The human body is the temple of the Lord and it just keeps getting bigger.
In a recent review of obesity, researchers noted that as the spectrum moves from Catholics to through the denominations, the Baptists have been reported to be the most obese holding the record at 27 percent. Even Baptist leaders acknowledge that fact. It seems that obesity is an acceptable sin for many Christians. In Proverbs 23:2 the verse states that obesity is worthy of death, and of course many will be offended by that fact.
Many Christians use a mental razor-blade approach to the Scriptures. When one verse offends them, they quickly avoid even reading such text. Instead of taking a razor blade and actually cutting the page out, they take a psychological approach and refuse to discuss or think about such issues. However Proverbs 28:23 states: "He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than a flattering tongue."
I realize that many church members will go out to eat after church and pray that God may bless the food and nourish the body, but few suffer from insufficient nourishment from my own observation. In fact, many could actually survive on a fraction of the food consumed, and use the money for a better good.
Consider the diet of John the Baptist. Matthew 3:4 "His food was locust and wild honey."
From this example, we can see that maybe we don't need all the food we consume on a daily basis. In Matthew chapter 11 Jesus spoke about the unrepentant cities, and that Sodom would find judgment day more bearable than the unrepentant cities. God holds us accountable for our choices we make, but even if we have made incorrect choices, we can still make new choices about our health and prevent further damage. In 1st Corinthians 10:13 we are told that we can escape our temptations, but action must be taken. As an example, Noah built a boat, Abraham followed God's command, Moses led his people out of Egypt, and we can take action to cease our overeating and become healthier again. But it all takes action.
Galatians 5:16 states: " I say live by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruits of the spirit, although many, one happens to be self control. We all don't need to build a boat like Noah, but we all need to take actions to build a healthy body.
Clearly, obesity represents a great concern for those seeking to lead Christians in the path that God intends for them to follow. However, many do not even want to discuss the obesity problem and Christianity.
"Congregants at Fellowship Bible
Church in Grapevine, Texas, used to feed on Krispy Kremes (donuts) before and
after feeding on the Word of God. But these days, you'll be hard pressed
to find a doughnut in the church," wrote Randy Robison for Christianity
Today in 2005. "Last year, senior pastor Ed Young, Jr., preached a
series called "Body by God," in which he taught that our spiritual and
physical health intersect to reflect the true body God desires for us.
Now Krispy Kremes are out, and health is in. The 18,000-member Fellowship Church practices, for the most part, what their pastor preaches. But like any church, there are still those who haven't quite caught the vision. A Sunday lunch visit to one of the many restaurants surrounding the church provides insight into an ongoing battle."
In the article, Obesity in the Body of Christ, Wesley Anderson wrote in this 2007 article: "On any Sunday, you could walk into almost any Southern Baptist church in America and enjoy doughnuts and coffee before Sunday School, a potluck dinner on the grounds after the morning worship service, or an ice cream social in the evening. Many of our church activities are centered on food. Food is a gift provided to us by God to enjoy and to sustain our physical bodies. But are we overdoing it?"
Wesley concluded that obesity is equal to other sins in the lives of Americans and is equal to the drunkard. In fact, he clearly stated that gluttony is a sin. In fact, he further stated that obesity destroys the temple of God. To further advance his theme regarding personal sin and obesity he stated that being overweight not only caused physical harm and death, overeating he regarded as poor stewardship. So he indicated that obesity is a matter of walking in the flesh.
"When we are unable to control our eating habits, we lack the self-control that is the fruit of the spirit. Balance is the key. Without taking care of the physical body, we are unable to concern ourselves with the spiritual.
When we are able to control our appetites, we are usually better able to exercise self-control in other areas like anger, lust, and gossip. Walking in the spirit means using food as God intended — to provide energy for our bodies — and enjoying food in appropriate quantities."
In the article, Lard have Mercy, exposed even more troubling news. "Ferraro, studying correlations between religious behavior and body mass index, found in a 1998 study that those states with large numbers of persons professing a religious affiliation had higher than average numbers of obese people. In the new study, he breaks this down by specific creed, and reports that whereas 1 one percent or less of those embracing the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or other non-Christian religions qualify as obese, the numbers of the markedly overweight rise dramatically the further one goes toward the Christian fundamentalist end of the spectrum: around 17 percent of Catholics, 18 percent of Methodists, 20 percent of Pentecostal and Assemblies of God parishioners, and a striking 27 percent of Baptists, including the Southern, North American and Fundamentalist wings."
This article and others clearly state that the social aspect of fundamentalists Christians has led to obesity due to the social nature and gathering of the fellow ships. I have been often confronted at church gatherings asking me if I should not eat more. My body is so efficient at using food, that I need to eat far less food than the average person to remain neat and trim. You can login on to this article by clicking the link below to read the entire article.
Of course, one might consider if an intelligent factor might be linked to this obesity problem. We have no clear indication if intelligence has a thing to do with this phenomenon but one researcher did conclude an intelligence factor had been linked to liberal political and religious beliefs as opposed to more conservative views. I am going to give you this link to a study on intelligence which appears quite interesting but certainly does not provide concrete proof.
