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| Why are there so many overweight people in church? |
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Now there’s a good question but before I attempt to answer it, another question springs to mind which is: ’Are there more overweight people in church than in society in general?’ I would dearly love to carry out some practical research into this area here in the UK but actually the only studies which have been conducted of this nature have been in the USA. One of them discovered that Southern Baptists and Pentecostals were the most obese and the other found that against society in general both the Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists had fewer cases of obesity than other groups and that Protestants were fatter than Catholics. It is interesting to notes that in all the groups that fared best there are specific rules regarding food and the Seventh Day Adventists especially provide a lot of health information to their members. So, I am making an assumption, based on US research and my own observations here in the UK, that the church has a greater incidence of obesity than in society in general. When I was obese and travelling with my husband in ministry around churches of many denominations, I would often look to see if there were others present who appeared more obese than me! This was a ruse to make me feel better about myself and I was seldom disappointed! Now I think there are both positives and negatives surrounding this apparent fact, so let’s look first at a couple of positives…. 1) The church isn’t as concerned about body image as other groups might be, so there is no pressure to be slim in order to fit in and be accepted. This is a real plus point. 2) The church welcomes broken and needy people; indeed it is often through unmet emotional needs that people first come to faith in Christ. Those familiar with the Stop Dieting – Start Living ministry will know how we place a huge emphasis on discovering and dealing with the emotional roots of disordered eating. The hope is that through the grace and power of God these needs will be met; also that by learning our true identity in Christ our self- worth and self-esteem grow and there is less need to resort to food to make us feel better. Now for some other factors which I believe are part of the mix…. 3) The subject of obesity is seldom, if ever, preached about. This seems to be a taboo subject and again we need to ask the question ‘why?’ On the positive side, it has to be said that ministers do not want to draw unkind attention to particular members of their congregation by preaching on something which could cause embarrassment or even humiliation, especially when those blessed with a metabolism that allows them to eat anything without putting on an ounce (don’t we hate them?!) can look round and smile smugly. But there could be another reason… 4) Many church ministers are themselves obese or overweight. Preaching on this subject therefore is a little too close for comfort and they certainly wouldn’t want to appear hypocritical, would they? 5) Overeating just isn’t taken seriously. We may proclaim the evils of a lifestyle that involves taking drugs, getting drunk, gambling, pornography or extra-marital sex, but disordered eating is something which we engage in with impunity. We even make jokes about it: ‘Well Paul said to buffet the body, so let’s just go to an ‘eat-all-you-can ‘buffet, shall we?’ But obesity is killing far more people than either drink or drugs. 6) Following on from the last point, church is as much about social fellowship with like-minded friends as it is about the spiritual and the way in which we, culturally, tend to share each other’s company, is in the context of sharing a meal. This is demonstrated in both the Old and New Testament and is evident in just about every culture today. There is nothing wrong with this, but perhaps we could be more imaginative and health conscious than simply providing platefuls of pastry-based quiches and pizzas, steamed white bread sandwiches and potato crisps. Couldn’t we provide healthy options as well like fruit and vegetable-based dips? We do not glorify God by being thin, but we do by honouring and respecting our bodies which belong to Him and of which we are stewards. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if society could look at the church and observe than we were healthier than others? I believe that this is what God wants and whilst some of us may be challenged by health problems over which we have no control, we must do our part wherever possible. One way we can do this is by eating responsibly. In closing let me say that having been an obese Christian for most of my life, I do know how difficult it is to overcome in this area. I do not share these things to make you feel condemned or ashamed. Through the ‘Stop Dieting – Start Living’ approach to weight regulation there is hope. Conventional dieting doesn’t work for the vast majority of people, but God has a better way. He can heal our damaged emotions; He can renew our minds; He can give the power to overcome temptation – He is able to do exceeding abundantly far over and above all that we might ask or think. Trust Him! |
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