Should the weight of pastors be addressed?

[Ascetic X]

4 tough questions every pastor needs to ask about food

We have to own our pursuit or rejection of food before Jesus can come and provide the only lasting comfort amidst this world’s sufferings.

equip.sbts.edu

There exists a massive obesity issue in the SBC, particularly with the pastors. In the eyes of some, being extremely overweight is endearing in a pastor as it is a sign they are loved and fed well, similarly to the way being fat in certain cultures is a sign of wealth.

Nevertheless, it is a significant problem and doesn’t just speak to the eating habits of pastors, but to the state of their soul.

Those who stress-eat cross the line of eating for enjoyment and providing nutrients for the body, to slide into that dangerous place of allowing food to be a means of comfort. I am convinced this is the main reason for the major obesity problem in America.

As a result of the intense levels of stress pastors constantly endure, I am also convinced this is why so many pastors are overweight and unhealthy.

 

[John of Japan]

Well... the "prince of preachers" was an obese, smoking drinker.

I have read that he smoked cigars, but quit when he saw his name used in an advertisement: "The Cigar Spurgeon Smokes!"

 

[John of Japan]

I can only find "glutton" in the Bible twice: Deut. 20:21 ands Prov. 23:21, with two different Hebrew words. Neither Hebrew word is about over-eating in the BDB lexicon, though Prov. 23:20 clarifies v. 21. I'm not saying it's a good thing to be overweight, but it's not treated as a sin anywhere near a sin as idolatry, fornication, etc. And the sin is not being overweight per se, but rather overindulging. That will kill you!

One of the most effective missionaries to Japan I ever knew was vastly overweight, and he did overindulge. So he died long before he should have, like Spurgeon did.

 

[Ascetic X]

What is Gluttony? | AGW MINISTRIES

Perhaps the most overlooked sin in America is the sin of overeating. The Bible calls this sin “gluttony.” But what is gluttony? When is the line crossed from simply enjoying a feast that is a blessing from God to turning from God and overeating in gluttoness ways?

applygodsword.com

Paul told the Philippians of some “whose god is their appetite [belly, KJV]” (Philippians 3:19).

This description is certainly not limited to gluttony, but the mentality would include it. It involves a focus on carnal things rather than spiritualthings.

Paul warned about this in his letter to the saints in Rome: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).


Jesus said, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you…” (John 6:27).


Proverbs 28:7

He who keeps the law is a discerning son,
But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.



Several Bible passages tie gluttony and drunkenness together:

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:34).

“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

“Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags” (Proverbs 23:20-21).