A weighty issue

I hope not!!

 

Sure. "They that weight upon the Lord...."

 

We have had pastors so large they had their own zip code.

 

Yeah, absolutely, because its obvious there's not much fasting going on there. And we are called to pray and fast. Which is why I wonder about Spurgeon's theological soundness.

 

I think the only fasting is between pot lucks.

 

As long as he is not extreme in his appearance I would have no issue with it. But extreme obesity would be a problem. Either a self control issue or a health issue.

 

I agree, and it would not be a good example for the congregation or for unbelievers. I think the pastor is supposed to be a good example. Hard job, yes, but it is what it is.

 

This is a good one.

Of course if you choose to make weight an issue your drastically reducing (pun intended) the pool of candidates.

I think a church should judge a candidate on the whole of their person. If weight is an issue for some, than it should be addressed. Funny how much of this is a societal thing.

Personally, I have a problem with leaders who stand in the pulpit and scream to high heavens about "social sins" and haven't seen their feet for years. It gets worse when they laugh about condemning this and that but will not, admittedly, address gluttony.

Weight is a tough issue. Some people have a legitimate genetic issue...but then I wonder if we could discount someone who has a genetic predisposition to another issue.

Just one of those things I guess. A congregation should make issues of matters that matter to them. That's my take. The biblical criteria is well expressed, these peripherial issues will take discussion.

 

I don't recall weight being one of the requirements Paul laid out in 1 Timothy. Maybe it was in 1 Legalisticus 3:1?

What's the definition for "extreme" obesity? 300lbs? 400lbs? 600lbs? 1 ton? If they meet the requirements of God, who cares what their weight is to man?

 

When the belly overhangs the pulpit and makes the sermon notes invisable, it may be time to consider weight disposition.

Then, this may explain why some preachers have to pete and repeat points in their sermons and preach for 35-45 minutes what could have been said in 20-25 minutes.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Hire the "Dinner-Bell Rent-A-Cops" to police the chicken, [FONT=verdana,arial]

[/FONT]then weight won't even be an issue, for a Baptist preacher. :BangHead:

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Actually, if you start talking about someone being overweight,

"you done quit preachin' and gone to meddlin'"!

Ed

 

And

According to scripture, pastors must pass the external judgement test as follows.

All pastors must be at least 6' tall, weigh no more than 185 lbs., have "six pack abbs, be able to bench press 300lbs, and run 5 miles in less than 35 mins.

They must also be handsome. We don't want any ugly preachers out there. They would be bad examples to unbelievers.

No bald guys, either. Everyone knows that baldness can be caused by stress or bad genetics. All bald preachers must not be able to handle stress very well or just have bad genes. We can't have that kind of man preaching to unbelievers and around our congregations.

No preachers that have high colesterol. Pastoring is a stressful job, and high colesterol leads to heart attacks and we can't have preachers getting sick on us.

No asthma, either. Preachers have to have good lung compacity. If they don't have good lung capacity, then they can't go out witnessing house to house.

No preachers with disabilities, either. We can't have blind, deaf, crippled preachers out there being bad examples to unbelievers and to our congregations.

No preachers with dentures. That proves that didn't have the self-control to care for their teeth, which is part of their bodies, i.e. the "temple of the Spirit". If they won't care for their teeth, they have no business trying to care for unbelievers or those in our congregations.

According to the Scriptures, once you pass the external judgement test, then a church should consider whether you are a Christian, if you love the Lord, if your love the Word of God, if you love the fellowship, if you have a heart for the lost or if you can actually preach a Spirit inspired sermon.

Or maybe scripture doesn't say that at all.

peace to youraying:

 

Salty, what are you trying to do bro?

Here is my definition of extreme...

IF upon entering the Baptistry, he displaces so much water that it would be impossible to baptize someone... HE IS TOO FAT!

 

I had to stop and think about your post. How do know what weight a person should be, the bible doesn't give us guidelines, any guidelines we use is man opinion, not necessarily God's.
When people discuss overweight or obese people they usually do not know the difference, here are some definations

Normal Weight – ideal weight per height measurements; a classification of BMI (body mass index) between 18.5 - 24.9


Overweight – an increased body weight that is between 25 and 29.9 percent over an ideal weight for a specific height; BMI (body mass index) between 25 - 29.9. May not only be due to increases in body fat, but lean muscle as well


Obesity – an excessive amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass or a body weight that is 30 percent over the ideal weight for a specified height; BMI (body mass index) of 30 or greater

Extreme obesity – a BMI (body mass index) greater than or equal to 40

http://www.obesityinamerica.org/glossary.html

a BMI of 40 - 50 is considered morbid obesity
Greater then 50 is super morbid obesity.

BMI calculator
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

So what do we do, ask prespective pastors what their BMI is, for their medical records, do we have a list of illnessess and diseases that makes the man unacceptable?

 

Now I know why I am no longer a pastor. I have false teeth that could pop out at any moment if I get excited. I can barely walk, let alone run. Lit weights? Does that include pen and paper? Oh my, oh my! I do make the 6' mark and only 13 stone 4.........

Cheers,

Jim

 

Can we weigh the membership as well?
OH< and skinny pastors are just as unhealthy!...

Superficial!

 

Every good Baptist woman has a goal to fatten up the preacher with her cooking. Just go to any potluck and witness all the dear ladies trying to outdo each other in the kitchen. The first one with an empty bowl on the potluck table wins, and heaven help the preacher who eats one woman's cooking but not another's. . .

No man is perfect, whether physically, or mentally, or spiritually.

 

The pastor at our old church was a skinny little guy, maybe 150 pounds and 5'9", and constantly battled high cholesterol, and numberours other things.

 

How do you think the Red Sea was parted?