Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today, we will continue our series on the passions and we will proceed by examining a passion that can very easily be related to the pleasing of the body. Today we ask: What is gluttony and why it is a passion? First let's begin by having a working definition of what it is.
Gluttony is understood as the greed that can surround the pleasure of eating and drinking or the self-indulgence of the mouth and the belly. Now, this clearly translates into eating for the sake of eating, for the pleasure of it. Gluttony therefore is when a person reaches a point where eating and drinking in excess becomes a norm. Again, not out of the need to satiate hunger or quench thirst, but rather because the person has become a slave to his or her appetite and taste buds.
At this point in time, it's important to note that food and drinking in and of themselves are not bad. On the contrary, the Christian ought to believe that they are gifts from God. However, as the common day saying goes, we eat to live; we do not live to eat. Gluttony, therefore, is not considered a passion because of the notion that food might be impure or bad in itself, or that the very function of nourishment might involve some sort of sin. For as Christ said: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man. And as St. Paul teaches, for everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
Let's take a moment to remind ourselves that the purpose behind all passions is to disorient a person. Rather than having our lives directed towards God, we find ourselves running after and preoccupied with worldly and sinful things. In the case of gluttony, a person whose attention and energy is directed towards the pleasure of food and drink is therefore not worshiping God, as intended by God. Rather, they are submitting to another god, if you wish. Let’s see, for instance, what St. Paul says about this in the book of Philippians, chapter 3. He is writing to the people of Philippi and warning them of those who have put their trust in the flesh and other earthly things. He says the following in verses 17 to 19:
'' 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.'' (Philippians 3:17-19)
What we have here is a great example of how a person can be led astray if they give in to the indulgences of food, how their god is their belly, as St. Paul states.
Let’s take, for example, two different biblical narratives that will highlight to us both what not to do and what to do when dealing with food. In the first example, let's see what happens to Adam and Eve when they desired the fruit of the tree. Genesis chapter 3, verse 6, says that Eve saw that the tree was good for food and that it was delight to the eyes. The desire of the eyes and the belly were stronger than the urge to follow the commandment that was given by God. We all know how this sinful gluttonous desire led to disobedience and ultimately the fall of mankind.
Now, for the second and more perfect example of what to do when dealing with food, we turn to the Lord Himself when He is tempted by Satan on the mount. The Lord was tempted to break fast and give in to the indulgences of the stomach. His answer was exactly what we ought to always keep in mind to battle gluttony:
'' 4 (...) Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'' (Matthew 4:4)
What we must always keep in mind is that the body was given to us as a temple to be put in order and trained to be a vessel that is made in the image and the likeness of God. The body, therefore, ought to be used so that we can offer God worship, not to be the object of our own worship. We ought to use it to offer to God rather than always be offering to it. Let's take a moment and hear from the great St. John Chrysostom on this very subject:
''Your belly is given to you so that you may nourish it, not so that it may burst. Your body is given you that you may rule it, not so that you may have it as a mistress. It is given that it may serve you for the nourishment of the other members, not so that you may serve it. Do not exceed these bounds. The sea in flood does not so much harm to the boundaries as our belly does to our bodies and our souls. The flood overwhelms only part of the land. The god of the belly overwhelms the whole body. Set self- constraint as a bound to it as God sets the sand to the sea.'' (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Philippians 14.3.18-21)
It is therefore no wonder that the Orthodox Church is a church that consistently utilizes the benefits of fasting and asceticism to help the believer gain self-control over the passions of the flesh.
My beloved, as we conclude, let us be reminded that all that God has created for us was meant to be good and used for our sakes. Let us not take God’s great gifts and turn them into idols that we run after and enslave ourselves to. May God grant us victory over every passion that attempts to turn our hearts and spirits away from Him.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And to God be the glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.