Let's Do Lunch...

I'm a good American because I love food.  As a Evangelical Christian I also enjoy a good old fashioned Potluck!  Food is all around us.  We can get it fast or slow.  We have easy access to snack food which is the food that we eat between our meals.

All this to say we live in a time and place that purposefully going without food for a day is seen as both absurd and very difficult.  So it comes as little surprise when I ask Christians if they have ever fasted and the vast majority answers no.  You read that right.  I don't ask if they have fasted recently, but if they have ever fasted.  The sadness that is located here is that we know Jesus fasted and that he expected His followers to fast also.

   “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Matthew 6:16, ESV)  

Instead, much of the evangelical church has ignored this spiritual practice.  So the obvious question is 'Why!?'  Why have we not fasted?  The simple reason is that fasting isn't easy.  In America we are all about easy and dulling pain any way we can.  The most popular way we dull pain is with food.  So giving up food is giving up our pain killer.  We have a thing called 'comfort food' for a reason.  It is what we use to comfort us.  Instead, we should be turning to Jesus and His bride, the Church, for comfort when we experience pain.

   “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4, ESV)  

So before you begin trying to fast, ask yourself if you need to first learn how to take your pain to God and your brothers and sisters in Christ.  If the answer is yes talk to God and others about this issue.  Stop reading this post for the time being and work on this.  Remember to take things one step at a time.

Next, there are two primary reasons that you would fast.  The first is that the current situation you are in calls for it.  This could be something as big as making a big decision where you need God's wisdom to be able to go forward in any direction.  It could also be because you are hurting so much that you can't see outside of the painful circumstances that surround you and you need to gain God's perspective on the matter.

The second reason is that God is calling you to a season of fasting to build your relationship with Him.  That's it.  How does this increase our relationship with Him?  It's because the whole point of fasting is giving up a physical daily need and replacing it with a spiritual need.

Take the time and energy that you devote to thinking about, preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after your food...and devote it to God.  Use the time to read His Word, to pray, and to serve others.  The easiest way to serve others is thinking about how much money you would spend on food on a given day and donate it to feeding the homeless.  This could be giving a lunch sack to someone on a street corner or donating to the Phoenix Rescue Mission.

Lastly, consider this: If we don't have the ability to discipline our bodies to avoid eating food for a few hours, how can we expect to discipline our hearts and minds to be conformed to the likeness of Christ?  If we are to die to self and live for Christ we must remember that dying is a painful endeavor, but it produces eternal rewards.

   “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”” (Matthew 4:2–4, ESV)  

Weighted Spirituality

Something that I have been convicted about for some time is the issue of my weight.  I recently had my annual physical at the V.A. so that I could get a consult to see a doctor regarding my left knee which has been giving me problems since last summer.  Before I saw my doctor I had to have the dreaded weigh in.  I weighed in at 245 pounds.

Now I know what many are thinking.  Stuff like, hey you're 6'1", that's not bad...or, wow you can't tell.  Well the problem is that I can tell.  I look down and I'm not happy with what I see.  The Holy Spirit puts it to m that I am not living the disciplined life that I have been called to live.  For, we are not spirit only, nor are we just bodies.  God created us with both working together.  But nobody has said anything to me about my weight!

I recently began reading a book by favorite spiritual formation author, Gary Thomas, titled Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul.  He makes this very true statement in chapter 2.

"The curse of today is that so many Christians equate bodily sins with sexual sins.  The only possible bodily sin, in their minds, is related to lust.  If they're not sinning sexually, they believe these verses don't apply to them.  The contemporary age of the church is the only generation that has believed this."

He later goes on to say that we have completely disregarded the sins of gluttony and sloth in the teaching time at church's today.  We often speak about gossip, sexual purity, lying, anger, and other issues.  However, the two aforementioned sins are left untouched.  I believe the reason for this is that it hits home a little to hard.  Especially for pastors.  (Note: Not all overweight pastors suffer from these two sins there are other problems that cause weight gain.)

   “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22–25, ESV)  

I am tired of being someone that knows with my mind what to do but doesn't practice it when it comes to my body.  For how well can I truly discipline my spirit if I am unwilling to discipline my body and make  the sacrifices that are needed, especially when they are really not sacrifices.  I need to die to self and live for Christ.  So that, when I am older, if the Lord grants me the days, I will be better able to continue to serve Him.

I know that this is going to be difficult for me.  Much is going to weigh on my eating habits (pun intended).  The reason why is that I have mild asthma, chronic right ankle pain, and issues with my left knee that need to be resolved (hopefully in the near future).  So I am going to need to do a lot of praying surrounding this issue and constantly rely on the Holy Spirit to help me to discipline my body so that I may grow closer to Christ and be more useful to Him.

So for the next year the passage below is going to be my theme verse along with the song by Tedashii.  Give a listen.  Let me know what you think and I appreciate your prayers I begin to cut out fast food, soda, and other foods in my diet that are not good for my body that doesn't get nearly as much exercise as it needs.      

   “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27, ESV)