Gluttony

Gluttony

Phil 3:17-21

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Introduction

We are talking about gluttony today. I did not start the series last week just so we could enjoy the Roundup last week.

Let me say, I think this is going to hurt a little bit. I have not preached on gluttony, and this was a good study for me. I feel like with pride it's certainly convicting, but when it comes to gluttony and eating, I can feel a little more ashamed and embarrassed. I don't know fully why that is—maybe it also connects to how we look and how we think people perceive us—but I just feel it more.

On that note, it's a good reminder this is a sin that Jesus was wrongly accused of (“A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”). So it's an issue of the heart, and what you see on the outside is not always indicative of what is going on inside. So keep that in mind as you think of others and as you think of what others may think of you.

A place to begin may be with, “Do you remember the first time that you realized more of a good thing is not always a good thing?” I remember a friend of mine telling me he realized it one Halloween when he downed 4 king-size Snickers. He said his parents weren’t around; he pulled one out and it went down so easily that he thought a second would be better, and it was. The third was delicious but a little unsettling, and the fourth left him in sugar shock and feeling comatose.

I can remember in college, it was the last time I ate a Whopper. It was buy one, get one free, and so I ate two at one time and a large fry. I got home and sat on the couch for hours. I still don’t know that I recovered.

Gluttony is defined by Webster as a greedy or excessive indulgence of pleasure.

The English word gluttony comes from a word meaning “to swallow” or “gulp down.” And that's a helpful picture of what gluttony does. It takes something God gave us to receive and enjoy, and turns it into something we simply consume—more, and more, and more. It can be the pleasure of eating, drinking, watching TV, or many other things.

Song: “I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.”

But another thing needs to be observed about this: that we keep wanting more means we are left reeling from the actions, which means we were never fulfilled in our indulgence.

We are prone to look to earthly pleasures to fulfill the deepest longings of our hearts, which they can never do. So we must learn to enjoy God’s gifts without making them our god, and look to Christ alone for true satisfaction.

I'm praying today sets people free from those destructive patterns of looking to finite things to satisfy infinite cravings.

Let's talk about gluttony.

What Gluttony Is Not

Before we begin talking about the sin of gluttony, I want to talk about what it is not. Gluttony is not synonymous with pleasure or enjoying things. God gave us food of various kinds: plants, fruit, vegetables, and even animals (Gen 1:29, Acts 10).

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4).

Deuteronomy 14:26 says, “spend the money for whatever you desire… oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves.”

They are God’s provisions to us.

• Food is a gift, but it can be misused.

• Rest is a gift, but it too can be misused or overindulged in.

• Sex is a gift from God, but the same can be said.

• Scripture even says He has given luxury items for our enjoyment. Psalm 104:15 says God gives “wine to gladden the heart of man.”

So it's not wrong to want to enjoy food and drink. It’s not wrong to partake and find pleasure in them. It's not wrong to have the occasional feast or Roundup where you enjoy yourself and God’s provision.

So what is gluttony, and what is wrong about it? Gluttony is when…

1. Appetite Becomes Authority

In the Old Testament, the word translated as gluttony means to lavish with, but it is also used to make light of something or squander. A glutton has lots, and it fills little. Four king-size Snickers and you feel so empty.

Gluttons are often mentioned alongside drunkards. It's an overconsumption of food and wine (Prov 23:21).

Philippians takes us deeper into this issue than quantity. Gluttony is not just how much you eat; it's about what rules your heart. Quantity can reveal gluttony, but quantity alone doesn't define it.

19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Here Paul says something shocking: “Their god is their belly.” He doesn't merely say, “They eat too much.” He says, “Their god is their belly.” That's the issue.

Once again, as with pride, the issue with a major character flaw is not about needing advice on caloric intake, recovery, or steps to digest healthily. It is an issue of worship. It is about what you worship and what controls you—what has authority over you.

*What and how you eat is about who you worship.

Their stomach is their god. That is bold. The stomach is an organ not for thinking, not for giving love, but for ingesting and consuming food. This is saying the desire for more is your god. This means self-indulgence. They do not restrain their appetite, but only feed it.

The problem is not the belly, nor food, nor hunger. The problem is when the appetite becomes the authority. It's being ruled by your desire for pleasure.

When something becomes your god, that means you are subservient to it. Your life revolves around it, and you are willing to sacrifice other things in order to pacify it.

It’s one thing to be hungry and want food. It's another to say, "I have to have food," or "I want that and will give up everything else for it."

Appetite is supposed to serve us, not rule us. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12: “I will not be dominated by anything.”

A good diagnostic question for gluttony: Who is in charge? Can I say no? Can I wait? Can I stop? Can I enjoy something without needing more? Can I go without something without becoming angry, anxious, or miserable?

This is why gluttony is about more than body size or the quantity of food on a plate. A person can eat a lot without being ruled by food, and a person can eat relatively little while being obsessed with food.

Gluttony is when an appetite that was meant to serve you begins to rule you.

The appetite could be for food, or it could be for drugs, but it could also be for other pleasurable things: television, sports, social media.

2. Looks to Earthly Things for Satisfaction

Notice that Paul moves from the belly to the mind. Gluttony isn't merely a stomach problem. It is ultimately a heart and mind problem.

19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

The issue is with what we are thinking about, looking forward to, pursuing, and using for our happiness. Food can become much more than food. The focus is on earthly things.

Food/pleasure can become:

A source of comfort when we're discouraged (“Man, I need a drink”).

An escape when we're stressed (“I have to have a vacation”).

A reward when we've worked hard.

Entertainment when we're bored.

Something to anticipate when life feels dull.

A way of celebrating.

A way of medicating emotions.

And again, none of those things are necessarily sinful in themselves. We can enjoy these, but when they become our god, then we say, “I need these gifts in order to be happy.” "I need these to get through this." "I’ll give up everything to get more of that." An unhealthy and out-of-balance dependence develops focused on these.

Don't let what you consume become what consumes you.

We fasted a few years ago, and during the fast, I began to realize how dependent I was on various things. Something bad or unexpected would happen, and I would immediately go to the sports page to divert me from the bad news. I would walk by the pantry and want to grab a handful of something. I did this without even thinking about it—a little extra comfort. I was not taking refuge in God’s greatness or His promises.

Gluttony is often connected to materialism, as we believe a material possession or pleasure will give us hope, comfort, or satisfaction. That is partly true; there is some comfort in these things. But the problem is when we begin to seek ultimate comfort in this. We seek these in the place of God. I seek the sports page rather than God or His Word. That is why the sports page never satisfies—I’m asking it to do something it cannot do.

Gluttony Can Be About Quality

We are most familiar with gluttony that involves excess. Overeating involves quantity. But there is also a gluttony of quality. We don't eat too much, but we are only satisfied with the absolute finest. It's an expression of pride, of greatness, of fineness.

C.S. Lewis spoke about a lady who:

“All she wants is a cup of tea properly made or an egg properly boiled or a slice of bread properly toasted. But she can never find any servant or friend who can do these simple things properly because her 'properly' conceals an insatiable demand for the exact and almost palatal pleasure which she remembers from the past—a past described by her as the days when you could get good servants, but known to us as the day when her senses were more easily pleased, when she had pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those of the table.” — Joe Rigney, Lewis on the Christian Life, 91.

The snooty old woman for whom only the very best will do, and nothing else will do. Do you know anyone like that? Running you around to make sure it is just right.

You spend more and more on your physical wants. You are gluttonous in the quality of life that you seek.

Let me connect this to your spiritual life. I think many people are so used to pacifying themselves that only the finest will do. Only the finest church, and when a church is not to their liking, they send it back or go look for another.

I want a church reformed, but not too reformed. Passionate worship, but not too passionate. People who are like me, but not identical, and who accept me and love me for who I am, but won't inconvenience me or require too much of my time. I want it near me, with an online service and a ministry to executives who struggle with OCD but don't call it that or I would be embarrassed. Have I mentioned my preference for coffee?

You would be disappointed in the New Testament church. Lewis would say your spiritual appetites have been replaced by carnal appetites, and you are in a dangerous place. You have no interest in a Savior who suffered, died, bled, and gave His life in service to others. Your god is your stomach, and you resent the hard work of serving Jesus.

3. Distorts God’s Design

   When you put too much importance on your appetites, your appetite becomes the god, and the gifts are to satisfy your desire (Pride). You will then use the gifts as you want rather than to honor God and use them as He desires. It distorts His design, and we invert glory and shame.

V19 “They glory in their shame.”

This is perhaps the most penetrating statement in the passage.

Paul says they glory in something that should bring them shame. Why? Because sin doesn't merely make us do wrong things; sin changes what we celebrate. You will end up celebrating something that dishonors God.

Do you celebrate the consumption of a pleasure that dishonors God?

The most abused drug in society today is alcohol. It’s not wrong to enjoy a good beer or glass of wine, but it is wrong to get drunk.

It's disturbing when professing believers talk cavalierly about having too much alcohol and make it seem like such a good time. They are boasting about something that should embarrass them. Don't boast about getting drunk. Don’t boast about getting buzzed. That is shameful.

Gluttony will lead to shameful imbalances. You are consumed with one thing to the detriment of other things.

It's not wrong to want to eat food. How is your spiritual diet? You boast about how great breakfast was, but you were so consumed there that you didn't have time to read the Word. You boast about what a great time you had.

It's not just food. Are you being gluttonous with your watching of television?

• Got a solid 16 hours of football, but didn't have time for church?

• Binge-watched 1,000 hours of shows, but don't have time for small group and fellowship?

• Ate at a five-star restaurant, but can't pay the bills or tithe?

When God is replaced by the stomach, you will seek to please yourself, and you will then become a law and judge unto yourself.

The problem is no longer simply eating. It is partaking of things in a way that goes against what God calls us to, or in a way that keeps us from doing things God calls us to do.

Glorying in shame is not satisfying. Don’t buy the lies of people who say how satisfied they are in things that do not honor God. There was a time in my life I believed that, and then I started realizing how empty everyone around me was.

This is where I would bring in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus isn't talking about physical hunger. He's addressing the deep hunger of the soul.

The heart of gluttony is that we take a legitimate physical provision and ask it to satisfy a spiritual hunger. Food can't do that any more than salt water will satisfy your physical thirst. Physical goods or acts like food, sex, money, entertainment, alcohol, or possessions cannot satisfy your spiritual needs. They cannot give us the ultimate satisfaction, hope, and peace that we long to have.

So the glutton keeps going back to the refrigerator, the restaurant, the pantry, the dessert, the drink, the experience—looking for something that only God can provide.

Augustine's famous prayer fits here: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

That's really the problem with all seven deadly sins. The heart is looking for rest.

We seek rest in God and the restoration of things as He designed. This is not easy. The Christian walk is not easy. We are engaged in a spiritual battle. Gluttony often wants pleasure or pampering; we need to counter it with discipline.

1 Tim 4:7 says, "discipline yourself for godliness."

We ought to prepare for battle. Follow the way of the cross. Jesus denied Himself, took up His cross, and followed.

4. Seeks Immediate Fulfillment

   The glutton wants an immediate benefit and is not concerned with long-term side effects. My friend wanted four Snickers and was not concerned about the side effects.

Many articles on gluttony today will speak about the immediate consumption of food detrimental to our bodies. Fast food is convenient and terrible for you: fake flavors, preservatives. We had a doctor who bought a Happy Meal eight years prior and kept it on a shelf. It did not decay or rot.

“The sluggard does not roast what he took in hunting, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.” — Proverbs 12:27

That is fascinating for your argument because the sluggard has obtained something good, but doesn't have the diligence to properly prepare and use it. It's a misuse of his food.

The issue is when immediacy becomes a ruling value:

“I don't want to wait.”

“I don't want to prepare.”

“I don't want to exercise self-control.”

“I want pleasure now… and I don't care if it costs me later.”

Our body is a temple, and we ought to take care of what goes into it. Don’t consume physical things that might be spiritually detrimental. Years ago, as I started having more people share about depression and I was looking into counseling, I had a doctor say, "Before you pray for them and give them a Scripture—and I believe you should do that—ask them about their diet and exercise." More and more people make poor physical decisions, and it's affecting their mental and spiritual health. It's eating for immediate comfort without regard to how it may affect you later.

Is dinner about meaningful fellowship or consuming like a ravenous wolf? I want immediate gratification rather than a meaningful time with my family.

Gluttonous Desires Are Only Satisfied by the Privileges of Heaven

Gluttony is fed when people make earthly existence their ultimate concern, and it is cured when we look to our ultimate eternal destiny.

The gospel teaches us to look to heaven for what earth cannot give.

Look how this passage ends. We are talking about people's stomachs being their god, and it ends with being citizens of heaven.

The passage begins with the belly and ends with heaven.

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Other passages will give you other remedies, but this passage is very clear: the opposite of your stomach being your god is to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. And when you have done that, your focus goes from this world to the next. Here it speaks of:

Citizenship. Throughout history, citizenship has meant rights and privileges that others did not have—the right to legal protection, the right to reside in a country, to vote, and the protection of its laws. In Rome, citizenship could come by birth, military service, or even by paying a significant price. A citizen belonged. A citizen had a place.

But here is the thing: none of us deserved to be citizens of heaven. Our hearts were not in heaven, and we behaved like imposters that deserved to be deported. We committed sedition and rebellion against the King. Our rebellion separated us from God, and it disqualified us for His kingdom. We deserved no heavenly rights, privileges, or place—we did not belong.

We deserved the city of destruction rather than the city of God! That is disturbing and will cause you to look for remedies, but earthly remedies are not remedies; they are counterfeits (like the drugs on TV).

But God, in His mercy, made a way for rebels to become citizens. Jesus paid the price of our citizenship. He purchased our freedom with His blood. He qualified us and secured our position and place. It is all grace. It is all mercy.

But grace doesn't mean we enter God's kingdom while keeping our hearts set on the rebellious ways of our old homeland. We come to Him in repentance and faith. We leave our old allegiances behind and fully assimilate ourselves to a new King. He changes our hearts. Our joy is in honoring Him, delighting in Him, and being with Him. We eagerly wait for the day when Christ will bring us into the kingdom where our citizenship will never expire, our bodies will never fail, and our King will reign forever.

He promises a place and a new you. Jesus is also going to transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body. He is going to fill you in every way. Jesus not only has the power to subdue like other kings, but He has the power to transform you, your body, and your appetite.

Gluttony happens when we treat this world as though it is all there is. But Christians know better. We are citizens of another kingdom. We don't have to squeeze every ounce of pleasure out of this life or be depressed because something didn't go our way, because we know something better is coming.

So next time something goes wrong, instead of running to the chocolate, the sports page, a drink, or a 5,000-calorie meal, take time to reflect on your citizenship in heaven. Why don't you take a double shot of this? Why don't you supersize dwelling on the work of Christ? Discipline yourself for godliness.

But heed the warning. Jesus says if you don't find delight in Him, you will not find it at all. If you continue to fill your stomach with the empty and vain fruit of the world, you will ruin not just your body, but your eternity.

19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

You have to break the cycle of being dependent on things that are not life-giving. Jesus is the one who offers you life, and you have to turn to Him. That means you believe in Him, are devoted to Him, and seek more of Him. You repent of what does not please Him and turn from those things. And you will find life when you begin to do that.

Discussion Questions

1. Where do you see the temptation to let an appetite become an authority in your own life? What makes it difficult to say no, wait, or be content?

2. What good gift from God are you most tempted to look to for satisfaction, comfort, or escape instead of looking to God? How does that gift get turned upside down or put in the wrong place?

3. How does remembering that you belong to Christ and that your true home is heaven change the way you enjoy and respond to earthly pleasures?

4. Who is someone in your life who may be looking to food, pleasure, or earthly things to satisfy a deeper hunger? How could you lovingly point them toward the satisfaction that only Christ can give?