Shun inebriation and gluttony to escape impecunity and the gutter 23:20, 21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags
Here the father again speaks to the son and is quite specific. The positive part calls for a hearing, (19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path) the negative warns against joining drunkards and gluttons for that way leads to poverty. Our word gluttony is from a Latin one meaning to swallow or gulp. It can refer both to excess eating and drinking (or even over-indulgence in other ways), though we tend to use it most in regard to food.
These sins are not exactly the same in that, unlike alcohol, most foods do not directly affect the brain. Excess intake of food has its dangers, however. It can mean loss for others, poor health, shortened usefulness and expectancy of life and the diminution of time and desire for spiritual activity. Christ himself was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Mt 11:19) and there is a line between asceticism and over-indulgence. Despite their accusations, the Lord was able to tread that line and his followers should also be able to, by God's grace.
The temptation to gluttony and drunkenness has been periodic historically. Our modern situation is such that in some parts of the world it is always a possibility. At the beginning of the 20th Century, dealing with the seven deadly sins, James Stalker felt little need to say anything about gluttony. It is unlikely he would write in the same vein today. At present, it is estimated that in the US more than half of all adults are overweight or obese. Some 300,000 deaths per year are attributable to obesity and as much as 6% of healthcare spending has to do with issues related to this matter. Indirect costs to businesses are also thought significant. Another consequence of this is probably the over-reaction that manifests itself in some forms of anorexia and bulimia.
Similar things can be said about alcoholism. Believers must avoid these sins. Those who fall into them soon become hard up and poor, if not materially then certainly spiritually.
Drunkenness comes up again in 29-35. Gluttony, along with sloth (12), envy (17) and lust (26-28), is one of the traditional ‘Deadly sins’. Appetite, specifically the desire to eat, is natural and unobjectionable although no-one must be a slave to appetite. Overeating is a form of over-indulgence to be shunned by the believer. The spotlight has been on various eating disorders in recent years. Anorexia is in many ways the antithesis of gluttony but another condition, bulimia, involves uncontrolled binge eating along with sporadic dieting and vomiting. These problems usually seem to have their roots in emotional disorders and that is probably true of gluttony too. Whatever the root cause of a sin it is still a sin and must be repented of. In his Screwtape Letters C S Lewis suggests that being fussy over food is a form of gluttony – wanting things just the way we like them. It is also a form of gluttony to want more pleasure from food or anything else than it was intended to give. Paul speaks of those whose god is their stomach (Php 3:19).
Here the father again speaks to the son and is quite specific. The positive part calls for a hearing, (19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path) the negative warns against joining drunkards and gluttons for that way leads to poverty. Our word gluttony is from a Latin one meaning to swallow or gulp. It can refer both to excess eating and drinking (or even over-indulgence in other ways), though we tend to use it most in regard to food.
These sins are not exactly the same in that, unlike alcohol, most foods do not directly affect the brain. Excess intake of food has its dangers, however. It can mean loss for others, poor health, shortened usefulness and expectancy of life and the diminution of time and desire for spiritual activity. Christ himself was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Mt 11:19) and there is a line between asceticism and over-indulgence. Despite their accusations, the Lord was able to tread that line and his followers should also be able to, by God's grace.
The temptation to gluttony and drunkenness has been periodic historically. Our modern situation is such that in some parts of the world it is always a possibility. At the beginning of the 20th Century, dealing with the seven deadly sins, James Stalker felt little need to say anything about gluttony. It is unlikely he would write in the same vein today. At present, it is estimated that in the US more than half of all adults are overweight or obese. Some 300,000 deaths per year are attributable to obesity and as much as 6% of healthcare spending has to do with issues related to this matter. Indirect costs to businesses are also thought significant. Another consequence of this is probably the over-reaction that manifests itself in some forms of anorexia and bulimia.
Similar things can be said about alcoholism. Believers must avoid these sins. Those who fall into them soon become hard up and poor, if not materially then certainly spiritually.
Drunkenness comes up again in 29-35. Gluttony, along with sloth (12), envy (17) and lust (26-28), is one of the traditional ‘Deadly sins’. Appetite, specifically the desire to eat, is natural and unobjectionable although no-one must be a slave to appetite. Overeating is a form of over-indulgence to be shunned by the believer. The spotlight has been on various eating disorders in recent years. Anorexia is in many ways the antithesis of gluttony but another condition, bulimia, involves uncontrolled binge eating along with sporadic dieting and vomiting. These problems usually seem to have their roots in emotional disorders and that is probably true of gluttony too. Whatever the root cause of a sin it is still a sin and must be repented of. In his Screwtape Letters C S Lewis suggests that being fussy over food is a form of gluttony – wanting things just the way we like them. It is also a form of gluttony to want more pleasure from food or anything else than it was intended to give. Paul speaks of those whose god is their stomach (Php 3:19).
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