a theology of milk and other ordinary things

Last year I read this statement, tucked away in a footnote in a certain august magazine:

… Paul isn't talking [in 1 Corinthians 10:31] about just any old eating and drinking (as if there is such a thing as a godly and an ungodly way to drink a glass of milk!), but about the specific issue of sharing in fellowship meals with unbelievers.*

The bit in brackets bothered me (although, as I read on, I was reassured**) because I'm convinced that the Bible has a huge amount to say about seemingly inconsequential things like how to drink a glass of milk.

The Bible gives us a theology of insects, oceans, single cellular organisms, quarks, galaxies, the small spot on a nearby tree trunk, the unwanted hairs in my right eyebrow, and yes, the drinking of milk.

I'm not being flippant. Without this knowledge, I don't know where I'd be. So much of our lives—so much of my life!—is mundane. Mothers wipe noses. Factory workers sort parts. Children play under sprinklers (well, they used to, before rain became scarce in Australia). We're fathers, workers, teenagers, bosses, sisters, babies. We scratch mosquito bites. We walk the dog. We drink milk.

So here it is: a theology of milk.

• God created milk good, and if we receive it with thanksgiving, it's holy, set apart for God's glory (1 Tim 4:4-5).
• We're free to drink milk in any flavour or quantity we like, but we should use this freedom to drink in a way that honours God and is loving to others (Gal 5:13-14).
• We should drink milk with self-control, for we should not be enslaved by anything (1 Cor 6:12).
• Wisdom dictates that we should be careful not to drink too much milk, for physical health is of some value and may help us to serve God with greater energy and without the slothfulness of gluttony (1 Tim 4:8; Prov 23:20-21).
• We shouldn't be obsessed with the drinking of milk, lest it become an idol. Nor should we be obsessed with the non-drinking of milk, for dieting can as easily become an idol as its opposite. Inner beauty matters more than outer beauty (1 Pet 3:3-4).
• We shouldn't spend too much money on fancy varieties of milk; instead, we should use our money to support ourselves and those dependent on us, help those in need, and further the cause of the gospel (1 Tim 5:8; Eph 4:28).

I could keep going, but I think that's enough for now.

I'm not recommending an OCD approach to Christian living, where I mentally review a theology of creation with every gulp of milk, offer a hymn of praise every time I wipe my child's nose, or utter a prayer for wisdom before I pluck each individual hair from my right eyebrow. What I'm talking about is an almost unconscious theology—a way of seeing everything, big and small, through the lens of God's truth.

As I soak myself in God's word, it will start to transform me so that I will begin to gulp, wipe and pluck with love, wisdom and thanksgiving. As my mind is increasingly filled with the gospel, it will shape my attitudes and actions in subtle and unexpected ways, so that I make wise choices about everyday things to God's glory (Rom 12:1-2).

If I can do it with milk, I can do it with anything. And if I can do it with anything, I must do it with everything. Tucked away in my head, I need a theology small enough for anything and big enough for everything, so that I can glorify God in the mundane and not-so-mundane happenings of every day.

* David Shead, ‘Making trainees of all people’ The Briefing, #365, February 2009, p. 25, footnote 3.
** The footnote goes on to say “our call to serve Christ and the church governs the way we should conduct ourselves in everything we do, even in everyday activities like sharing a meal with friends”.

This post is reproduced from yesterday's post at Sola Panel.

images are from aboemonster, nwwildman and ibeamee at flickr

lead us not into (Christmas) temptation

The side mirror on our car got smashed last week. Okay, okay, I admit it - I smashed the mirror reversing into our slightly opened gate. I think it was the wind's fault for blowing the gate open. Or mine for not noticing. Whatever.

There are things about this time of year that really aren't good for me. I mostly avoid shops, because that's the only effective strategy I've found to overcome a ten year addiction to spending. I go to department stores twice a year, once for winter clothes for the family and once for summer clothes. That keeps me safely out of the way of temptation.

Except for at Christmas time.

I can resist temptation during the first Christmas shopping trip. By the second trip, and certainly by the third, shopping gets under my skin. Things I wouldn't have dreamed of buying a week ago suddenly seem perfectly reasonable at the price. I buy things we don't need and don't really want. The pile of gifts under the tree gets larger.

It's an odd way to celebrate the birth of the One who gave up everything and made himself nothing, who exchanged his riches for our poverty, so that he could give his life for us (Phil 2:5-11).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was heading south to buy a new side mirror for the car the other day. I was aware that en route was a shopping centre where I'd seen a very cute jacket that my son didn't need. My wheels were about to turn towards the shopping centre, until I realised that somehow I'd passed the turn-off - one I'd never missed before. I comforted myself with the thought that I still had time to go to the shops on the way home.

I found myself wandering through the wilds of an unfamiliar suburb, fathoms deep in bumper-to-bumper traffic, lost on the wrong part of the map, trying to find the Toyota parts shop. After three quarters of an hour of increasing tension - I was running late for a school pick-up - I found the shop down an obscure side street, bought the mirror, and drove to school with no time to spare for a detour to the shops.

And that's how God used heavy traffic and a misread map - of all things! - to keep me from a choice I knew to be sinful.

One small example of God's severe mercy. One thing not bought that we didn't really need. One sinful habit unfed, at least on this occasion, and growing that little bit weaker in consequence. One tiny taste of my heavenly Father's loving discipline (Heb 12:7-11). One renewed commitment to spend less on us and more on others. One answered prayer - a prayer I hope to be praying again in 11 months time:

Our Father in Heaven, lead us not into (Christmas) temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matt 6:9, 13)

Amen.

images are from wockerjabby and Fabi Dorighello at flickr

how I (try to) control my use of technology

I've talked about how technology tempts us to neglect rest and relationships and I've shared some links on the the temptations of technology and the temptations of blogging and facebook.

These issues have been going round and round my head ever since I started blogging! I soon realised that while blogging encourages me and others, it also tempts me to neglect my responsibilities, to care too much about what other people think of me, and to think too much about myself.

I re-assess how and when to blog and use technology all the time. There are days when blogging fits neatly into my life, and days when everything bends under the strain. There are days when I set sensible limits, and days when I'm foolish and use my time poorly. There are days when I look to God and his grace for my identity, and days when I worry about whether people are reading and what they think. I have to keep repenting and fixing my eyes on Jesus.

I'm gradually learning to blog while making sure it doesn't take over my life and emotions. Here's some of my guidelines, which I don't follow religiously:

• no computer after the kids get home from school (this one's flexible, but I keep coming back to it as the best way to keep time free for children and home!)
• no computer in the evenings unless Steve is working (I stick to this one pretty well)
• no blogging on weekends - this time is for family, rest and reading! (ditto)
• I try - not always successfully! - to limit blogging to an hour or so after lunch
• I check messages during a few discreet times every day, and try not to check when I need to give my attention to something else soon (it's surprising how "checking a few emails" can turn into "writing a few long messages")
• I don't check the stats on my blog more than once a week so I don't get obsessed with how many people are reading
• I don't check or notice other bloggers' stats or popularity or interest in me at all if I can help it! The moment I do, I start playing the comparison game
• I take holidays from blogging (thanks Rachael for reminding me of this!) - at the moment, a couple of weeks mid-year and over Christmas - yes, I'm due one soon, so you can expect another archives series in a week or so!

and other technologies:

• I don't read many blogs - those I do read, I read through Nicole's shared items about once a week, to make the process quicker (thanks, Nic!)
• I don't use facebook much at all, except to keep in touch with people
• if I haven't prayed in the morning, I don't take my iPod on my walk
• if I'm tired out, I don't listen to Christian talks in the car

These guidelines help me to exercise self-discipline, remind me to love the people around me, and keep me from exposing myself to unnecessary temptation (Gal 5:22-25, 6:7-8, Matt 5:29-30); but external guidelines only take you so far. More important than all these guidelines is fixing my eyes on Jesus.

Unless I'm secure in God's love and grace, I'll look to people for security, identity and hope. Only as the beauty and grace of Christ capture my heart will I be more interested in loving others than in what they think of me.

Like everything else, blogging is just so many clanging cymbals unless it's done out of love and for the glory of Jesus.

image is from stock.xchng

Mia Freedman on the temptations of technology

This week, I'll be chatting about technology idolatry. It's a constant temptation for me to neglect relationships while I sit at the computer, writing a blog post, reading and responding to emails, or working on a Bible study or seminar.

I laughed as I read this piece by Mia Freedman, one of my favourite columnists, because I recognised myself in it only too well:

Technology ate my holiday. ...

I know I'm not the first to notice how laptops, mobiles and BlackBerries have blurred the line between work and every other aspect of life. ... During my not holiday, I spent several hours working every day. ... Just snatches of time. Three minutes here, 10 minutes there. A phone call. Some social texts. A few emails. Some blogging. ...

I consider myself an accomplished multitasker but trying to work and play simultaneously is a mental shift that's often uncomfortably jarring for me and my loved ones, especially when we're trying to holiday. You see, whenever I'm on my phone or laptop, I lose the ability to hear and all peripheral vision. You can ask me a question repeatedly and I will not hear it or see you because I am in The Technology Tunnel.

This is why I don't have a BlackBerry. During the five minutes I worked on television, I had one. ... "It frees you from your computer!" exhorted Black Berry devotees. ... What they neglected to mention, however, was that a BlackBerry chains your desk to you. ...

Initially, I imposed strict rules governing the use of my BlackBerry. ... I had to limit the number of times I checked it at home.

Like any addict, flimsy mental rules were not enough to keep me clean; I needed razor wire and an electric fence. Since neither came with my BlackBerry, it wasn't long before I was checking my emails IN THE SHOWER. And yes, this is possible if you hold your arms out far enough in front of your body. Needless to say, I was delighted to return my BlackBerry ...

Technology aside, my expectations for holidays are already low due to the face I'm a parent, which means doing your relaxing in relay form. This is interspersed with terse exchanges about whose turn it is for a break. ...

Now I just need to find a holiday destination with no mobile reception or broadband.*

Now, I don't take a laptop or use my mobile phone on holidays (heaven forbid!), I only learned how to SMS a year ago, and I've never had any interest in Twitter or a BlackBerry, although I do love my iPod. But I'm all too familiar with the way technology cuts into rest and relationships.

Like Mia, I don't hear or see anything when I'm working, and I'll sit down for "5 minutes" and find myself still at the computer half an hour later, sometimes to the soundtrack of squabbling children. So this is a constant battle for me!

How do you try to be self-disciplined in your use of technology? I'd welcome any suggestions!

* Mia Freedman's column in The Sunday Age M magazine, May 3, 2009.

image is from stock.xchng

online meanderings: self-control

Here's a quick guide to my posts, other people's posts, and some talks and books on self-control:

Some general posts on the subject:

1. 15 things I've learned about self-control
2. John MacArthur with some excellent tips for self discipline

Some posts on self-control and managing our thoughts and emotions:

1. how to fight for joy
2. self-control: thoughts and feelings
3. Nicole's discussion of Carolyn Mahaney's chapter on self-control in Feminine Appeal

My posts on self-control and spending:

1. my opening post - the attack of the killer credit card
2. a follow-up - the attack of the killer credit card continues
3. reflections on hard-won self-control - the joy of Christmas (shopping)
4. some recent reflections on self-control and spending - online meanderings: self-control and spending

My series on dieting and gluttony:

1. the day I went on a diet and decided to write about this topic - is dieting Christian
2. some unhelpful approaches to dieting - the bizarre and the beautiful
3. where I ask myself whether the Bible word "self-control" relates to food - in search of self-control
4. where I learn what the Bible teaches about food, gluttony and moderation - what God says about food (a), (b) and (c) (and some musings on moderation)
5. quotes on gluttony, dieting and self-control by Os Guiness, C.S.Lewis, Richard Gibson, Graham Tomlin, Henry Fairlie, Jerry Bridges, Carolyn Mahaney and John Piper
6. where I talk about the effect this series has had on my own attitude to gluttony and dieting - my experience
7. my review of Elyse Fitzpatrick's Love to Eat, Hate to Eat

Still on the topic of gluttony and dieting, I really appreciated these honest, thoughtful posts by other bloggers:

1. Heather on self-control, gluttony and dieting
2. Sophie on choosing godliness over being thin
3. Cathy on fighting desire disorder

Some other posts on self-control:

1. Noel Piper on bossiness
2. Nicole on gossip
3. Nicole on spiritual disciplines

Talks:

1. Carolyn Mahaney on self-control
2. Crystal Muson on gluttony (I haven't heard this one, just going on Heather's recommendation)

Books:

1. on gluttony and dieting - Elyse Fitzpatrick's Love to Eat, Hate to Eat
2. chapters on gluttony and dieting - see excerpts from Os Guiness, C.S.Lewis, Richard Gibson, Graham Tomlin, Henry Fairlie
3. chapters on self-control - see excerpts from Jerry Bridges, Carolyn Mahaney
4. on how eating affects our ability to glorify and enjoy God - see excerpt from John Piper

dieting and gluttony (7) Love to Eat, Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick

If you came to me asking for advice about compulsive eating, obsessive dieting or exercising, food abuse, anorexia or bulimia, or simply lack of self-control around food, Elyse Fitzpatrick's Love to Eat, Hate to Eat is the book I would encourage you to read, or even better, read with you.

Elyse Fitzpatrick is an experienced Biblical counsellor, who fights her own daily battle against compulsive eating. Her book is so far beyond any other Christian book you're likely to find on this topic, which has probably produced more nonsense than just about any other issue, that it might be from another planet!

She quickly makes it clear that this is not another dieting book. While she does include food diaries and practical suggestions, her main goal is not to influence behaviour, but to change the heart.

She takes destructive eating back to its most basic level: enslavement to idolatry. Instead of seeking mere outward change, aiming for weight-loss or even healthy eating, or settling for a fad diet, she calls us to pursue inner rather than outer beauty, to change sinful thinking patterns, and to glorify and enjoy God in our eating, with the confidence that God, by his Spirit, can change even our most deeply ingrained habits.

She encourages us not to blame our poor eating habits on upbringing, illness, or low self-esteem, as if it's someone else's fault. Instead, we need to realise that our behaviour stems from the sinful desires of our heart (James 1:14). So, for example, we may eat in an ungodly way because we want to be in control, or because we love pleasure, or because we think satisfaction lies in earthly things.

Her solution is four-fold, and she emphasises that each of these can only be done with the help of God's Spirit:

1. Become convinced that your present method of eating is (not just unhealthy or embarrassing but) sinful (enslaving, idolatrous, disobedient, gluttonous) and cease from it (repent and resist);
2. Become convinced that God's methods for disciplined eating (self-control) are right and begin practising them (see the DISCIPLINED Eating acronym below);
3. Seek diligently to change your mind and become conformed to God's thinking, especially in the area of your eating habits (she outlines the relationship between body, mind and emotions, and how to influence feelings through behaviour and thoughts, for example by putting off wrong thinking and putting on godly thinking); and
4. Continue to practice these new thoughts and behaviours, even when the struggle gets hard (she calls us to the long haul, to slow, steady growth, to a daily, painful battle, to developing new habits, and gives some very practical guidelines).

I found her book a bit rambly at times (I like my points neat and in order!) but when I stopped taking notes and started reading, it was easy to follow and enjoyable to read. Her theological points and use of the Bible weren't always as tight as I would have liked: for example, I think God's call to be a "temple of the Spirit" is about avoiding defiling our bodies with (sexual) immorality (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20), although at least her focus was less on health, and more on not using our bodies for sin, and caring for our bodies so we can use them in God's service. But the book's overall theological structure was excellent.

I particularly liked her chapter on anorexia, bulemia and compulsive eating. She refuses to call these behaviours "diseases", although they are so powerful and seemingly so involuntary that they mimic diseases. Instead, she calls them "chosen, life-dominating behaviours" which can be changed with the help of God's Spirit.

She explores in detail the kinds of idolatrous, unbelieving, self-focussed thoughts which can lead to such self-destructive behaviours - perhaps "I must be thin so I can have worth", or "I need to be in control", or "I deserve comfort and love" - and shows how to replace these thoughts with God's truth.

I appreciated the way she exposed my own temptation to create an idol out of control, develop commandments to serve it, fail these false standards, give in to despair, and give up trying: the cycle of the dieter. Her answers aren't slick or superficial, but I'll leave you to read the chapter and see for yourself!

Let me share with you her very practical DISCIPLINED Eating acronym, which you can learn, and use to determine whether eating a certain food is godly or not:

Doubt - am I eating even though I'm not sure it's sinful (Rom. 14:23)?
Idolatry - am I serving control, pleasure, or comfort (Ex. 20:3)?
Stumble - will I cause someone to stumble (Rom. 14:21)?
Covet - am I eating because I'm discontent and wanting something someone else has (Ex. 20:17)?
Inroad - will eating or doing this lead to sinful behaviour (Rom. 13:14)?
Praise - can I eat this with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4:4)?
Life - will eating this harm my health (Ex. 20:13)?
Illustrate - am I setting a good example for others, including my family (1 Tim. 4:12)?
No - can I say no? is my body under my control (1 Cor. 9:27)?
Emotions - am I eating out of anger, fear, frustration or depression (Gen. 4:7)?
Distract - will this distract me from something better e.g. time with guests or God (Lk. 10:41-2)?
Enslaved - will this lead to bondage to something I can't say no to (1 Cor. 6:12)?

If you struggle with destructive eating habits, I recommend Elyse Fitzpatrick's Love to Eat, Hate to Eat to you. It will encourage you to feast on God, not on mud-pies.

dieting and gluttony (6) my experience

I've written plenty about self-control in this blog, and I'm not sure much more needs to be said! So I thought I'd take this opportunity to wrap up a series I started many, many moons ago, on gluttony and dieting (remember that one?), and tell you how I'm going with this in my own life.

When I look back over my series, I find it interesting that it started with a diet, which I must admit was fairly short-lived, motivated mainly by vanity and/or discomfort (i.e. not fitting into certain pairs of jeans). But as I looked at the Bible more closely, I discovered some far more significant motivations for eating carefully.

I discovered that self-control does have something to do with food; that we are called to glorify God with our eating; that gluttony is idolatrous, unloving and unwise; and that moderation is a bad master, but a useful tool. And I was deeply challenged and encouraged by the wise words of Os Guiness, C.S.Lewis, Richard Gibson, Graham Tomlin, Henry Fairlie, Jerry Bridges, Carolyn Mahaney and John Piper.

Self-control in eating has always been an issue for me. I'm naturally a perfectionist, and I like to be in control, but my body takes revenge on my mind, so I'm also impulsive: I find it easy to spend too much, read too much, and eat too much.

You wouldn't necessarily know it if you saw me. I'm not blessed with a great metabolism (unlike a dear friend of mine, who loves to eat anything sweet with coloured sprinkles, and who stays far thinner than I will ever be) but I weighed myself recently, and I'm (barely!) within the healthy weight-range.

Which was actually a little annoying, because I wanted an excuse to put myself on a diet and lose the spare tyre around my middle (product of 4 children), but health obviously wasn't going to do it for me, I don't want to be motivated by vanity, and I don't need to lose weight to please my husband (I asked).

But I fit Elyse Fitzpatrick's qualifications for "compulsive eating", which she puts right up there with "anorexia" and "bulimia" as dangerous and idolatrous "life-dominating behaviours":

• habitually overeating when not hungry
• feeling "out of control" around food
• eating large amounts of food without tasting or enjoying it
• habitually eating when emotionally upset or to nurture yourself

Maybe not life-threatening in my case. But certainly idolatrous.

You see, I know perfectly well that I eat even when I know it's unwise. I eat when I know I'll feel sick for the rest of the day. I eat because there's a open packet of chocolates on the shelf and I can't stop myself. I eat when it's unloving, when I know I'll be sluggish and irritable with my family for hours afterwards. I eat when I feel tired, anxious, or stressed, because it's easier than turning to God and dealing with my heart before him, and it makes me feel (very briefly) comforted.

Diets are not the solution. I've been on a few, and they don't last for long. I've never been a great fan of diets anyway, because I like to have my head and heart matching, and I've always thought diets are a bit of a distraction for Christians, more likely to be the product of vanity, and a source of obsession, rather than any great help to long-term godliness.

Strict rules aren't the solution either. Control-freak that I am, I've always been a great one for self-improvement programs: cleaning schedules to help me stay on top of the housework, quiet-time schedules to keep me praying, child-rearing schedules to make me a better mum. I know these programs tend to end in pride, then failure, then despair.

Instead, I'm choosing repentance. Because for me, over-eating is idolatrous, unloving, and unwise. I'm not going on a diet, although I've put a few flexible guidelines for self-discipline in place. I'm choosing moderation over stuffing myself, thoughtful eating over impulsive eating, loving eating over selfish indulgence. I suspect that if more of us ate like this, diets wouldn't be necessary for most of us anyway (and yes, I know this won't be true for everyone).

I expect the struggle for self-control in eating to be a life-long battle, but one worth fighting. I know that self-control in a small area tends to spread to more important areas. I know from experience that the first 6 months are the hardest. I know it gets easier after that, but not necessarily a whole lot easier. I know that if you let indulgence back in the door, it has a way of taking over. So I'm not aiming for some arbitrary goal weight. I'm in for the long haul.

I know there'll be benefits along the way. Losing that spare tyre would be nice. I'll obviously stay healthier this way. I might have more energy. More importantly, I'll be able to make choices about what to eat with wisdom. I'll set a good example for my children. I'll love my family by avoiding food-induced irritability. I'll depend on God, not food, for comfort when I'm stressed or anxious.

I can't do any of this in my own power: I've failed far too many times to believe that! I'm depending on God, because I know his Spirit is producing self-control in me, and that he gives all his children "everything we need for life and godliness" through Christ (2 Cor. 1:3).

Biblical womanhood (4) self-control and your thoughts and emo

I have been reminded recently, once again, of the importance of preaching the gospel to myself every day, as I bring my thoughts and emotions under the blessed control of God's truth.

At the start of this term, my shoulder muscles were stiff with stress, I was wading breathless through a bewildering sea of responsibilities, and when I stopped to think about it, I could feel a tightening band of anxiety around my chest.

I was struggling with feelings of discouragement, worry and guilt. Discouragement over my lack of organisation last term (funny how a couple of forgotten committee meetings and un-run errands can plunge me into despair!). Worry about all the tasks I've committed to this term (Sunday School, Equip books, Sola Panel, a certain series on Biblical womanhood). Guilt about the burden these things place on our family (mostly false guilt, since I was fulfilling my responsibilities to my family, according to my husband, who ought to know).

For several memorable mornings, right at the start of the term, I woke at 6.00 and prayed in the lovely early-morning silence which rests on a house at that hour of the day. I spent a good 20 minutes or so praying through the unhelpful thoughts I was listening to: the guilt, the worry, the discouragement. I battled my unbelieving, doubting, anxious thoughts one-by-one, wrestling them into submission, taking each one captive to God's truth.

I can't begin to tell you the difference it's made! As I meditated on God's character - my Father's loving sovereignty, and how he is in control of all my responsibilities; my Saviour's sacrifice, and how I have been forgiven for all my sinful failings; the Spirit's empowering, and how I do everything in his strength - and as I praised God for his grace, and prayed about my anxieties - a burden was lifted, and my days were permeated with a sense of peace.

I'm swallowed up in busy-ness at the moment, and anxiety is threatening to creep up on me, but I'm finding that the inner assurance of God's sovereign love, which I fought so hard for at the start of this term, still remains with me, holding it at bay.

God won't ask me to do anything he doesn't give the time, energy, strength, and grace to do. He will be patient with me as I struggle with all the sins I'm so painfully aware of, and he will give me the grace to overcome them, slowly but surely. I can take each day as it comes, with its own particular responsibilities, and give myself to them fully and joyfully, rather than allowing the weight of the next 30 days to rest on my shoulders.

I am reminded of Jesus' "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29).

In his service is perfect freedom.

For more on self-control as it relates to our thoughts and emotions, see chapter 4 of Carolyn Mahaney's Feminine Appeal, and Nicole's helpful discussion of the issues raised at EQUIP book club.

image is from stock.xchng

online meanderings: self-control and shopping

The topic of the moment seems to be self-control.

Not necessarily a popular topic! And what exactly does it mean? The Greek word sophron, often translated "self-control" in Titus 2:3-5, means level-headed, discrete, prudent, sober, sensible, sound minded, and thoughtful.*

Jerry Bridges puts it well:

Self-control is the exercise of inner strength, under the direction of sound judgement, that enables us to do, think, and say the things that are pleasing to God.

Last Thursday, I read Nicole's Equip Books post about the chapter on self-control in Carolyn Mahaney's Feminine Appeal. And last weekend, as I continue working my way through Mahaney's talk series on Titus 2:3-5, I listened to her talk on self-control.

It gave me a timely kick in the pants. I think we sometimes fail to call sin "sin". It becomes so very familiar to us, and the effort to fight it just seems too hard. I think I've given up a bit on the battle with gluttony; my decision to rise early to pray has only just resurfaced after a run of winter illnesses; and the struggle for self-control in my blogging and computer use is a continual battle.

But you'll notice, in Nicole's post and the comments, that there was some concern that Carolyn Mahaney didn't address self-control and shopping in her book, although she does touch on it in her talk. (Of course, there are many other areas demanding self-control - gossip, bossiness, spiritual disciplines, etc. - and she couldn't cover them all.)

Long-term readers of this blog may recall my early posts on shopping. One of my very first posts was the attack of the killer credit card, followed by the attack of the killer credit card continues, and concluded with the joy of Christmas (shopping). In June this year, reflecting on the battle, I shared 15 lessons I've learnt about self-control.

Well, I went shopping the other day. And I found that instead of filling me with temptation, the glut of products displayed on hundreds of shelves, enticingly arranged to attract wealthy first-worlders and their over-indulged children, filled me with repulsion. Which goes to show, in negative as well as positive ways, how the practice of self-control transforms our way of seeing.

Of course, now I have to struggle with the opposite temptation: to put off trips to the shops indefinitely, way past the point where my children need new socks and school pants. But I've learnt to take a detailed list on my bi-annual trips to the shops for children's clothes, and I'm even learning to stick to it.

Let's not overstate things. I still lose many a struggle with my conscience when I'm facing yet another stand of "cheap" stocking fillers at the supermarket (can't avoid supermarket shopping, can you?!). And buying books on the internet has led to a few major downfalls.

I'm still a work in progress: but there's hope, because God is the one working in me. I hold on to his promise, that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6).

* In the small print in this post on self-control, you'll find my explanation of the various words translated "self-control" in the New Testament.

on self-control during the last days

And another helpful comment on self-control.

This excellent blog post by Mark Baddeley on creation really made me think hard about self-control, and why we should be self-disciplined in our enjoyment of the good things God made.

Like me, he argues that the point of self-control is not ascetic self-denial, but love.

But unlike me, he puts this the context of the last days.

Because we are living in the last days, we don't live for the things of this world, we live for the world to come. Which is why God-forgetful self-indulgence is innapropriate for Christians.

We use and enjoy the things of this world, but we don't serve them, cling to them, or stuff ourselves with them. For we belong to heaven, not to this earth, and that's where our treasure lies.

on self-control, a theology of balance, and the enjoyment of chocolate cake in heaven

I've always been suspicious of theological positions based on "balance," as if you can take two extremes and find the truth mid-way between them. It's never seemed to me particularly Biblical.

The theology of pleasure has two extremes: asceticism, the self-denying rejection of pleasure, and hedonism, the self-indulgent pursuit of pleasure. Neither are suitable for the Christian. But this doesn't mean the correct approach to pleasure is mid-way between them.

So I nodded enthusiastically when I read this comment by Richard Longenecker on Galatians 5:18 in the Word Biblical Commentary on Galatians:

The Christian gospel has to do with a third way of life that is distinct from both nomism and libertinism - not one that takes a middle course between the two, as many try to do in working out a Christian lifestyle on their own, but that is a "highway above them both" (Burton, Galatians, 302). The antidote to license in the Christian life is not laws, but openness to the Spirit and being guided by the Spirit. For being "in Christ" means neither nomism nor libertinism, but a new quality of life based in and directed by the Spirit.

Not legalism or libertinism, but a "highway above them both". Beautifully put!

Our love for God is supposed to be one-eyed and passionate, not measured and balanced. At every moment we throw ourselves body and soul into his service, and the loving service of others. At every moment our choices - what we eat, who we sleep with, how we entertain ouselves - should be guided by his Spirit through his Word.

We enjoy the things of this world with enthusiastic thanksgiving to the Giver. And we deny ourselves the things of this world because our joy in God makes earthly pleasures pale in comparison. Moderation is a useful tool to control our bodily desires, and to help us sit lightly to this world's pleasures. But in some ways moderation is a necessary evil for people on this side of heaven.

In heaven we won't be asking ourselves "Should I eat this piece of chocolate cake?". We'll be too busy swimming in the endless sea of joy in God's presence. And if we enjoy chocolate cake, as perhaps we will, it will be with enthusiastic enjoyment, and with hearts full of thanksgiving for the grace and generosity of God.

I explored these issues more fully in my earlier posts on what self-control means in the Bible here, here and here.

image is by thea0211 at stock.xchng

another hint for developing self-control

Something I wanted to add to my post on practical hints for developing self-control and never did, from Pulpit Magazine:

Practice self-denial. Learn to say no to your feelings. Learn to do what you know to be right even if you don’t feel like doing it. Sometimes it’s even beneficial to deny yourself things that are acceptable to have, like a doughnut in the morning or dessert after dinner. Exercising such self-restraint helps you develop the habit of keeping other things under control. Cultivating discipline in the physical realm will help you become disciplined in your spiritual life.

It's point no. 6 from a list of tips for self-discipline. The other 6 points are worth a look too.

self-control and bossiness

And more on self-control: this time an insightful and encouraging blog post called How I fight bossiness from Noel Piper, author of Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God.

15 things God has taught me about self-control

We could all do with more self-control.

Perhaps you battle your temper daily, indulge in too much TV or novel reading, or are regularly tempted to look at pornography. Perhaps you have lost control of your spending, give in to gossip or slander, or sleep too long each night. Perhaps you seek comfort regularly in something other than God, whether alcohol, food, or caffeine.

Just last week, I taught my Sunday School class about self-control. My new year's resolution was to grow in self-control and self-discipline. You may also remember my earler post on what self-control means in the Bible. God has taught me a lot about self-control when it comes to spending, eating, and computer use. It's a slow, hard battle, but it no longer feels like a losing one.

I though I'd share some small things I've learned about self-control:

1. Expect the first week when you're "kicking the habit" to feel completely impossible. Maybe you've been eating for comfort for years, or rushing to check your inbox every spare moment. It's become like a drug for you, and your body and mind miss it when it's not there. You'll feel acutely uncomfortable every time you say "no" for a few days ... or weeks!
2. Expect this to be followed by a rush of victory to the head. At some point (many points!) you'll think "I've nailed it!" You'll go into a shop, sure you can resist this time; or buy a block of chocolate, believing you can limit yourself to a couple of pieces each day. Ha! You're a better person than me if you can over-confidently expose yourself to temptation and win.
3. If at all possible, cut temptation off at the root. "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away" (Matt. 5:29). Pornography? Use Covenant Eyes. Shopping? Only shop when absolutely necessary; avoid sales; take a detailed list, even for sock shopping; shop with someone else.
4. The struggle will get easier ... then it won't. You'll get sick of fighting the same battle day after day. The novelty will wear off. You'll start to wonder what the point is. Some weeks will feel easy, some impossible. A time of sickness or sorrow may plunge you back into the thick of it again. Don't give up!
5. Remember that self-control in one area spreads to other areas. Eating or sleeping too much may seem insignificant. It isn't. Self-control has muscles: practise in one area, and your muscles get stronger for other battles.
6. Habits are like animals, they grow with every tiny tidbit. When you feed a habit, however insignificantly, it grows in power. Choose to feed a good habit, not a bad one, and watch it grow.
7. Don't be a legalist! Rules breed despair. When you don't keep rules, it's easy to think "I'm hopeless!" so you give in and fail spectacularly. Instead, think "Oh, well, I stuffed up today, but that doesn't mean it's not worth trying again tomorrow." Sensible, flexible self-discipline, which bends when necessary, is more useful than rules, as I discovered here.
8. Instead, remember the law of love (Rom. 13:10). I find it helpful to ask at each point, "What would be a loving decision to make right now? Would eating this / buying this / reading this benefit my family and those around me?"
9. When you fail (which you will, often!) remember you are already perfect in God's eyes. He forgives you ... and forgives you ... and forgives you again. His Son died for you. Don't throw that back in his face! Weep, enjoy his grace, get up, and go on. Learn to live in the centre of his grace.
10. Get some weapons for the fight! Memorise relevant Bible passages and verses. Repeat whenever necessary.
11. Pray. It is God's Spirit who enables you to obey! Pray daily for God's help in the particular area you struggle with.
12. Don't fight alone. Ask another Christian to help you fight. Call them once a week for an update. Be honest with them. Ask them to pray with you, and for you.
13. Make sensible use of the world's resources. Exercise, go for a walk, take a cold shower. Whatever it takes, within reason.
14. The temptation won't go away. This life is a battle. Expect it to last to the end. But expect joy along the way, too! What a joy it is to discover God's grace in our sin, God's power in our weakness, and God's comfort in our discouragement.
15. It's never too late to learn to exercise self-control. I struggled despairingly with over-spending for more than 15 years. If God can help me to begin to overcome this problem, he can help you.

If you have serious physical addictions to alcohol or drugs, the issues will be more complex. An excellent book to read is Edward Welch's Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave which gives a Biblical view on how to overcome addictions. I highly recommend it!

Sunday School - fruit of the Spirit - self-control

On Sunday we learnt about the final fruit of the Spirit: self-control. I chose an apple for self-control because it's tough, and it takes strength to say "no" to temptation.

Self-control is the iron in obedience. It's the strong walls which protect us from sin. It gives godliness its backbone. Without self-control, we are floppy, easily influenced, vulnerable. With self-control, we learn to deny our sinful desires, and to use our thoughts, words and actions to serve God.

The children and I talked about what temptation means (wanting to do the wrong thing, or other people wanting you to do the wrong thing) and what self-control means (saying "no" to temptation).

I showed the kids four props: a magic plate which produces any food you like on demand, a magic wand which gives you the power to do anything, a treasure chest full of gold coins, and a crown. I asked, "What would you say if someone offered you these?" and "Would it be easy to say 'no' to them?"

Then I shared the story of Jesus, who resisted exactly these temptations at the outset of his ministry. Who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, and was tempted by Satan to use his powers for his own ends, to turn stones into bread. Who responded with the words, "'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4).

Who was taken by Satan to the highest point of the temple, and challenged to jump down so that everyone would see God's rescue. Who chose instead to obey God's Word, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (Matt. 4:7). Who chose the path of weakness and service instead of attracting followers by showing off his powers.

Who was taken by Satan to a high mountain, and offered all the peoples and riches of the world if only he would worship him. Who obeyed God's command to "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matt. 4:10). Who refused to establish an earthly kingdom, choosing instead to die on the cross that we might live.

The kids knew the story of Jesus' temptation well, and enjoyed capping me at every point ("And then Jesus said ...!"). We talked about the times we might need to exercise self-control: when tempted to be greedy, to hit someone or speak angrily, to look at inappropriate TV shows or internet sites, to lie or take something that's not ours.

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control" (Prov. 25:28). Our craft was a door-hanger, a way to say "Keep out!", the child's version of the city wall. On one side was "Stop! Think! Obey!" in traffic-light formation, and on the other side the verse "Let us be alert and self-controlled" (1 Thess. 5:6).

dieting and gluttony (5f) Jerry Bridges on self-control

Wondering what self-control around food looks like in practice?

Here's some helpful guidelines about how to be self-controlled in our eating from Jerry Bridges' Respectable Sins (an insightful look at "forgotten" sins like pride and selfishness).

I found his definition of self-control particularly helpful, and I couldn't agree more that lack of self-control in one area can lessen self-control in more important areas. Again, the real issue is not "How much ice-cream do I eat?" but "Does my eating control me?"

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls" (Proverbs 25:28). ... [A] person without self-control is vulnerable to all kinds of temptations. ...

What is self-control? It is a governance or prudent control of one's desires, cravings, impulses, emotions, and passions. It is saying no when we should say no. It is moderation in legitimate desires and activities, and absolute restraint in areas that are clearly sinful. ...

[S]elf-control needs to be exercised in ... eating and drinking. Let me say right away that I am not singling out those who have a so-called "weight problem." That may or may not be due to a lack of self-control. One of the most self-controlled men I have ever known struggled with his weight all his adult life. On the other hand, some who can eat what they please without gaining weight may, because of that fact, fail to exercise self-control in their eating and drinking.

What I am addressing is the tendency to continually give in to our desires for certain foods or drinks. ... I think of my own craving for ice cream years ago when I would have a dish of it at dinner and another at bed-time. ... A seemingly benign practice greatly weakened my self-control in other more critical areas. I learned that we cannot pick and choose the areas of life in which we will exercise self-control.

One of the ways we can exercise self-control is by removing or getting away from whatever tempts us to indulge our desires. In the case of the ice cream, I asked my wife to no longer keep it regularly in the freezer. Instead, we now buy it for specific occasions. Even though I made that decision more than thirty years ago, I still have to exercise self-control. Recently I was on my way to mail a package at a contract post office that is located in an ice cream shop. As I drove, I began to think about having a dish of ice cream. As I wrestled with that strong desire, I concluded that it was a time when I needed to say "no" to myself just for the purpose of keeping that desire under control.

I'm not trying to lay a guilt trip on those who enjoy ice cream or soda pop, or even those who go to Starbucks every day for their favourite coffee drink. What I am addressing is our lack of self-control - a tendency to indulge our desires so that they control us, instead of our controlling those desires.

My highlights; this quote is from Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, pp.109-114.

dieting and gluttony (5d) Graham Tomlin on gluttony

Graham Tomlin defines gluttony as getting food out of proportion, using food to do what it was never intended to do: fill the spiritual emptiness in our lives.

This may take the form of eating for comfort, or fastidious eating and obsessive dieting. At its most extreme, it may become compulsive over-eating (loss of control) or food refusal (holding on to control).

Why on earth is gluttony a sin? ... surely just eating a little too much is as harmless an activity as you can get? ...

Strange though it may seem, in the earliest fourth-century lists of the deadly sins, gluttony used to head the list as the worst of them all. Pope Gregory wrote: "Unless we first tame the enemy dwelling within us, namely our gluttonous appetite, we have not even stood up to engage in the spiritual combat." ...

[There are] reasons that ... might make us question why gluttony is considered a sin at all. ... Jesus, it seems, was rather fond of a party ... A fine claret, a tasty slice of rich, creamy Camembert, a pint of dark beer, a sweet-tasting pear are all good, God-given pleasures. ...

When we think of gluttony we normally think of very large people stuffing food into their mouths with no thought of tomorrow; over-indulgence to a large degree. Yet the sin of gluttony has always been seen as covering a wider area than that, including that fastidiousness about food that obsesses over what we can and cannot eat. ... Obsessive dieting can be just as much a sign of gluttony as overeating.

Gluttony then is an inordinate obsession with food, drink or plain consumption. It is getting food out of proportion, just as lust is getting sex out of proportion. ... [W]hen food become a god, it becomes dangerous. ...

The evidence of that is all around. Obesity is one of the biggest ... problems in the developed world ... [F]irst-world gluttony is scandalous when related to third-world poverty and hunger.

But overeating is not the only way of abusing food. Obsessing about quantities is also a sign of bad inner health. ... Suffering from anorexia, bulimia or a compulsive eating disorder are not sins as such, but they are an indicator that something is deeply wrong. ...

Why do people overeat themselves into obesity, or starve themselves into anorexia? All the studies suggest that these disorders often emerge from a sense of lack of worth. We all know the pattern of comfort eating. When we feel a bit low, a slice of chocolate cake or apple pie can make us feel a whole lot better. ... Similarly, anorexia or bulimia often emerge out of patterns of unhappiness or self-dislike. ...

Now these of course are extreme cases. Yet they point to the ease with which we use food and drink to replace something that's missing from our lives, to comfort us when we feel lonely and to satisfy us when we are not just physically, but also spiritually hungry.

Peter Kreeft, an American philosopher and writer, puts it well: "The motivation for gluttony is the unconscious self-image of emptiness: I must fill myself because I am empty, ghostlike, worthless." Gluttony is trying to fill a spiritual vacuum with a physical remedy. ...

So how do we know when we are in danger of gluttony? The guilt feelings that come when we know we have eaten too much once in a while ... are most probably not true, healthy signs of guilt ... [They] may be caused more by vanity than gluttony.

Gluttony happens when the connection between food and its proper purpose is broken. Food is given to sustain the body, to enrich our communal life and to give pleasure to the taste. It is not there to comfort the isolated and lonely, to bolster a fragile self-image or to be a substitute for prayer. ...

Gluttony begins to rear its head when someone begins to get food out of proportion. The key issue here is control. The overeater loses control over how much he eats. He is unable to stop himself ... He believes the lie that it is impossible for him to control his eating. For the anorexic or bulemic person, the issue is the other way round: it is a matter of giving up control. ... Here, the remedy is to learn to give up control and re-form their identity around something other than eating habits, so that food can take its normal place as something to be enjoyed. ...

Gluttony is disordered desire. It is thinking that food can satisfy our deepest needs. And no created thing can do that. We were made to find our deepest satisfaction when we are connected with our creator; when we learn to desire him above everything else. ...

The Christian answer to gluttony is not self-denial for the sake of it, nor is it the boring routine of endless moderation, a meagre diet of lettuce leaves and dry bread. It is the rhythm of feasting and fasting, the ability to take time to enjoy the delicious flaviour of a Belgian chocolate ... when the time is right, yet to say no to any of these at other times, because our deepest needs are not met by food, but by fellowship with God.

Graham Tomlin The seven deadly sins pp.101-120.

dieting and gluttony (5c) Richard Gibson on gluttony

Richard Gibson gives helpful suggestions about how to speak against gluttony in an age obsessed equally with food and weight-loss (apologies to those who read this before I rearranged my blog).
Make sure you check out the italicised quote from Anthony Compollo below: it's a fantastic reminder not to demonise obesity when we speak against gluttony.

Food is the new sex ... Just a case of dressing up glutton as glam ...? Or are we in the midst of a culinary revolution ...? Just think, with the eroticisation of the humble meal, we can look forward to a new era of food-abuse, people eating but never being satisfied, families shattered by addictions, and more lonely men, eating alone in front of flickering computers. An era where gluttony will come into its own. ...

Intriguingly, in a culture that increasingly refuses to disapprove of people's sexual preferences and behaviour, diet and body-shape has become a moral issue. Barkow observes: 'Food is a class marker because being overweight shows that you are immoral, you're overindulging, you lack willpower, you lack self-control.'

It could be that our culture already regards, at least implicitly, gluttony as the most sinful and deadliest of the traditional seven. ... Reality programs with chillingly ironic titles, like Biggest Loser, thrive. In our culture, there are few bigger losers than the obese, those who lack the will-power to change. ...

Ordinarily, this would be too good an opportunity for Christian commentators to pass up. Rarely do traditional categories of sin and such widely recognised social epidemics pass so closely to each other in their orbits. ... Here, surely, is the opportunity to dust off traditional discussions of gluttony ... in order to offer a searching critique of a sin, a sin finally being recognised as deadly and sinful.

This would represent a revolution for 'gluttony'; a significant tarting up of what is, traditionally, the dowdiest and least convincing of the moral failures. ...

[But there] continue to be a number of biblical and practical reasons that should discourage Christian commentators from rushing to eagerly to join the rising contemporary chorus against overeating and obesity. ...[Jesus enjoyed food; food can't render us unclean; the created order is good; the feast is a biblical image for the kingdom.]

Too often in the past, attacks on the glutton have glibly assumed that the corollary of gluttony is excessive weight. In this sense, the glutton has been the most visible of the seven deadly sinners. Sadly, Christian speakers and writers, who should be more aware of the consequences of the fallen world for such neat correlation, have fallen into this trap. To his credit, Anthony Campolo records his shame after preaching against gluttony:

Of the sermons I wish I had never preached, none elicits more regret than a sermon on gluttony ... The cruelty was not apparent to me at the time. When I preached the sermon, I was convinced that the obesity of those in the congregation was due to a lack of willpower on their part and a decision to let themselves go physically ... I had no understanding of the complex factors contributing to a problem which afflicts so many.

Conversely, Christians must guard against conspiring with one of the false gods of our age, and inflicting harm on another group: ... [those with] eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Tragically, Christian preachers and authors ... unwittingly feed these terrible disorders with titles like Pray Your Weight Away, More of Jesus Less of Me, Help Lord - the Devil Wants Me Fat! and Thin, Trim and Triumphant. No-one can afford to write on the dangers of gluttony without taking into account the horrors of anorexia and bulimia, lest careless comments add to the difficulty of dealing with them. If it seems to be irresponsible not to target overeating in a culture that is eating itself to death, it needs to be remembered that many are also dieting themselves to death.

Highlights mine; Richard Gibson "Clement on Gluttony" in Still deadly: ancient cures for the seven sins pp.67-73.

dieting and gluttony (5b) C.S.Lewis on gluttony

Our next quote on food and gluttony is taken from C.S.Lewis' The screwtape letters, in which the senior devil Screwtape advises the junior devil Wormwood on how to tempt humans (sorry to those who read this the other day before I rearranged my blog!).

C.S.Lewis shows how the gluttony of excess has been replaced by the more subtle gluttony of delicacy, and how this often takes different forms among men and women:

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

The contemptuous way in which you spoke of gluttony as a means of catching souls, in your last letter, only shows your ignorance. One of the great achievements of the last hundred years has been to deaden the human conscience on that subject, so that by now you will hardly find a sermon preached or a conscience troubled about it in the whole length and breadth of Europe. This has largely been effected by concentrating all our efforts on gluttony of Delicacy, not gluttony of Excess. Your patient's mother, as I learn from the dossier and you might have learned from Glubose, is a good example. She would be astonished - one day, I hope, will be - to learn that her whole life is enslaved to this kind of sensuality, which is quite concealed from her by the fact that the quantities involved are small.

But what do quantities matter, provided we can use a human belly and palate to produce querulousness, impatience, uncharitableness, and self-concern? Glubose has this old woman well in hand. ... She is always turning from what has been offered her to say with a demure little sigh and a smile "Oh, please, please ... all I want is a cup of tea, weak but not too weak, and the teeniest weeniest bit of really crisp toast."

You see? Because what she wants is smaller and less costly than what has been set before he, she never recognizes as gluttony her determination to get what she wants, however troublesome it may be to others. At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance ...; in reality ... the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.

The real value of the quiet, unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doing for years on this old woman can be guaged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. ... Meanwhile, the daily disappointment produces daily ill temper: cooks give notice and friendships are cooled. ...

Now your patient is his mother's son. ... Being a male, he is not so likely to be caught by the "All I want" camouflage. Men are best turned into gluttons with the help of their vanity. They ought to be made to think themselves very knowing about food, to pique themselves on having found the only restaurant in the town where steaks are really "properly" cooked. What begins as vanity can then be gradually turned into habit. But, however you approach it, the great thing is to bring him into the state in which the denial of any one indulgence - it matters not which, champagne or tea, sole colbert or cigarettes - "puts him out," for them his charity, justice, and obedience are all at your mercy.

Mere excess in food is much less valuable than delicacy. Its chief use is as a kind of artillery preparation for attacks on chastity [and I would add other areas of godliness, but that's a topic for another day] ...

Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE

Highlight mine; this quote is taken from chapter 17 of C.S.Lewis' The screwtape letters.

dieting and gluttony (5a) Os Guiness on gluttony

Here, as promised, is one of the things I've read about food, gluttony, dieting and self-control recently.

This one's by Os Guiness, insightful and challenging as always. He argues that the modern obsession with food and dieting is actually gluttony, a gluttony of delicacy rather than a gluttony of excess.

Have a read and tell me what you think:

Gluttony ... is often treated as the least serious of the seven sins. Just as avarice idolizes possessions and lust sex, so gluttony idolizes food. It lifts it out of its place and distorts both food and eating. Thus, unlike a gourmet who enjoys and appreciates food, a traditional glutton enjoys eating, almost regardless of its taste, beauty, or the company shared. Whereas the gourmet savours, the traditional glutton devours. Gluttons "make pigs of themselves" by reducing all food to the level of slop. ...

Yet [we don't take] ... traditional gluttony seriously ... [because of] our modern self-congratulation on our disapproval of obesity and our newfound dedication to health, fitness, and dieting. Our gods, it seems, are not our bellies but our flat abdominal muscles ...

[G]luttony is often treated as a relatively harmless overindulgence in whatever we long for. Ironically, the word "sinful" is playfully applied to eating dessert more readily than to any other behaviour or attitude in contemporary English. ...

But both the origins and consequences of gluttony are more serious than that. Dedicated to the gratification of appetite, gluttony grows from and leads to a terrible emptiness that--no matter how much we stuff ourselves--is never satisfied. People overeat to compensate for emotional emptiness, but the overeating never compensates. The belly is stuffed, but the heart is hollow. Like all addictions, gluttony deceives. ...

In the medieval view, there were five ways of sinning by gluttony--eating and drinking too soon, too expensively, too much too eagerly, and with too much fuss. ... Thus ... modern gluttony ... can also be traced in the fanatical modern devotion to dieting, health foods, and drug taking. In a society in which cookbooks outsell the Bible by something like ten to one, food and diets have been given a time and place that are gluttonous. ...

The gluttony of excess is tied to a culture of scarcity just as the gluttony of delicacy is tied to a culture of abundance ... The reason is that in a culture of scarcity food was for most people the only accessible luxury ... For most of the West, the shift from scarcity to abundance happened in the nineteenth century. It was paralleled by an accompanying shift from the gluttony of excess to the gluttony of delicacy. As modern people, we may not admire indulgence and obesity, but we have a thousand polite words to cover our fussing over food. ...

Where food was once simply a matter of human sustenance, enjoyment, and sharing, it is now laden with myriad forms of "food guilt." How was it produced (on pesticide-ridden factory farms by exploited factory farmhands)? How is it marketed (in non-biodegradable garbage-creating containers)? What will be its consequences (depleted resources/increased heart attacks/thickened midriffs and hips)? ...

One writer notes, "It's not unusual at all to hear a woman wail, 'I was so bad today,' only to follow this dramatic statement with a seemingly tame admission like 'I ate two doughnuts and a bag of Cheetos." The traditional moral categories of "good" and "bad" are applied less often to "what comes out of" a person, as in words or deeds, than to "what goes in." ...

Though the modern tragedy of eating disorders is utterly distinct from the gluttony of delicacy, there is a link. The myth of the "perfectly thin female" that feeds the gluttony of delicacy is one factor ... in eating disorders, which are today nearly epidemic on college campuses. ... The approximate recovery time for anorexia sufferers is seven years, and the death rate twenty percent--the highest of any mental disorder. ...

The tragedy of such illnesses is perhaps the predictable outcome of a culture preoccupied with external image--and food as a means of controlling it. ... Obsession with various forms of non-eating is trendy, but just as gluttonous as obsession with eating--especially to Christian believers whose anticipated joy in a heavenly banquet will surely be oblivious to whether the bread has butter or margarine on it and the milk is 98 percent fat-free.

Since this book is hard to find, I've given you a good long quote. The highlights are mine. It's from Steering through chaos pp. 211-215.