On Food Addiction

I suppose it may not be incredibly wise to talk about your own personal issues on the Internet. But one of my own personal struggles is compulsive overeating. I can lose weight with the best of them. But in those days when life seems to overwhelm, it seems I somewhere along the line learned to use food as a coping mechanism. Speak of that in a Christian community and you get these blank stares. It's like God's mandate against gluttony has been overturned by modern day Christians.

This is particularly perturbing to me when I see fat preachers --- who never refer to their obesity and the apparent sin issue that causes it. If I were a preacher, I think I would want to be very transparent about my sin issue --- because I know the consequences of my sin are so obvious. But really, I'd want to struggle in front of everyone, and ask the whole congregation to help me with that by praying for me, not giving me "dangerous gifts," etc. I'd probably be a crusader against gluttony. I might be like a Christian version of say, Richard Simmons!

But what's really going on with people who call themselves Christian and then have little regard for the sin in their life that causes obesity. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to maintain them with discipline and process --- to ensure that they unencumbered by sin. Instead, people die from cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, drug abuse, and other forms of consequences for our sin.

Although I have no proof, it seems that some of the Christians who campaign against alcohol abuse, tobacco abuse, and drug abuse are deaf and dumb when it comes to food abuse. Are you in control of your intake of food? If a fruit of the Spirit is self-control, maybe the dinner table is the best place to find out how spiritual we really are.

Of course, rest, exercise and a healthy diet don't make a super Christian. But the lack of those things can make for an ineffective Christian. Not only does it destroy our witness, but it speaks of our spiritual maturity and our ability to make spiritually sound decisions. Look at the prophet Elijah, and what he said in 1 Kings 19:4, "I have had enough, Lord ... Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." What do you suppose would drive a spiritually mature man to this point of despair? Do you think it was a rational, reasonable request he was making?

No, Elijah had failed to maintain himself for the battles he would be confronted with in life. Jezebel had not only shattered his whole life, but also spoiled his entire evening. He started rationalizing death. Such is the flawed logic of a body that is uncared for. You see, because Elijah had ignored the laws that God had built into his body, fatigue played with his mind, just as it does with ours.

We codependents (another character defect of mine) are really good at this. I can get so busy taking care of everyone else that I forget to take care of me. Is that Biblical? Or is it a perversion of what Christ intended. We are so focused on helping others that we leave ourselves no time to do what God requires of us --- including exercise, proper diet and proper rest. The more we run, the more we tell ourselves how important we are.

We think we're necessary. It's as if the world would stop if we did. And we know from experience, from Biblical example and even from sheer common sense that the logic springing from a body that is uncared for leads to faulty thinking, flawed decisions, etc. Put another way, the logic springing from a body that is uncared for leads us to do stupid things. In fact, the logic springing from a body that is uncared for is usually able to reason itself away from God and His will.

So I'm thinking out loud about this. I'm wondering where my sin stops and my flawed logic takes over. Are diet plans no longer of interest to me when I'm trusting in and truly obedient to God? And when I am obsessing about food, where is God? Can I just throw Him out of my thinking to day dream about fresh creamery butter on hot biscuits? How absurd. But then again, that maybe is me --- more than just a little absurd.

I guess when I'm done watching Anna Nicole Smith media blitz, I can turn the channel to those fat preachers and wonder what God sees in the dilemma of someone who love Jesus more than life itself --- but still finds a fondness for food that won't go away.