The Acceptable Sin

***PLEASE SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG FOR AN UPDATE***

If there is one thing that the Chick-Fil-A fiasco has done, it has revealed to me my own hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of many like myself.  Before you roll your eyes and stop reading, this blog is not about gay marriage or homosexuality.  We can debate – or rather argue – about that all day long.  Some of you will agree with me.  Some of you will not.  You can accuse me of hate and I can accuse you of ignoring or misinterpreting biblical principles; but at the end of the day, it is not likely that either of us will change our relative positions.  One view is right, and the other view is wrong. For either of us to change our minds about which one is right will more than likely require intervention by something greater than ourselves, such as the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

What the debate has done, however, is remind me that I cannot allow my own conviction about one particular sin to blind me to the Holy Spirit’s conviction to me about other sins – and for me, one sin in particular.  You see, with the Chick-Fil-A debate, many of us who support Dan Cathy’s right to oppose gay marriage will look at homosexuality as a “high-handed” sin – open and deliberate defiance of God’s commands.  We will say that God makes it very clear that people who continue in such a lifestyle of disobedience are disqualified for leadership in the church.  I would not support a homosexual in a leadership role in a church just like I would not support a practicing alcoholic in a leadership role in a church – or an active drug addict or someone addicted to porn or any other such high-handed sin.

During the height of the Chick-Fil-A uproar, I was having such a conversation with a friend.  It was at that moment that the Holy Spirit spoke to me in a profound, life-changing way.  As I was telling my friend how I would not support someone actively practicing any of these “high-handed” sins being a leader in the church, the Holy Spirit said plainly to me “then why should I support someone who is a practicing glutton to be a leader in my church?”  I was stopped in my track.

OK, let’s put things out on the table.  I know gluttony is a sin.  Proverbs 23:2 is especially harsh on gluttony: “put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony” (YIKES!).  I know I have struggled with my weight all of my life.  I also know that being overweight is not the best representation of Jesus Christ to the world.  To be honest, I am not even overweight – I am grossly overweight!  I have been really convicted about this for a number of years now.  I know that as an ambassador of Christ my physical appearance needs to reflect self control – which is part of the fruit of the Spirit.  I know that I need to be healthy so that I can do whatever Christ may ask me to do in terms of ministry and service. So I have been “trying” to lose weight for a long time.  As an engineer, I know how to do it.  It is basic thermodynamics – heat in (calories in) minus heat out (calories burned).  For whatever reason, I have not had the discipline to carry out that equation (i.e., stop eating more than I was burning).  It even seems that the harder I try to lose weight, the more weight I gain.  It has been a frustrating phenomenon in my life and I would even go so far as to say I have been battling with the fact that as a Christian I have not achieved victory in this. I know that in Christ we have victory over all spiritual battles, but I have not had victory over this spiritual battle.

NEVER, however, have I ever sat down at the table and said, “God, today I rebel against you and choose to be gluttonous.”  I can’t imagine very many overweight people admitting to that.  So when the Holy Spirit spoke to me that way, accusing me of being a practicing glutton, I was stunned.  “I can’t be a glutton!  I have no desire to openly and defiantly sin against God.  In fact, I desire to be obedient in this regard.  What do you mean, Lord?”  I have even actively repented on a number of occasions when I knew that I really had behaved gluttonously. That was when the Holy Spirit followed up, as the Holy Spirit does, with some very convicting facts… two in particular that rocked my world.

One.  The Holy Spirit asked me this question:  Can you honestly say, looking back over the last 20 years and the results of your action over those years as they are reflected in your body – my temple – that you really are not a glutton?”   Ouch.  The truth is clearly in the results.  Whether I actively chose to do so or passively allowed it to happen, I am overweight. That is the evidence - evidence that demands a verdict.  I am guilty.

Two.  The Holy Spirit reminded me of this scripture: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17).  That was it.  Put a fork in me. I was cooked and done. My sin of gluttony was not one of active commission, but of passive omission.  It was not that I sat down at the dinner table every night and consciously chose to disobey God.  Rather, I sat down at the dinner table every night and did not do the good I knew to do – namely to be conscious and aware of everything that I put into my body for consumption.  I was guilty of gluttony by omission. 

I believe it was Winston Churchill who said “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”  It is just as much of a sin to not pay attention to what you are eating and, as a result overeat, than it is to actively and blatantly choose to overeat.  I was sufficiently broken and right then and there repented of my sin.  I have put myself on a strict caloric-limited lifestyle that requires me to plan ahead and check calories BEFORE I sit down to eat.  I am also looking to several people, including my wife, to hold me accountable to staying on the wagon (so to speak) – much the same way I would if I were addicted to alcohol, drugs, or porn.  In fact, I now look at eating in much the same light as I would those other addictions.  It is very much a cumbersome pain – but isn’t recovery from any addiction difficult? I praise God that in the three weeks since this revelation that the power of the Holy Spirit has enabled me to hold true to this commitment.  If this were AA, I would be closing in on my 1 month chip.  The result in my body is evident as I have lost 20 pounds so far (woohoo).  I pray that God will continue to empower me to be “food sober”.

That was all introspection - now for the outward reflection.  It is not my desire to be judgmental, but I am afraid that in the church there are way too many of us who are guilty of this hypocrisy.  Looking first at myself, I look around the body of Christ and see many who, like me, are walking evidence that demands a verdict.  Unfortunately, many of those are devoted men of God in the ministry of his service who would never dream of being involved in such high-handed sins as drunkenness, drug addiction, or pornography.  And yet, for some reason, the sin of passive gluttony remains the unchallenged, acceptable sin.  It is not a good reflection on Jesus Christ.  We have allowed passive gluttony to become the acceptable sin.  God forgive us.

I pray that the Holy Spirit keeps me victorious in this regard, helps me not to be judgmental of others in this regard, but also gives me the wisdom to help others see that not taking active steps to prevent themselves from passively sinning is no different than actively choosing to sin.  God help us all to be holy and pure.

***UPDATE: 1/6/2013***

I am now 165 days into this new lifestyle and I am pleased to report that I am still committed to this change in lifestyle.  Putting away sin in my life - even the sin of passive gluttony - is very important to my spiritual growth.  Yes, I will admit that the Holidays were a bit of a challenge, but thankfully God gave me the grace of "reasonable" restraint and I did not gain back more than a pound or so over the holidays.  The New Year brings renewed commitment to living holy in all respects, including my eating habits. As of today, I have lost a total of 60 pounds.  While I still have approximately 100 pounds to lose before I reach my goal, I consider that a great accomplishment for which I give all the glory to God.
With respect to this topic and the whole concept of modern American evangelical Christians ignoring this acceptable sin, FoxNews.com actually did an article on this topic today.  It is worth a read and is called "Fat in Church."  It can be read at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/03/obesity-epidemic-in-america-churches/
Remember, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Let us continue to treat them as such.

Blog copyright (c) 2013 by Joel J. Dison
Comments are welcome and encouraged.

Indescribable Joy

**** UPDATE*****

Please note that I have removed this ebook from both the Amazon and the Nook ebookstores because Indescribable Joy has been picked up by Crosspoint Publishing.   Indescribable Joy will be available in paperback and ebook formats from Crosspoint Publishing in Summer 2013.  Please be looking out for announcements of its coming at that time.

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The following is the introduction to my new e-book, Indescribable Joy: Discovering the Principles of Joy from Paul's Letter to the Philippians.  The e-book is available exclusively on Nook and Kindle.

Introduction

I think I have to admit that I am not always the happiest of persons.  It may not be the best way to start a book about joy, but it is an honest one.  Some mornings I get up, stumble into the bathroom, look in the mirror and see the reflection of a horrifying grimace staring back at me.  It is not a very happy looking face (until after an appropriate consumption of caffeine).  I wonder where the grimace came from and realize that maybe I’m just getting older faster than I wanted to.  I used to be very happy in the morning time.  

Likewise, I sometimes come home from a long day’s work and collapse onto the sofa in exhaustion and wonder where all the energy went that I used to have when I was 20 years old.  You would think I would be happy that I was home and perhaps on the inside I am, but at the moment I am simply too exhausted to show it.

Over the years, I have been through some very difficult times.  Although God has always carried me through those times, I would be a liar if I even thought about classifying those experiences as being happy moments.

So what happened to the American Dream?  What happened to my inalienable, God-given right to the pursuit of happiness as promised in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America?  Have I simply not achieved it?  Has my pursuit been in vain? 

I do not think I am alone in this.  I see the rich and fabulous and while there appears to be happiness from time to time, there sure does seem to be a great deal of unhappiness, discontentment, and even downright misery.    No matter if you are rich or poor, everyone experiences pain.  No matter what your social status, there always seems to be something that can make us unhappy.

On the other hand, I have seen people of all socio-economic situations who seem to be perfectly content, regardless of their circumstances.  Why are some more able to deal with the difficulties in life than others?  Pursue happiness… why isn’t that enough?

So here is the question I must ponder:  Is that famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence, which is considered to be one of the most well-crafted phrases in the history of the English language, nothing more than an empty promise?  After all, if it really is our inalienable, God-given right, why do we experience so much unhappiness? 

Now I do not say this as an attempt to squash our patriotic ideals.  Rather, I think perhaps Thomas Jefferson and his fellow draftsmen in all their bountiful wisdom may have simply used the wrong word.   As acclaimed as this famous saying may be for its poetic and eloquent use of the English language, I do not think it is accurate to say that we have an unalienable, God-given right to the pursuit of Happiness. 

Nowhere in scripture will you find a promise that we will always be happy.  What you will find, however, are numerous promises and commands about being filled with joy.  In Psalm 16:11, we are promised that there is a fullness of joy in the presence of the LORD.   In Psalm 100 and other places we are commanded to make a joyful noise.  In Ecclesiastes 3:12, the preacher (presumably King Solomon) says that there is nothing better for man than to have joy.  Jesus’ half-brother Jude says that our goal is to be presented blameless before God “with great joy” (Jude 1:24).  In John 15:11, Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (NIV 84).”    The apostle John said basically the same thing in 1 John 1:4.  

I think I would much rather have joy that is complete than I would happiness, because joy is so much deeper and richer than just surface happiness.  In all, the English Standard Version of the Bible mentions the word joy in some form or other over 200 times.  Happiness (or happy) appears less than 15.

Unfortunately, like our forefathers who founded the United States of America, it may just be possible that we have a great misconception about that which God wishes for us to experience.  We think he wants us to be happy when instead he really wants us to be joyful.  Because of this misconception, we pursue what we think will bring us happiness with all of our hearts.  Too often, what we get is heartache instead.  Meanwhile, simple opportunities for experiencing joy fall by the wayside or are overlooked each and every day.

But you may ask: Aren’t happiness and joy essentially the same thing?  Isn’t it a good thing for me to want to be happy?  Finding the answers to those questions is precisely the point of this book.  We need to understand the difference between happiness and joy and why we should pursue the latter rather than the former.  We need to understand how to maintain joy, even when it is impossible to remain happy.  This is a dark and difficult world and scripture is clear that we will face many hardships.  We cannot always be happy, but we can be blessed with an indescribable joy that will never leave us – even in the valley of the shadow of death.  How can this be?  It can be because we have been endowed by our creator with an inalienable right to the pursuit of joy.  Now let’s figure out together how to obtain it…