We are a society of addictions aren’t we?

Drugs.

Alcohol.

Pornography.

Gambling.

Sex.

Facebook.

Candy.

Recipe Websites.

These are just a few off the top of my head.

We all are prone to over do it in some way, shape, or form.

When I was younger, I struggled with the porn. Getting older, the novelty, if you will has worn off. It lacks appeal.

The advent of the Internet has brought just a sewer of it. People with cell phones taking videos of sex acts in horrible lighting, with horrible sound, and just awful content.

If you can call it “classy”, the days of the Playboy photo spreads are long behind us. Other magazines followed the Playboy lead.

But the in your face crotch shot? Just gross!

The female body? Absolutely stunning.

As a photographer, I longed to learn how to shoot the female form in ways that a few of the iconic Playboy photographers did. The lighting was utterly perfect.

Here’s an interesting fact for you.

At it’s onset, the magazine did little to no “airbrushing”.

They found the most beautiful women, with the best figures and photographed them.

I read some about this and learned the craft if you will.

Lighting, when done excellently, does more to accentuate than any “airbrushing” ever could. Makeup comes in a close second.

Understanding lighting and understanding makeup in any kind of “figure study” photography sets the hacks ( “I’ll fix it in Photoshop” ) apart from the true artist. ( “Get it right out of the camera”)

I tried to be the latter.

In any event, I enjoyed a few years of “Glamour Photography”. It filled a void for a time. I still enjoy a good model shoot, as you can see in my Black On Ammo session (scroll to the bottom) on this website as well as in this video.

But yeah, addiction to porn. Bad.

Let me circle back here to the real issue I am seeing across the country.

I want to speak to the Christian who may be reading this.

This is for you.

It’s a point to remind us that we really need to be careful on how condemning we are of others who struggle. This and how we may in fact be encouraging others in their addictions.

With alcoholism and drug addiction running rampant in my family, there is a quick snap “she/he is a drunk” any time someone learns another human being is consuming alcohol.

I’ve observed a tendency among recovering alcoholics for example to label any and all people a “drunk” if they choose to drink alcohol.

They can’t control it. So in their minds, neither can anyone else.

This theme carries over into the church. A LOT. Just in different ways.

It’s becoming less and less common for a pastor or preacher to demonstrate guts from the pulpit. Ever increasingly afraid to speak the truth for fear of losing congregants. In so doing, they are enabling and encouraging a tepid, lukewarm faith.

One bone of contention I have with the church body is the condemnation of alcohol and it’s consumption.

Please allow me then to list a few scriptures regarding alcohol.

“for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags” Proverbs 23:21

They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Deut 21:20

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' Matthew 11-19

Do you notice a pattern here?

Glutton and Drunkard. They are interlaced like this frequently in scripture.

There are a number of scripture verses which address gluttony on it’s own. By itself. Actually, a lot of them. Significant numbers.

I think a number of Christians read this word gluttony and see a person who devours food by the pound in one sitting. Spit, hands, food flying everywhere.

Like I do with Frosted Flakes! (Okay, you now know my single, rather serious addiction…Damn you Tony the Tiger!)

Let me provide for you the definition of Glutton.

Glutton- One who indulges to excess in eating.

Gluttony- Excess in eating

Again, I think most, if not all in the family of Jesus see the Glutton as we would see Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers series. Herein lies a significant problem.

Food is borderline worshipped in our world today. Particularly at the church. I would be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time a pastor or speaker in the church references the food and abundance of food that will be available post service, at the pot luck, at the men’s breakfast, at the bible study, at the prayer meeting.

It’s very easy to diagnose gluttony. It’s right there in front of us visible as all get out. It’s impossible to miss.

Would you ever accept and tolerate having your pastor up speaking to you while slurring his words due to drunkenness?

I should hope not.

Yet, all day long we will approve of, almost encourage, excess in eating. So what if he or she is 40 lbs overweight?

In our world today, that’s alright.

As he or she bellows the ills plighting our world today, while outwardly demonstrating an addiction that clearly is called out in the same class as drinking to excess in the Bible.

Just like the drunk, we can see the addiction to food simply by observing the overweight persons stature.

And we approve of it. All the time.

We should not.

You should not if you are given to gluttony.

Here are just a sampling of problems that you may face from obesity. Many of these now putting an outlandish burden on our medical system today.

• Heart Disease

• Stroke

• Diabetes

• Gallbladder disease

• Osteoarthritis

• Gout

• Breathing problems

• High Blood Pressure

This list could continue, but you get the point.

I see all around me every day what would otherwise be a beautiful woman or an incredibly handsome man, but for their layers and layers of unnecessary fat.

In the film Shallow Hal Anthony Robbins came down hard on Hal as Hal didn’t like the girl because she was “fat”.

Yet, I do not believe for one second any woman on the planet, particularly in the church would tolerate and accept it we’re she to confront her drunkard husband over his drinking. How it’s destroying him and their family. And his reply is…

“You should love me for who I am on the inside”. “Stop being so shallow”.

This is not a swipe in particular at women. Although I will be willing to argue that more women use that line than men when they gain weight and are disproportionately carrying fat.

If a man expresses his distaste for his once “thinner” spouse’s now obese form, he is hit by a tornado of emotions and even insults. At the top of the list of phrases seems to almost always be;

“You should love me for who I am on the inside!” “Stop being so shallow”.

This should not be.

In this post, I hope to convey to you a deeper message.

If you are struggling with your weight, you need to do something about it.

It’s not appealing for starters.

It shows that you are not moving enough and you are eating too much. It shows a blatant disregard for the body you have been loaned to live in while on earth.

You are putting on display your internal battles that you probably should find help to deal and cope with.

You see, being overweight simply means you are taking in more calories than you burn off. Most overweight folks are doing this to mask or cope with larger internal issues.

One of the simplest solutions would be to start moving more. Doing more.

If you did that, much of your excess weight would come off.

If you combine this with a more healthy approach to food, as say, stop eating Frosted Flakes, it works miracles.

BTW, I want to add, the only way fat can leave your system is through Urine. You MUST increase your water consumption if you opt to take on your gluttony.

The next step; find counseling or help with learning anew how to properly eat and feed yourself.

Accepting, better said, condoning and encouragement of the sin called gluttony is creating a serious problem in the church and in the overall health of Americans.

It’s a really huge problem. (Pun Intended)

I want to say that we are not all going to look the same when we are at our best.

For example, my frame and stature simply will not allow me to gain the size and strength of the body builders or super strength athletes. I am limited. I train and lift hard. But I am limited.

My first wife came from the Scandinavian bloc in Europe. A blocky, square physique human. Bordering impossible to ever be “ripped to shreds” (which is not attractive on a woman in my view anyway). However, she could lift a house if she would have set her heart on maximizing strength training.

My now wife, the lovely Italian Princess Joelle, is just that. Italian. Of Mediterranean descent, she can get ripped to shreds any time she puts her mind to it in the gym and through proper eating. Easily.

She, however, would not be able to develop herculean strength like a Russian woman for example. It’s not in her DNA.

There’s a limit to the shape and size and strength you will attain.

The goal here is to get to the best level you can be and put an end to your addiction to food.

Food and the excess consumption thereof may be acceptable to the church at large. But it is clearly not as far as God is concerned if I read his word properly.

In closing, let me just say this.

According to the Bible, overeating falls in the same realm of alcoholism. If you are overweight you have a problem.

In the church, I believe we need to look at this more seriously. People that are obese are struggling with something inside that is causing their addiction. We do them NO GOOD joking about food and the gluttonous consumption of it as if it’s cute and funny.

We never would joke or make light of a weekend drunk fest at the church beach outing, let alone put it together and promote it.

“Be sure to join us. There will be plenty of alcohol for you and your family to partake of! We are going to get drunk, sing songs, and hope that Sally takes ALL her clothes off this time. Yeah BOI!”. Sure I can see that happening…NOT!

We should not be doing as I see happening all the time with food; particularly in the church.

These people are struggling with the same addiction properties as your alcoholic, your porn addict, your gambling addict.

And while the levels of pain they are causing others around them may not be as apparent as say, a fall down drunk, they are there never the less.

Not the least of which are the health problems listed in the beginning of this writing. (most of the above listed killed my very overweight friend much too early in life)

No, we must take this love of food with the same seriousness as we do the other vices we have decided must never be participated in.

We should look to provide help; not encourage the abuse. And sadly, this happens far too often in the church.

There are too many beautiful people out there, trapped in the vice of food and gluttony. It’s something we must attempt to help them out of.

Take care of yourself today (literally).

~rob out