Ephesians 5:18, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
There is a rarely-referenced sin in modern Christianity, one that we occasionally talk around but seldom speak about. When we do address it, often we do so hypocritically. That is the sin of excess. Most commonly we talk about it in our condemnation of drunkenness.
To be fair, of the four times we find it in the Word of God, twice it references drunkenness specifically. But is it only excess of alcohol that is sin? Are there other areas where excessive behavior is sinful?
Helpfully there are other words which indicate excess. For example, gluttony. A simple dictionary definition is: “the act or practice of eating to excess.” Another would be sluggard, which befits someone who engages in too much leisure. Both of those terms indicate the problem: excess.
So what exactly is excess? I believe most of us would agree on the simple phrase “too much.” And why is “too much” in some areas problematic? Because of the consequences that follow. Too much alcohol? Drunkeness, with its myriad troubles. Too much leisure? Poverty. Too much food? Obesity and multiple other health problems.
As a matter of fact, Proverbs 23:21 sums up well the effects of the three forms of excess we have mentioned so far: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Obviously finding oneself broke and poor are not the only possible results of these excesses, but the principle is, in my estimation, clear: “too much” is a problem.
So how does a man avoid excess? Does he do so via complete abstinence?
Well, as overly simplistic as this will sound, I will not attempt to avoid obesity by abstaining from all food. Nor will I seek to beat poverty by never engaging in leisurely activities or downtime.
Indeed, it is foolish to advocate abstinence from eating. Stupid even. Nobody would suggest that. It’s equally silly to press for the avoidance of all leisure. There are some who would suggest that. Many of us have witnessed it first-hand. But it is nonetheless silly.
But herein our latent hypocrisy begins to manifest itself. We tell people all the time to avoid all alcoholic beverages, a practice that likely originated with the ironically-named “Temperance Movement” of the early 19th century. As a matter of fact, I suppose many of us have heard or said the following: “If one lie makes you a liar, one drink makes you a drunkard.”
But read again the scriptures that speak against drunkeness and gluttony and laziness. Then tell me the above statement doesn’t break the consistency of those verses. Better yet, let’s apply that logic to otherwise acceptable activities.
“If one lie makes you a liar, one bite makes you a glutton.”
“If one lie makes you a liar, one leisure activity makes you a sluggard.”
Doesn’t quite fit, does it?
But we have heard that “one lie…” line for decades in Western churches. And now we will see where our hypocrisy puts itself on full display for everyone to see, literally.
Many who stress total abstinence from alcohol have apparently redefined or forgotten what excessive eating is or leads to.
Hear me out. Many of us, myself included, have at one time or another considered ourselves overweight. Indeed – many years back I weighed in at 205. When you consider my 5-foot-6-inch frame, medically I was overweight. I was on the road to being obese.
Please bear with my sarcasm for a moment, for it helps me drive home my point through a bit of absurdity. I am not “big-boned”. I am not cut with muscle (which weighs more than fat and thus might have justified my apparently excessive weight). No, I weighed 40 pounds too much because I ate too much. And I exercised too little, which means I had too much leisure.
American churches are full of people who will tell you that all drinking is sin but who are overweight and, in many cases, obese.
My goal here is not to make a strong case for drinking alcohol. Rather, I want us to consider that we have created a double-standard. We rail against drunkeness (and drinking at all) while we ignore the excess that is gluttony. It runs rampant in our churches while we turn a blind eye.
I have been guilty as well. So I speak this with empathy. I’m right there with you. We have a serious problem in our churches because in all the years since God saved my soul, I’ve seen a lot of people who were overweight by 50, 100, or even 200 pounds (and some more than that). This is not an epidemic of being “big-boned.” This is not typically a medical problem; it is an individual problem.
We eat to excess. We eat too much at a meal. We eat too many meals. And this is consistent behavior. How do I know it’s consistent? Because we can’t hide it. It is obvious.
So is it sin to be overweight? The sin is in our excess. We then reap what we sow with physical and medical problems. Then we continue our excess as if we have no choice. And let’s not forget the failure in stewardship, the neglect of caring for the body that God entrusted to us.
Let me ask more simply. If excess did not lead to us being overweight, then what did? Nobody kidnapped me and pumped me full of fat. I signed up for it. And I pretended it was OK because, well, I can’t even remember what I told myself. But I ate too much for too long with too little exercise. And that was sin.
But we won’t be preaching loud and long against gluttony Sunday morning. Because it has become an acceptable thing. It’s the quietly-ignored sin. Plus, gluttony sounds so…bad. It sounds nicer if we just say we’re “overweight”.
“You had a glass of wine last night? That’s wickedness!”
“You weight 350 pounds on a five-foot-9 frame? <crickets>”
It’s OK because it’s not a real sin like having a cocktail or sipping a beer.
We ignore excess when it’s our excess, when it’s bred into us from our youth. Or we justify it with things like, “Well, it’s unhealthy to be too skinny.” I agree. As a matter of fact, I believe it’s just as unhealthy to be too small, to think an hourglass figure is the ideal. But we aren’t in danger of that, are we?
So how does a man keep from being a glutton or a sluggard? Moderation. Temperance. Self-control.
And I can get by with saying that about our eating or our leisure activities. But dare I suggest moderation in alcohol consumption? Have I the brass to say a man keeps from being a drunkard by moderation, temperance, and self-control? To do so would invite instant hostility in many churches.
But I’ll defend this: it fits perfectly with the principles and verses related to gluttony and laziness. To state otherwise is to present a dishonest or uninformed view of God’s Word.
Did Christ himself not lay this out clearly enough in Luke 7:33-35?
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
But wisdom is justified of all her children.
Our Lord engaged in eating and drinking. Too excess? Not at all. Not ever.
In moderation? Demonstrably so.
Christ was not fat. Christ was not lazy. Christ was not a drunkard.
But did Christ eat? Did Christ take time away? Did Christ drink wine?
Make what you will of what I’ve said. But let’s quit pretending that one thing that can be done in moderation is sin while ignoring the excess we live with daily.
