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.

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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).

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“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).

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“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).

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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.

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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.