Sugar and Self-control

Before our weekly group Bible study begins, dessert and coffee are served. My heart races with caffeine so no coffee. My body gets round with too much food so no dessert. The person who brings the sweets seems offended. One person told me I made them feel guilty for not eating dessert.

A few weeks ago, God used this verse to speak to me about food:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31–33)

Chambers calls this business of eating and drinking the “shallow concerns of life” and to beware of thinking such things are not ordained of God because they are. While he warns against being a spiritual prig that tries to impress others by not being shallow, the context of these verses has more depth. It is about offending people by refusing to eat anything that had been offered to idols, and when a Christian actually should refuse such food. The verses before it say:

If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? (1 Corinthians 10:27–30)

The command to eat and drink to the glory of God is first about respect for the conscience of others. If the food is offered by unbelievers, eat it without questioning its source. If they tell you it has been offered to idols, don’t eat it. It isn’t that God forbids it, but those who eat will be acting against the conscience of their host — a person who thinks they should not eat it.

For me, eating and drinking are not ‘shallow concerns of life’ but important also to my health. It seems to me that putting too much focus on them can be just as problematic as considering it nothing to have two pieces of pie a day. I want to serve the Lord and glorify Him. Being a care-less glutton does not do that, nor does being a picky person who refuses things out of pickiness.

However, the word God spoke to me using these verses and others that were not about drinking and eating, but that my body belongs to Him. I am a temple of the Holy Spirit and I’m to think that way concerning both food and beverage. That is, stuff that is known to be harmful does not belong in God’s temple. Just as Jesus tossed out the money-changers, I’m to be willing to refrain if He says NO. Obviously He will tell me what to do, but it means listening carefully.

I’ve observed that over-indulgence is a slippery slope, one that is easily justified, but difficult to get off. I’ve also observed that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit so if it is not present when the goodies are passed out (and when I am already full from eating supper), then the Spirit is not in charge of this temple. If He has not filled me, I will be a useless participant in the Bible study and prayer or whatever else might come next.

Eating and drinking to satisfy me is contrary to doing either one ‘to the glory of God.’ Also I’d rather be a conviction to others for saying ‘no thanks’ than set a bad example by giving in to that continual temptation of self indulgence.

Eating and drinking

This blog is called “Practical Faith” because I’m pragmatic. If there is no good reason for doing something, I’m apt to opt out. This is fine most of the time, but it also means that I’ve learned many tough lessons by refusing to obey God because I could not see any reason for His commands.
 

Practical faith is about purposeful living, with one main purpose. I’m supposed to glorify God and do so for all of life…

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Eating and drinking are ordinary activities that everyone does. Interesting that in the early history of the world, God mentioned these ordinary activities in describing the godlessness that brought judgment upon the earth…

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark… (Matthew 24:38)

The text does not say that these activities were sinful, but the word used could mean “eating like the beasts” without any thought of food or gratitude to God for it. The description of life at that time also says that, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5) and that “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Genesis 6:11–12).

From this and other passages, I understand that a Christian who has surrendered to the Lord will also sanctify eating and drinking by doing these ordinary activities in such a way that God is glorified.

How is that possible? I’m thinking of the hundreds of people I’ve watched in restaurants who overeat or drink too much alcohol and how that is usually not God-honoring. I also think of myself and my efforts to lose ten pounds. Is God glorified when I let Him control what I eat and how much? I suspect He is at least pleased with such decisions. So having self-control is one way. Other ways might include sharing meals with others, pleasant conversations at the table (many people fight at mealtime), and giving special attention to an attractive and tasty meal presentation for the sake of my family and guests.

Today’s devotional says that regard for the glory of God is like salt served up with every dish. The great work of my life is to glorify Him, even in my natural actions such as eating, sleeping, walking, and the like. I am a new creature, redeemed that I should glorify the Lord, not eat and drink as I please, any more than pray or worship or do Christian service as I please. All must be done in submission to God and that submission will glorify Him.

While on holidays and away from a normal routine, it is easy to slip out of good eating habits. I’m thankful for this reminder. What I eat and drink, and how I eat and drink isn’t just about health. It is even more important to glorify God. I need to keep that thought – in every restaurant and at every meal, and especially when we pass by those candy stores and chocolate factories.

The Best Food

Last year our family started a tradition. When we have a birthday dinner at home, the celebrant gets to pick the food from whatever nation appeals to him or her. In our family, we have had Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Vegetarian and Thai. On Valentine’s Day, I made a Moroccan dinner, which is my new favorite.
 

I’ve heard that we are what we eat. This saying has an interesting history ranging from being a metaphor to a literal idea. Certainly the energy in food is translated into energy by our bodies. It seems this is the parallel Jesus had in mind when He said,

"Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:56–60)

To feed on Christ is to believe in Him and rely on Him for everything. Because He lives in those who believe in Him, His strength becomes our strength. He even promised His strength to Paul (and all Christians) when it is most needed.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:7–9)

As I come to Jesus each day, the more helpless I feel, the more strength He gives. He is my life and resource, wanting to give me everything I need to help others, speak truth, fight spiritual battles and win victories over sin.

This idea of feeding on Christ has confused some who think that the bread and wine of the Eucharist or communion service are changed into the body and blood of Jesus, an idea called transubstantiation. For them, this is how to receive Jesus. The Bible does not support this idea, but confusion is no surprise. His followers were confused also, perhaps taking Him literally.

But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:61–63)

Eating His flesh and drinking His blood is not about cannibalism or transubstantiation. It is a spiritual reality that happens when the Holy Spirit grants life to those who believe. Our flesh, or human efforts, or even mere wine and bread cannot do that. Only Jesus gives life and that life comes through faith, not food and drink.

Actually, believing in Jesus and feeding on Him for strength is far more difficult than taking bread and wine. When those who followed Him understood what Jesus meant, this is what happened:

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66–69)

Peter had it right. He knew that the words Jesus spoke were spirit and life. There was no other way to get His life but by believing and knowing this Holy One of God. 

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Lord, the spiritual discipline of feeding on You involves absorbing Your Word and letting it become part of who I am through prayer and obedience. Even when I feel weak and unable, Your strength is sufficient for whatever You ask me to be and do. I rejoice that Philippians 4:13 is true, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Is it possible to avoid sinners?

Our daughter’s birthday is three days after mine so we usually celebrate together. I took her for lunch on Friday, and last night the family went to a small restaurant for a bigger birthday party. She picked the place because some friends of hers were the evening’s entertainment. We enjoyed good guitar music and Paul’s original songs, a combination of “acoustic folk, roots and blues” with “well-thought out lyrics, solid vocals, and occasional blues harp accompaniment.”

Other than a few people at our table, likely there were no Christians in the place, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I didn’t hear any blasphemy or see anything that blatantly dishonored God. Certainly last night’s experience gave me pause when I read the devotional for today. Its focus was from Revelation 2 where Jesus is speaking to the church at Ephesus:

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. . . .” (Revelation 2:2)

The author of the devotional takes up the phrase “you cannot bear those who are evil” and writes that those who love Jesus “should be so consumed with God’s glory that we hurt when He is dishonored.” He also quotes Psalm 69:9, “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”

When I read it, I thought about the word “evil” and realized that there are degrees of it. Normally I see things in black and white, and certainly God has two categories for people: those who know and love Him and those who do not. However, out of the sinners who know or do not know God, there is a wide range of capacity for good and for evil.

Even Christians can behave in evil ways, acting the same as those who do not know God. The Bible is filled with strong warnings, rebukes and exhortations to the people of God who act as if they are atheists. I thought of one incidence where Paul writes to a church about their need to avoid evil people. However, what he says is remarkable, even a surprise:

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person. (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

He could have told them to stay away from unsaved people who drink beer and sing songs about human events, but he didn’t do that. Instead he tells them to stay away from Christians who do sinful things (that seems far worse).

In other words, “fun” that does not dishonor God’s name, even though it isn’t honoring Him either, isn’t the concern that Paul had. He says it is not possible to avoid being around sinners. What he is more concerned with is that Christians tolerate sinful activities among themselves. We are supposed to honor Jesus Christ because He is our Lord and Savior, our Giver of eternal life, our source of all good things, not live like everyone else. Our lives are to be different from the ordinary.

My husband and I are never sure what others think of us when we are in public places. He always gives thanks for the food. Last night, anyone within earshot heard him honor God. We welcomed two people to the empty chairs at our table as the restaurant filled to capacity. (It turned out that we knew one of them, and both are Christians.) The singer gave our daughter and me pleasant but low-key birthday greetings. We left the place without feeling “contaminated” because there were no lewd jokes, loud swearing, or rude behaviors.

Jesus ate and drank with sinners and was criticized for it. Whoever found fault with Him didn’t know their Bible very well; it is impossible to eat and drink with anyone who is not a sinner! Jesus also refused to spend much time with the self-righteous or those who called themselves God’s people yet acted worse than the people they looked down at for being “publicans and sinners.”

All this tells me that God is far more concerned with the sin of His people than the sin of those who do not know Him. In Christ, I have the capacity to say no to sin, and whenever I don’t, I am dishonoring Him. Those who do not know Christ do not have that capacity, and most of them have no idea it is available. That is why Jesus spent time with sinners; His presence opened many eyes and made sinners desire what He could give them.

It is our hope and desire that Jesus may have given us just a small role in doing the same thing at this birthday party where we celebrated His goodness in the midst of a group of people who do not know Him.

Eating, drinking, and idols

I had 2500 pictures of Elvis Presley when I was a teenager. No doubt I idolized this singer, as did many others, yet idolatry today isn’t always as easy to discern as it was in Bible times. Back then, the idol worshipers had temples and statues and offered sacrifices to their idols. Today, if an idol can be described as something exalted or depended upon or venerated beyond reason, then it could be anything from entertainers to politicians to hard cash.

When the New Testament was written, one activity in idol worship was the offering of meat to an idol. Of course the idol could not consume the meat, so the worshipers did. If they invited their friends, everyone was served this meat that had been offered to idols.

Christians were not sure what to do about that. Do they eat it; or not? Paul wrote the church at Corinth and told them that idols were nothing. The real issue was the demonic forces at work in the lives of those involved. Eating the meat didn’t mean anything in the spiritual lives of Christians as long as they didn’t get tangled up in the demonic side of things. However, even though they were free to eat the meat, they needed to be careful. Their actions were supposed to edify themselves and others, and they were supposed to glorify God in all that they did. He said to them:

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:25-31)

When it comes to today’s idolatry, does this have any application? Suppose my neighbor spends half a year offering his hard work to earn enough to purchase a new hot tub. This hot tub is his dream and clearly an object of veneration (at least until it breaks down). He invites us over to soak in the tub. Do we go? Paul says go, as long as he isn’t flaunting the thing as an object of worship.

I cannot imagine anyone saying, “This hot tub is my god” but it could happen. More likely in cases like this, the person who does not worship God has no idea that they are worshiping something.

This is likely different for those who put movie stars, hockey players, politicians, and other ‘celebrities’ on a pedestal. They might even say, “My idol is. . . .” just as I did about Elvis. Then what? Could I freely go to a dinner that raised anyone to idol status? Could I eat with those who worshiped that person as their idol?

Paul doesn’t talk about this kind of idolatry, but he does say that whatever I do, eating, drinking, or anything else, should be done to glorify God. If that is the desire of my heart, then I will know what to do should I be invited to something like that. The God of my heart will guide me in each situation.

According to some interpretations of biblical prophecies, one day a person called the Antichrist will rise up to rule on a global scale. This person will be idolized, even to a god-status. Should that be a correct interpretation (and not symbolic as others think), then my attitude and actions toward idols will be tested as never before, and this time passing the test is far more important than wondering about hot tubs or celebrity dinners. Paul’s words to practice ways of glorifying God in all that I do now will better equip me to stand against any greater test in the future.