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“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
About a month ago, I overhead a conversation between two women who work in the doctor’s office. They were talking about food and eating, and the conversation took an interesting turn. The first woman said, “Gluttony is a sin.” The second woman replied, “What isn’t?” At the time, I was amused but her cynicism is understandable. The late critic and journalist Alexander Woolcott is credited with the line, “All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.” It does seem sometimes as if nearly everything is either frowned upon, unhealthy, or both. Even the medicines that are supposed to make us better frequently carry disturbing warnings, to the point that the cure seems worse than the illness. As we enter a season that sometimes seems to be dedicated to eating—often to excess—it’s appropriate to talk about food and the challenge it presents to many of us, especially at this time of year. Is everything a sin? Let’s see what Scripture has to say. Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “‘All things are lawful for me’—but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Cor. 6:12a New English Translation). So, if everything is “lawful,” there’s no sin, right? Not quite, because Paul was referring specifically to instances like what the lady in the doctor’s office meant. In the next verse (vs. 13), he pointed out that, while eating wasn’t inherently sinful, allowing your appetite for food—or any other pleasure—to control you wasn’t healthy. He concluded by writing that “. . . the immoral person sins against his own body.” (vs. 18b NET). So doing unhealthy things on purpose would qualify as sin. If nothing else, it’s a sin against yourself. John apparently didn’t agree. He wrote that, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4 NET). Depending on the translation, it might also be rendered as “rebellion,” “disobedience,” or “against the will of God.” If we regard God’s will as the ultimate law, then yes, sin is breaking the “law.” So, according to John, if we sin, we’re breaking the law—Moses’ law, God’s law. Meanwhile, James wrote about sin in terms of intent: “So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.” (James 4:17 NET). In this view, sin—whether of omission or commission—is a matter of our understanding. If we know right from wrong and fail to act accordingly, we’ve sinned, so it seems James would agree that knowingly doing unhealthy things—such as eating to excess—is a sin. Jesus said sin had less to do with what we do or don’t do than with our thoughts and attitudes. He told his disciples, “‘All these evils come from within and defile a person.’” (Mark 7:23 NET). Everything else, he said—and he gave an extensive list (vs. 21-22), from “evil ideas” to “folly”—comes from inside us. In the same vein, Paul wrote to the Roman Christians that sin affects all of us. “For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:22b-23 NET). But fortunately for us, there’s more, because we “. . . are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (vs. 24 NET). Jesus said loving God and our neighbors fulfills all God’s demands: “‘All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (Matt. 22:40 NET). You could even say love is the opposite of sin. Loving God and our neighbor is also an excellent way to show there’s something to the faith we profess. It can illustrate—better than any sermon—the truth of our faith. I’m going to give Peter the last word: “Above all keep your love for one another fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Pet. 4:8 NET emphasis original). “So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. Above all keep your love for one another fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.“ (1 Pet. 4:7b-10 NET.) Copyright © 2023 by David
Phelps
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