One attitude toward food that is not Christian is that of abuse. There is nothing godly about gluttony. In fact, the Bible condemns gluttony in various places. We should show appreciation for God’s blessings of food, but not by overeating.

My brilliant wife shared some insightful thoughts on Monday’s post. Let me quote from her comment:

I believe that Colossians 2:20-23 describes our world today very graphically, sadly enough. There’s so much around us that has to do with human regulations on eating, dieting, harsh treatment of the body (mind, spirit, and soul I might add) , seeing some foods as evil when in reality what is evil is the fact that we eat more of them than our bodies actually need to function in a healthy manner.

The two words that I think hold the key in this passage in Colossians are at the end of verse 23: restraining and indulgence. That’s where the problem is, at least for me, learning how to restrain my desire to indulge in unhealthy *amounts* of food, any food. Eating 6 plates of salad, righteous as it might sound, is the same problem of lack of restraint and overindulgence as eating half a pan of chocolate cake. It’s covetousness, wanting more than your body actually needs.

Restraint and temperance are the key concepts. God has blessed us with an abundance of food in this country. The proper response is not to eat anything and everything we can get our hands on. The proper response is to do what we can to see that everyone has enough to eat.

We often seem to avoid the subject of gluttony; is that only because it makes us uncomfortable? Or is it that the Bible doesn’t have a lot to say on the topic? What do you think?