Why are Bible believing Christians so fat? Okay, so they are not all overweight, but like the rest of the American population obesity is a problem. Part of it comes from the Christian heritage that the nation used to have. The common person on the street isn’t aware of it but their weight problems go back to a point of Protestant theology: We live under grace not law.
Christians believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This payment is extended as a gift from God to those who believe His death was enough to pay for their sins. There is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness through our efforts or work. It is a gift freely given by God. It is grace.
(Ephesians 2:8 KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Well and good in theology but it becomes a problem when we extend that thinking to our diets. We tend to think that because our sins can be washed away because we believe, then maybe that chocolate chip cookie will be forgiven too if we believe it to be true. It is not unusual at a church potluck to overhear someone say “It’s Sunday. That casserole doesn’t have any calories.”
So we indulge in food and we get fat. Unfortunately when it comes to food we are under law, not grace. If we are overweight, blame it on the Protestant Reformation. It is all the fault of Martin Luther and John Calvin.
homo unius libri
I KNEW there something sneaky about those two!
ReplyDeleteRemember that you read it first here.
DeleteGrace and peace.