Should the weight of pastors be addressed?

There exists a massive obesity issue in the SBC, particularly with the pastors. In the eyes of some, being extremely overweight is endearing in a pastor as it is a sign they are loved and fed well, similarly to the way being fat in certain cultures is a sign of wealth.

Nevertheless, it is a significant problem and doesn’t just speak to the eating habits of pastors, but to the state of their soul.

Those who stress-eat cross the line of eating for enjoyment and providing nutrients for the body, to slide into that dangerous place of allowing food to be a means of comfort. I am convinced this is the main reason for the major obesity problem in America.

As a result of the intense levels of stress pastors constantly endure, I am also convinced this is why so many pastors are overweight and unhealthy.

JonC said:

Well... the "prince of preachers" was an obese, smoking drinker.

Click to expand...

I have read that he smoked cigars, but quit when he saw his name used in an advertisement: "The Cigar Spurgeon Smokes!"

I can only find "glutton" in the Bible twice: Deut. 20:21 ands Prov. 23:21, with two different Hebrew words. Neither Hebrew word is about over-eating in the BDB lexicon, though Prov. 23:20 clarifies v. 21. I'm not saying it's a good thing to be overweight, but it's not treated as a sin anywhere near a sin as idolatry, fornication, etc. And the sin is not being overweight per se, but rather overindulging. That will kill you!

One of the most effective missionaries to Japan I ever knew was vastly overweight, and he did overindulge. So he died long before he should have, like Spurgeon did.

Paul told the Philippians of some “whose god is their appetite [belly, KJV]” (Philippians 3:19).

This description is certainly not limited to gluttony, but the mentality would include it. It involves a focus on carnal things rather than spiritualthings.

Paul warned about this in his letter to the saints in Rome: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).


Jesus said, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you…” (John 6:27).


Proverbs 28:7

He who keeps the law is a discerning son,
But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.



Several Bible passages tie gluttony and drunkenness together:

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:34).

Click to expand...

“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

Click to expand...

“Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags” (Proverbs 23:20-21).

Click to expand...

I wonder... we have associates gluttony with "being fat" (acknowledging, obviously, that some are overweight due to medical issues).

But some are also overweight due to a sedentary lifestyle (they may not be over eating, or giving in to a desire for food). And others may not eat too much, just the wrong things.

What I wonder about are those who over eat without being overweight. I know many who will often indulge in foods and desserts but do not gain weight.

When I joined the Army I could eat a lot. But I almost could not enlist due to being underweight. In Basic training they made me eat a couple of plates each meal. Never gained a pound. Ah...those were the days.

To find a solution to America's obesity epidemic, public health officials might consider a visit to the Rev. Steve Reynolds' church in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

And taking a look at the two scales sitting outside the pastor's office.

On a recent Sunday morning, that's where people weighed in before going to the sanctuary to hear Reynolds, a former temple trasher who has lost more than 100 pounds, deliver a message on the virtues of good health.

It's not unusual for churches and other places of worship to allow Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous to use their facilities for meetings. But Reynolds doesnt outsource his congregations health. He's written a book called "Bod4God" and has made weight loss a central part of his ministry.

Since Reynolds started preaching about the importance of honoring God by taking care of your body, members of Capital Baptist Church in Annandale, Virginia, and the surrounding community have collectively lost 13 tons of weight. Their success shows that one solution to the nation's obesity epidemic could be hiding under its steeples.

1 Timothy 4:8
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.


It is not that there is no profit, just that there are more important matters for a Christian to focus on.

Time spent on prolonging this life is ultimately a futile effort. I don’t say that we should give up the will to live. Whatever we put into the temporal remains.
There are no heavenly weight watchers rewards.

Ben1445 said:

1 Timothy 4:8
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.


It is not that there is no profit, just that there are more important matters for a Christian to focus on.

Time spent on prolonging this life is ultimately a futile effort. I don’t say that we should give up the will to live. Whatever we put into the temporal remains.
There are no heavenly weight watchers rewards.

Click to expand...

Our physical health is a very important matter to focus on.

Since our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, we should do temple maintenance, keep it fit and free from injury and disease, as much as possible.

We cannot effectively study and preach the Word, or serve others, or evangelize people, if we are sick, disabled, or weak from inactivity. The better off we are physically, the more we can do for God.

I think there are heavenly rewards for weight watching, which means honoring the body God gave us and controlling our appetites, improving our diet, and exercising.

Contemporary Christianity has pretty much ignored gluttony, to focus on condemning other types of cravings and addictions.

But there are lots of articles that warn about pastor obesity and gluttony in general. This issue is not being brushed under the rug like it used to be.


I Corinthians 6:19

What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and which ye have from God, and that ye are not your own?



I Corinthians 9:27

No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.



2 Peter 1:5-6

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness.



Proverbs 16:22

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.




Proverbs 25:28

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Ascetic X said:

Our physical health is a very important matter to focus on.

Click to expand...

It is of little profit. Thank you to the apostle Paul for that insight. Paul certainly did not care too much about the condition of his health in comparison to the gospel. He would have been much healthier if he had not preached in several places. But it seems he was a glutton for punishment. After being beat and left for dead, he got up and walked back into the city, state of health ignoring.

Ascetic X said:

Since our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, we should do temple maintenance, keep it fit and free from injury and disease, as much as possible.

Click to expand...

The point of that verse was for sin in the temple, not food.

Ascetic X said:

We cannot effectively study and preach the Word, or serve others, or evangelize people, if we are sick, disabled, or weak from inactivity. The better off we are physically, the more we can do for God.

Click to expand...

We are also going to die. It is not possible to preach, evangelize, or serve while we are dead. Should we focus on extending our life?

They did a study and determined that you extend your life roughly by the time you spend exercising. So unless you are on the treadmill while you’re preaching, you are not extending your life for the gospel, rather, for exercise. Since God gives health, and makes the food good for our bodies, I’ll trust Him to give me the health that I need when I need it to serve Him.

Ascetic X said:

I think there are heavenly rewards for weight watching,

Click to expand...

This is your opinion. That’s fine. But it doesn’t mean that it must certainly be true. If it were important for eternity, God would certainly mentioned the weight watchers crown. Since it is not mentioned, I doubt its existence.

Ascetic X said:

which means honoring the body God gave us and controlling our appetites, improving our diet, and exercising.

Contemporary Christianity has pretty much ignored gluttony, to focus on condemning other types of cravings and addictions.

Click to expand...

Contemporary Christianity has given itself over on the whole, to the satisfaction of the flesh. This is not limited to diet, and diet is the least of their problems, IMO.

Ascetic X said:

But there are lots of articles that warn about pastor obesity and gluttony in general. This issue is not being brushed under the rug like it used to be.

Click to expand...

There are lots of people who are offended by pastors and everyone who has internet may have a platform.

Ascetic X said:

I Corinthians 6:19

What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and which ye have from God, and that ye are not your own?

Click to expand...

So as Christians, we do not defile the body with sin. It does not mean we should not defile the body with food.

Matthew 15:11
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Ascetic X said:

I Corinthians 9:27

No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Click to expand...

But Paul has clearly taught Timothy that bringing his body into subjection is not specifically about bodily exercise. The condition of the body is not the goal of the Christian.

Ascetic X said:

2 Peter 1:5-6

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness.

Click to expand...

Self control reaches far deeper than appetite. It is the maintenance of the emotion. This is not strictly speaking of diet.

Ascetic X said:

Proverbs 16:22

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.

Click to expand...

Principles to apply to diets? Sure. Dieting strictly speaking? No.

Ascetic X said:

Proverbs 25:28

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Click to expand...

Temperance doesn’t exclude appetite, but I’m quite sure that the man referenced here was one who had lost his temper and not his diet plan. I don’t say they are unrelated. Just that diet would be a corollary to and not the focus of this text.


I don’t doubt your motives, but let’s keep the cart behind the horse.

1 Timothy 4:8
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.


In all this, I am not advocating for gluttony. But it is not the focus.

So many Christians think abusing the body and defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit refer only to cigarettes, vaping, alcohol, drugs, and sexual immorality.

So they poison and harm their bodies with too much fattening food, overly processed food, junk food, sugar, soda, cookies, donuts, and other detrimental things that they swallow.

This shows disrespect for the body God gave them.

If we wreck our physical bodies, we won’t be able to serve God as well as we could if our bodies were well taken care of.

But many Christians think all that matters is what happens in their soul, and thus disregard their bodies.



For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.(1 Corinthians 6:20)



Philippians 2:19

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.



One of them, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. (Titus 1:12-13)



Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way. Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. (Proverbs 23:19-21).

No one is advocating gluttony.

Did you want us on the BB to weigh in before we post, like the pastor you mentioned?