Sloth and Gluttony

Hey Guys,

From my experience, I see these as the two biggest sins in the churches I have attended. Yet they are never spoken against as being serious sins! Why is this?

Also, how would you define sloth and gluttony?

 

Aaron, I agree.

I think that's a peculiarly American attitude toward Christianity, IE, "Don't point fingers at others in the Church, you have sins, just in a different way!" I think there NEEDS to be accountability among Christians. "Confess your sins one to another", James says.

I struggle with gluttony and sloth, and I'm sure all Americans struggle with the temptation of gluttony. I'm not looking down off of a holy high horse on those who struggle with gluttony, but I'm wondering why those sins are not specifically addressed. A good friend of mine points out that the word debauchery, in the Greek, seems to point toward over-indulgence of sensual passions. It doesn't specify sexual passions.

It is listed as a work of the flesh, contrasted with the works of the Spirit that evidence our walking in the Spirit. Sodom and Gomorrah are condemned for their gluttony and idleness, yet these sins are never spoken against in Pulpits. Yet how much sin that WE commit(including myself here) can be traced to sloth? For me, a lot.

So i'm just saying, for the good of the church and for each of our individual Christian lives, it would be really beneficial if we recognize these are spirit-quenching, testimony ruining sins, and work at fighting against them.

I define sloth much as Aaron, Laziness and laxity. Not doing what I'm supposed to do.

Now ABCgrad, you are right as well. Backbiting and gossip is also a prevalent sin, thouh one far more heinous. Backbiters hate the brethren. They try to hurt other Christians, and thus, according to 1 John, are not Christian. One of the evidences of a true Christian is a love for the brethren, remember? Hereby we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.

And also, "If any man says he loves God and yet hates his brother, he is in darkness unto now."

So I look at gluttony and sloth as sins that believers struggle with and that cause a lot of grief, whereas backbiting stems from hatred of the brethren, and evidences that the backbiter is outside of Christ.

Thanks for all of the replies!

EDIT : For Johnathan -

Some examples of sloth and gluttony in the churches I have attended. Well, sloth for one, it's evident in the amount of time people place upon leisure and entertainment. People who are Christians, yet are immersed in entertainment, live for entertainment, their favorite TV show, etc, all the while there are superior joys waiting to be tapped into for the one who will devote himself to God's will. A couple of favorite quotes of mine on entertainment are :

AW Tozer - I can tell how much God you have by how much entertainment you need
Leonard Ravenhill - Entertainment is the Devil's substitute for joy
Blaise Pascal - Out of all the dangers of the Christian life, none is more dangerous than the theater(paraphrase)

(J. C. Ryle, “Occupy Until I Come”)
“Occupy until I come.” Luke 19:13
How instructive are these words to all who are troubled by doubts about mingling with the world, and taking part in its vain amusements. It is obvious that races, and balls, and theaters, and operas, and cards—are not forbidden by name in Scripture. The question which we should ask ourselves is simply this—”Am I occupying, as one who looks for Christ’s return—when I take part in these things? Would I like Jesus to return suddenly—and find me on the race-course, or in the ball-room, or at the theater, or at the card-table?”
Oh, dear reader, this is the true test by which to try our daily employment of time! That thing which we would not do, if we thought Jesus was coming tonight—that thing we ought not to do at all! That place to which we would not go, if we thought Jesus was coming this day—that place we ought to avoid. That company in which we would not like Jesus to find us—in that company we ought never to sit down. Oh, that we would live as in the sight of Christ!
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16



Sorry for quoting so much, but I think they are better at expressing what I'm saying than others, and their words should carry a lot more weight than the words of this young Christian..

Hey, if anyone else has any quotes on entertainment or amusement, please PM me with them. so far i've collected about 6 good quotes on the subject from Christians I respect, but I won't paste them all in here.

Johnathan, as far as seeing gluttony in churches, well, I don't judge this by appearance. But just realizing that people a) don't fast(though it was normal in the life of nearly every pious Jew and in Christians throughout history) and b) they eat way more food than is required to sustain them. They just have an American eating habit, that's all.

I sympathize with people who struggle with this, but it would be nice if sin was identified is sin. Sometimes awareness is curative.

 

True, ABCgrad. But I'm saying, there are pet sins that aren't preached against and so people are not even aware of! I don't like the idea of pastors preaching hard at sins they see in hopes of changing people, this never seems to work. But instead, just bringing people into awareness that it is sin, and letting the Spirit do it's work would seem to work.

To Donna, I don't know where you get the idea that we are to only focus on sin in our own life. The world is looking on. How they see us live our lives is a huge thing. Look at the movie with that comedian making fun of religions. What did it do? It picked the nutty, anti-intellectual, fanatic Christians and used them to represent the whole. Those nutty Christians make it a lot harder for us, and when I meet one, I'll gently tell them to discover a book called the Bible that is the source for all doctrine. This isn't being judgemental, it's just worrying about the advance of the kingdom and obeying my biblical mandate to approach a brother who is in fault. (Brethren, if a brother be overtaken with a fault, ye which are SPIRITUAL restore one another, in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest ye also be tempted)

The fault is in context speaking of the works of the flesh, that's why he says, "Ye which are spiritual". The one who is walking in the Spirit is to confront the one who is not walking in the Spirit with gentleness, urging them to come out of their sin. This type of accountability would cleanse a lot of churches and not allow sin to secretly spread throughout the congregation, eventually disabling that churches prophetic witness to the culture, and losing all credibility to an observant world.