An excerpt from what I’m reading this morning:

“Most evangelicals I know see what they eat and drink as the last bastion of self-control.  Many wouldn’t drink even a little bit of wine and confess to it.  They feel that while it might have been alright for Paul and Timothy, it would weaken their own reputations in the church….

Gluttony, however, is a rare subject of spiritual discussion.  It is the sin kept on reserve, a more legitimate indulgence.  If you need a certificate of moral permission for a real whopper of an iniquity, you can pile up your plate at the Sunday school potluck, and the church will sign off on gluttony.

I have always been struck by the odd inconsistency of obese evangelists preaching against alcohol abuse.  How wicked we become in excusing our own indulgences while excoriating (berating) others for theirs.  Self-forgiveness sometimes forgives the preacher while calling the audience to task.  No-where is this truer than in how many believers handle gluttony.

This permissible gluttony is an odd allowance, since the Bible condemned it so often… “

-Calvin Miller, in Self-Control: cultivating Spirit-given character (a six-week Bible study guide).

 

I read this and say A-men.  It is detrimental to separate these sins, reducing things to a do- and don’t- list without seeking to purge our hearts of the underlying issues.  Can I sincerely claim that I seek to “do all to the glory of God” ?