Gluttony is Spelt VEGAS

Yesterday, I landed in Vegas on my way home from Topeka.  Waiting for my plane, I listened to the cling and ching of the slots; sirens, rings, buzzers, and frustrations of people losing their money.  Less than a mile away an endless strip of hotels offer more food, fun, more, more, more!  Vegas is about all thing excess.

Some say everything is bigger in Texas.  But I would argue that Vegas can give them a run for their money, or lack of.  The gluttony of Vegas is staggering.  But it is not just there.  It is in our families, our schools, our restaurants, and even our churches. 

Last week, we began a fitness challenge with the staff at our church.  In an attempt to help those who want to get fit, we kindly asked the desktops laden with candy, pastries, pies and cakes to consider that the person in the next cubicle could be struggling.  A bulging waste line, a subtle sign that things may not be completely healthy, could also be a sign that things may be a little out of control.  As one who still struggles with the constant and unhealthy fear of gaining my lost weight back, I can’t remember one time that someone confronted me as the pounds packed on.  My gluttony was out of control.  On many occasions, after a rousing sermon on a Sunday, friends and I would head to a Home Town Buffet and eat, and eat….and then after the food settled, we ate some more.   Gluttony. 

Surrounded by fellow church goers, it was ignored.  But I wonder if we had gone to the local bar after church and pounded beer and after beer, would anyone have said anything?  Of course they would have.  Drunkenness-that is a no-no.  But gluttony gets a pass.

Have you ever felt like me?  Have you ever wondered why some things are considered taboo, while other sins get ignored? After all, gluttony was considered one of the seven deadly sins in the early church.

I am a glutton.  I am a [fill in the blank].  The great news is that Jesus loves us all.

Peace,

Jason Harper

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