Churches today have a wide range of approaches to dealing with sin.  Some churches just ignore sin in hopes that it will go away.  Some churches go on the offensive and try to scare or guilt it out of people.  I think most churches fall somewhere in between.  They claim to take a hard stance against sin, and then they pick and choose certain sins to preach against, some more than others.  The church has made it clear it is against homosexuality, pornography, lust, and adultery.  It’s against murder, at least when it’s for no good reason.  It’s against gossip, except for when somebody is asking for prayer for somebody else.  Preachers denounce greed, especially the ones driving $40K cars and living in million dollar homes.  I could go on for ever listing sins the church preaches against.

But have you ever noticed any sins that the church doesn’t really mind.  Sins the church tolerates, or even encourages?  How many sermons have you heard on gluttony, overeating, indulging, or just being fat?  I’m sure there have been some preached, but I can’t remember ever hearing one.  If it were to be found out that a church leader were involved in homosexuality, pornography, or adultery, how long would they be in their position?  Or they would at the very least be suspended and/or required to go to counseling.  But if a pastor is overweight for a year, or more, does anybody even mention it?  Or even think twice about it?

I will admit, overeating is an unusual sin.  It’s a sin that’s difficult to hide.  One can hide sexual sins, or illegal drugs, alcoholism, pride, hatred, at least for a while.  We all have sins that we have gotten good at hiding.  If you see somebody walking down the street, you have no idea of what sins have entangled them.  But if they overeat, it’s pretty easy to spot, even if you’ve never met the person.  I can’t really think of any other sins that you can spot from a distance like overeating.

I wonder why we, as a Christian culture, have decided to tolerate overeating.  And not just tolerate it, but Christians love gathering together to shovel down hoards of food, and we call it “fellowship”.  I remember all the Homemade Ice Cream Socials I went to as a kid.  No wonder I loved going to church.  Parents get into the act too with their kids.  How many times have you heard a parent say, “Be sure to clean your plate, because those poor kids in Ethiopia don’t have anything to eat.”  Who cares if they were full a long time ago.  And we know that those kids in Ethiopia will be very happy to hear that we cleaned our plates.  I’ve always wanted to go to Ethiopia, because let me tell you, I’d be very popular there.  They would love me for all the plate cleaning I’ve done in my life.