glad to have been of service.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29560,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-lesson-on-gluttony-helped-me-with-my-sermon\/","url_meta":{"origin":53287,"position":5},"title":"Your lesson on gluttony helped me with my sermon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings, I was just surfing the 'net to expand a sermon series I'm doing on The Seven Deadly Sins.\u00a0 I ran across your page on\u00a0gluttony, and it was quite helpful.\u00a0 Keep up the good work! Answer: Thank you for your kind encouragement.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n