“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” This question is asked by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. You can find it in the nineteenth verse of the sixth chapter.
And it’s been a prick to my conscience for years.
This year, I decided to face that conviction head-on and do something about it. I decided to take better care of my health — not just for the sake of me personally or even my family, but because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Now, let me pause here and make some very important disclaimers and qualifiers.
Weight Loss is not what Paul was talking about
The only honest and legitimate hermeneutic is to strive to understand the original intent of the author responsible for the said text. Progressives and postmodernists (among others) will push back against that, but they are wrong. There’s no other way to say that. They are just plain wrong.
If someone sends you an email or a text, their message has an intrinsic meaning. It’s not for you to decide what their message “means to you,” but to attempt to understand what the sender means.
With that in mind…
When you look at the context of I Corinthians 6:19 (and I encourage all of you to do that — read all of I Corinthians 6), Paul’s emphasis is on sexual purity.
The first-century city of Corinth was steeped in pagan hedonism. Christians are always influenced by the culture around them, so the temptations towards sexual immorality were intense. Not only that, but many Corinthian believers had previously been actively engaged in hedonistic lifestyles. The temptation for them to regress was always present. Paul was making clear that sexual sin corrupts the body — and their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit.
So, Paul is not talking about weight loss. Okay?
Still…
Paul is basing his argument against sexual immorality on a foundational premise that has multiple applications. In the case of I Corinthians 6, the application Paul is emphasizing is that Christians should keep their bodies pure from fornication and adultery. However…
It is fair to say that, since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we should consider what other ramifications are logically entailed.
Stewardship is Multi-faceted
The Bible clearly teaches stewardship. We are to be good “stewards” of what God has given us, and that would obviously include our bodies and our health. But…
Stewardship is multi-faceted. It’s not just our bodies and our health. It’s also our money, our attitude, our thoughts in general, our relationships, and our time. And it’s all the things we take responsibility for in the course of our lives — our jobs, families, the country we pledge our civil allegiance to, and the communities in which we live.
And here’s my point…
No one is able to be fully and consistently on top of all their responsibilities without error.
People are holistic and multi-faceted. We need to be humble and gracious about this fact. You shouldn’t judge the entire person based on one or two aspects of his or her life.
We all have flaws and imperfections. We all struggle in certain areas. We all fall short of God’s standard of perfection. And so…
We need to extend grace and patience to one another.
Health is complex
Don’t judge other people based solely or primarily on appearances. Yes, I know people do it. But time and again, the Bible calls us to be counter-cultural and to go against our human nature. This is one of those times.
You don’t know the full story of someone else’s life. And you don’t know all the aspects of another person’s health.
One time my mom told me about a friend of hers who got ugly stares when he would go shopping with his wife. This was back in the 1980s when more people were “traditional” in male-female roles. When this man and his wife went grocery shopping, the wife would carry all the groceries, including loading them in and out of the car. Many people would look at the husband and shake their heads. How could he let his wife do all that work? Well…
The truth is that the husband had some significant health issues and (for this particular season of his life) couldn’t lift anything over 5 pounds. His wife was well aware of this, and encouraged him to follow the doctor’s orders.
The judgmental spectators didn’t know the whole story. That didn’t stop them from judging.
When it comes to weight, be wary of judging someone else’s appearance. You don’t know the full story of that person’s genetics, health, background, etc.
In her 50s, my mom started exercising and trying to lose weight. But her multiple health issues (multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, insomnia, and depression) made it all but impossible for her. She couldn’t keep up. And over the years, she found her mobility increasingly impaired until she was (on many days) essentially bedridden.
She passed away in 2005.
Never “fat shame” anyone. Be kind. Be gracious. And be patient.
If that person sets out to lose weight, encourage that person — but don’t shame.
Do the best you can with what God gives you
I know that is a lot of disclaimers, but I find that this issue (like many others) swings from one extreme to another. It’s important we be reasonable and patient in how we approach matters like this.
The bottom line is that we should do the best we can with what God gives us.
Have I lived up to this standard? No.
But that is changing. Slowly.
My story is, I’m sure, like that of many others. In my teens, I was skinny. In my 20s, I got married and started putting some weight on. Not a lot but some. Then came my 30s. And, before I knew it, I found myself up over 200 pounds.
I did a weight loss regimen in my mid-30s and got back down to 185 or so (about where I should be for my height – and age at the time). But it didn’t last. By the time I transitioned to pastoral ministry, I was back around 200 pounds.
Pastoring has not been good for my weight.
There is no excuse. But there are reasons. As a pastor, you spend most of your time sitting — either sitting with people in their homes, sitting in meetings, sitting and studying, sitting and eating (Baptists have a hard time meetin’ without eatin’), and well…you get the idea. Pastors stand when they preach, but that’s about it.
There are also studies that show that weight gain and stress are related. And ministry can be quite stressful. Trust me on that.
Maybe now you can appreciate why many pastors are overweight.
An added dimension to this is that food is one of the pleasures of life that pastors (and many Christians) permit themselves to indulge in. For my part, I am faithful to my wife. I don’t drink alcohol, smoke, chew tobacco, do drugs, gamble, or anything of the sort. But…
I eat.
I really like to eat.
I’m not alone. Baptists are the heaviest of any denomination or faith group in general!
To be sure, I’ve made some half-hearted and/or short-term efforts to do better in the past. But I haven’t stuck to those efforts. And now…
It’s time for a change. (I sound like a politician, don’t I?). My dad died at 49. My mom was 57 when she passed. This summer, I turn 54.
If I want to be around for my grandchildren (whenever they come), I need to be a better steward of my health. I owe it to my wife (especially), my adult children, and my future grandkids. And…
I owe it to God.
One thing that I have felt the Spirit convict me on is this…and it’s painful to write these next words…
Being obese doesn’t help my credibility when I stand on stage and preach. Nor does it help when I share Christ with others or counsel people on the struggles in their lives.
I have to lead by example.
The conviction began in earnest several years ago when I read Bod 4 God and met the author. Shout out to Pastor Steve Reynolds for his great example and work in this area. Unfortunately, the conviction didn’t stick. I wasn’t ready. Now I am.
Since Memorial Day 2023, I have:
- Stopped drinking soda (which, for me, is a really big deal)
- Avoided virtually all sweets (no ice cream, no cookies, no cupcakes, no cake, etc)
- Walked at least a half mile to a mile 3-4 times a week (usually every day)
- Been more mindful of portion sizes, snacks I choose to eat, etc.
I still have a long way to go. And will be adding in more habits in the weeks ahead.
Having said all the above…
I refer you back to all of my preceding qualifiers and disclaimers. :-),
If anyone reading this is expecting me to become a 180-pound bodybuilder…. yeah, that’s not going to happen. And I don’t think a pastor’s credibility should rest on whether he qualifies as a GQ model.
I’m not trying to become something I’m not. Nor am I pushing myself to Herculean efforts to lose 50 pounds in 5 weeks — or even 5 months.
What I’m doing is showing God, my family, my friends, the congregation I serve, and myself that I’m taking my health more seriously and I’m going to work harder on it.
I have a long way to go, but at least people who know me can see that I’m headed in the right direction.
And that’s all God asks of any of us.
God bless you!
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