What is it about Food?

For the past month I've been trying to eat healthier with the hope of losing some weight that I gained from the sedentary lifestyle of being a seminary student and the cold winter months that make me just want to stay inside and eat carbs. I can honestly say that my flesh is screaming and angry about it too.

I didn't make a New Year's resolution to lose weight or exercise more - just didn't want to start the New Year off with a lie. I didn't join a monthly weight loss subscription program until my husband visited his doctor and was told he could get off some of his meds if he'd lose weight and get off sugar...good advice for me too...but I have failed and failed miserably on this subscription plan and have grown to resent it.



I read an article posted by a friend addressing the issue of food and the outward appearance of being overweight as affecting our testimony as Christians. This article was written to pastors by another pastor who had fought the battle of weight and food addiction and was spoken out of sincere love and concern for pastors to be accountable as leaders of their flocks and to lead by example. He addressed some areas of focus that I thought were good - but he left out one important component that I'm going to address in this blog. I'll put the link to his article at the bottom of this page. 

The one area he didn't address was how food can be an idol. You might be thinking, how on earth could food be an idol?!? Well, let's look at the definition of idolatry - the worship of a physical object as a god 2. immoderate attachment or devotion to something (Source https://www.Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary/idolatry). Now we may not be bowing down and saying prayers to our Big Mac or Sonic tea, but look at the words "immoderate attachment or devotion" -- wow! How often do we say we can't start the day without our coffee (substitute any drink or food here) or we're not functional? How often do we coin phrases to include food? How much time do we spend shopping for, preparing, eating, storing, cleaning up, dining out? How about the money? If we analyzed our spending, how much of it goes toward the purchase of food/drink? We post pictures of our food more than pictures of our loved ones. We post pictures of ourselves dining out or enjoying drinks with friends. We celebrate with food on any occasion -- happy or sad...and the snack industry contributes to the world economy at an alarming rate.

The truth is, we are immersed in a culture where food is a god. There are networks devoted to shows about food 24/7/365. There are restaurants of every kind popping up seemingly everywhere and now smart entrepreneurs are even renovating RVs and campers into food trucks to go to the customer in the name of free enterprise. 

I could bore you to tears with statistics and diagrams, but I think you get the point. Food is a functional god - Food is not bad - but if our focus is more centered on food than it is on glorifying God, then it's likely we have made food a functional god - idol.

This is not something new or earth shattering - but it's a call to accountability because what I see in the diet industry is the same focus on food as a functional god. If you eat this, you'll lose weight. If you keep up with "this many points" per day you will have freedom from food...again, the focus is on what goes in your mouth much more than the words that come out of it or the spiritual food of Scripture.

We have fallen victim to the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in our idolatry of food. It was food that the serpent used to tempt Eve to sin. It was food that Eve used to tempt Adam too...and it's been food since that time. Jesus was tempted by the enemy in the area of food too - Jesus was tempted by the enemy in the area of food too but he was victorious over it and remained sinless even in great hunger after a 40 day fast in the wilderness - "The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 3:3-4

So the $1,000,000 question is this - how do we lay down an idol that sustains us and keeps us alive? How do shift our focus away from it and toward a Holy God? I think it starts with a heart of true repentance. I think it's also a matter of confession too - laying it at the cross and surrendering it daily, hourly, minute by minute if necessary.

I am absolutely an idolater when it comes to food - call me a foodie, call me an addict, call me whatever you want - my outward symptoms of carrying excess weight tell it all. I love healthy food, I love junk food, I love high fat, low fat, and all in between. I enjoy meals with friends or quiet times dining alone - and I don't mind a drive thru dinner in the car occasionally either. I'm also guilty by choice - no one has made me do this, it's not my past wounds or difficult childhood - I just like food of all kinds! But I'm also angry about it...angry at myself, angry that the enemy has a hold on me in this area and that I am not using the power of self-control - a heavy-weight fruit of the Spirit.

I hope that this blog post will rally the troops -- those of you, who, like me, may be carrying extra weight around (or not), who love to eat good food, who cannot blame anything other than that on the extra pounds - to figure out a way beyond this stupid gazillion dollar diet industry to lay this life strangling idol down at the cross for good.

I'm so mad at the money I've spent on diets and books and online "freedom" plans that don't work. I am so angry about failing with this subscription diet plan because it's put my focus even more on food because all day long I have to put what I eat in their online diary and calculate the points I have consumed to absolute nauseum. It's time consuming and expensive and my rebellious spirit just doesn't like giving part of my day to it. I'm beyond exhausted of the cycle of defeat I feel when I step on the scale every week to see that I've lost and gained the same 4 pounds over and over. And yes, I'm tired of carrying around the evidence of my idolatry around in the form of excess weight, hurting joints and the prison of shame because of it.

I'm guilty as charged. But as I face this coming weekend where Jesus conquered Death and Hell and gave His life for my sins so that I could live eternally for and with Him, I find a renewed sense of responsibility to live it out on a greater platform - because I know I'm not alone in this battle. I KNOW there are people who are victorious in this who are out there who desire to pull others out of the muck of idolatry and mostly, I am responsible for living a life that glorifies my Father in all areas of my life - but in this area of my life, I am weak and I know He is made strong in my weakness.

We can call it food addiction if we want to - but the reality is we can fast for a short time, but we can't stop eating altogether - and that's what makes this such a hard thing for many of us. We are encouraged not to waste food and for some, we do pacify feelings or satisfy our stress overload by eating but the fact remains, food is still a very real part of our lives.

The pastor that wrote the article that I mentioned earlier was sincere in his appeal to those who shepherd the flock as ministers. He was right that they should lead by example - but the truth is, any of us who bear the name of Jesus as Christians should also lead by example - not out of self-glorification of having perfect bodies as we stand before those under our care - but in being real and transparent with our struggles and working to exhibit and use all the fruits of the Spirit, including self-control over all things, not just food.

I'm being painfully transparent here but I'm asking for help from those of you who have been more than conquerors in this area. I don't want diet advice - I want to know how you gained freedom from loving food. How did you gain power of self-control over it? What steps did you take to gain the confidence through Christ to overcome the power that food has over your mind, body and soul?

I'm asking you to pray for me and for each other as we seek to be whole and lay down this functional god in our lives. I am also asking for those who have been more than conquerors to offer a hand of brotherhood to those who struggle.

Here's the link I promised if you want to read more: 4 Tough Questions Every Pastor Needs to Ask

Praying for y'all! Let's learn to walk in Victory! Amy