My dad would tell you that I have always been more fascinated by commercials than anything else on television. When I was just a little girl, I would be playing happily on the floor in the den, with the TV on in the background, paying it little or no attention. But when the commercials came on, I was totally focused on the screen. Of course, we had so many classics when I was a kid. I especially remember this add for McDonalds (played video). Or how about this one from Burger King? (played video) And don’t forget Wendy’s (played video) Of course, there are the classic ads for soft drinks (played Coke video). And then there are the more recent classics (played Snickers video) With all these ads for food and drinks, is it any wonder that one of the most famous classic commercials was for Alka Seltzer? (played video)
Being bombarded with all these ads for food has apparently been effective. America is now faced with an obesity crisis, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Obesity is “in every neighborhood, every mall, every school and every workplace,” according to a pamphlet from the American Heart Association. It goes on to say, “Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern. It doesn’t just impact the way we look. It can change the course of our lives, and not for the better. It sets us on the fast track for health complications such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And it’s not just a problem for adults. It has also emerged among teens and children, and it is becoming more prevalent every day.”
Today, more than 149 million Americans, or 67% of adults age 20 or over, are overweight or obese. That is nearly seven out of every ten adults. Of these, half are classified as obese. There are also 2.7 million children in America who are considered severely obese.
So, why is obesity such a “growing” problem? There are lots of reasons. Lifestyle habits, environment, genetics. But the basic cause is that we take in more calories than we burn. For one thing, portion sizes have increased, especially when we eat out. “Value Menu” items may seem like a great bargain, but they’re really a bad deal when it comes to nutrition and good health. Another factor is that we eat out more often. And restaurants are offering larger and larger portions for money. For example, 20 years ago an average serving of French fries was 2.4 ounces; today, it’s 6.9 ounces. An average cheeseburger 20 years ago had 330 calories; today it has 590 calories. And when offered larger portions, people tend to eat more. In recent decades, Americans have also increased their consumption of “added sugars,” primarily through soft drinks, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and processed foods. These added sugars are “empty calories,” that have little or no nutritional value, but add calories to a food or beverage.
The result of all this overeating – gluttony – is poor health. Obesity impacts every organ system in the body, and is now considered as more damaging to the body
than smoking or excessive drinking of alcohol. Obesity is associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, liver problems, sleep apnea, and some cancers. And obese people have a lower life expectancy. In addition, obesity puts a financial burden on society. About one in every nine dollars spent on healthcare can be attributed to overweight and obesity. The cost of treating obesity-related illnesses in the U.S. tripled in just over ten years, from $78 billion in 1998 to $270 billion in 2009.
The problem of obesity was the subject of Morgan Spurlock’s controversial film, “Super Size Me,” which highlighted his experiences during a 30-day period when he ate a steady diet at McDonalds. It “documented in disgusting detail the deterioration of his physical and emotional health to make the point that the food we Americans are eating is really killing us.”
Things have gotten so bad that certain industries are making adaptations for the sake of obese customers. The average grocery store aisle has grown from 5 feet across to 7.5 feet across, not just for the size of the customers, but for bigger shopping carts. And while the standard casket is just 24 inches wide, the Goliath Casket Company offers expanded double-wide models up to 52 inches wide.
And yet, in spite of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in American culture, somehow obesity is considered a sin. A recent study showed that 11% of Americans would abort a fetus if they were told that it had a tendency toward obesity. Elementary school children are more judgmental toward the heavy kid in class than toward the school bully. Overweight people are at a distinct disadvantage in being hired for a job when compared to someone who is not overweight. And people assume that obese people are lazy, lack self-control, and have emotional problems.
While I would be the first to admit that overweight and obesity are serious problems, they are not the sin, but may be the result of another sin: gluttony. Gluttony has traditionally been defined as excessive indulgence in food and drink. While we can be gluttonous about anything, from wealth and power, to pleasure, sex, and possessions, most often gluttony is associated with food. Thomas Aquinas called gluttony “an inordinate desire for food and drink going beyond the limits of reason.”
When looking at what the Bible might have to say about the sin of gluttony, I remembered this passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. He wrote to remind the people that our bodies – like all our lives – belong to the Lord. Not only that, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, we should glorify God with our bodies. And clearly, I think we would all agree that gluttony, and its resulting obesity, are not ways of glorifying God. We are called as Christians to a balance between freedom and discipline. While we are free to do anything, to eat anything, doing so is not necessarily good for us. We should learn to control our appetites as a way of achieving well-being.
Oftentimes, gluttony is a symptom of a much deeper hunger. Frederick Buechner wrote that a glutton is a person “who raids the ice box to find a cure for spiritual malnutrition.” Jim Harnish expanded on this idea in his book, Strength for the Broken Places: “The struggle with gluttony is often the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual hunger for acceptance, love, or self-worth … The deepest hunger in our lives is always the hunger and thirst for God. That hunger will not be quenched by all of the stuff we consume.” Sophia Har wrote of her own personal struggle with gluttony in Sojourners magazine: “Gluttony is only the manifestation of a deeper discontent. How often have I craved dinner more than good company or turned to chocolate in times of stress instead of the Bread of Life? … I am often more concerned about filling my stomach than filling my spirit … but more than decreasing my appetite’s control over my daily life, confronting gluttony means confessing my self-absorption and reordering my loves until Christ becomes my greatest pursuit.”
There is a hunger in the human soul that will not be filled by eating food or drinking drinks. It will not be satisfied with buying possessions or filling our lives with pleasurable experiences. This hunger is only satisfied by the presence of God in our lives. Unless and until we have invited Jesus Christ into our hearts, we will find that we are dissatisfied, discontent, and disproportionately attuned to our own needs, rather than to the needs of others. Gluttony is a sin because it gives us a false sense of fullness; we have filled our stomachs, but left our souls to starve to death. And in the process, we actually do harm to our physical bodies.
So take the word of Paul to heart. Remember that your body belongs to God, that you body is the very temple of the Holy Spirit. Think about how we take such good care of our church, because it is sacred to us, it symbolizes the presence of God with us. Why wouldn’t we take as much care of our bodies, in which God is also present? Use your body to glorify God. Remember that what you do with and to your body, you do to God. That should help us all defeat the deadly sin of gluttony.
