What Does Gluttony Mean? A Biblical Definition of Gluttony

What does the Bible mean by gluttony? Is gluttony a sin? What is the biblical definition of gluttony?

Gluttony is…

The word gluttony comes from the Latin word “gluttire” meaning to gulp down or swallow and is understood to mean over- indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth to the point of extravagance or waste. Some list gluttony among the so-called “seven deadly sins” from Proverbs 6:16-19 but it actually doesn’t appear there but is gluttony a sin? If so, where in the Bible is this called sin? It could be from Paul’s reference in Philippians 3:18-19 where he wrote “as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” The “god is their stomach” could mean gluttony in the sense that they set their mind “on earthly things” like food and drink.

The Sin of Gluttony

Solomon was the richest man on the face of the earth at the time he lived and he knew much about gluttony so maybe, being the expert on this, we should read what he wrote about it. Solomon wrote that “the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags” (Prov 23:21) so he commands to “Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags” (Prov 23:20-21). Further, he writes “The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father” (Prov 28:7). There are two things about this sin; first of all, it is like making your stomach a god that you need to feed and continually satisfy and also it brings one to poverty because consuming all one can focuses all of their expenditures on themselves and not on helping others, which makes them a bad steward of what they have been entrusted to by God.

Jesus Accused of Gluttony

It’s amazing that the religious leaders accused Jesus of gluttony, which is patently false. For one thing, we must remember that Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights so He didn’t lust after food to satisfy His stomach and yet they said “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matt 11:19). Luke also records this insult of Jesus, writing “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’” (Luke 7:34)! For one thing, I am glad that Jesus was (and is) a friend of sinners because the world is full of sinners; myself included, and if He hadn’t befriended me and died for my sins, then I’d have no friends at all and would have only the wrath of God to face after my death (Dan 12:2-3; Rev 20:12-15).

Other Gluttony Verses

The word “gluttony” only appears seven times in the Bible but it’s also mentioned in the Old Testament in the Book of Deuteronomy where it was written about a rebellious son: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard” (Duet 21:18-20) and this rebellious son was to be put out of the nation of Israel (Duet 21:21). When Paul was instructing Titus that a deacon must “be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9) this was to silence the false teachers (Titus 1:11) because they were unrepentant sinners as they were “always liars, evil beasts [and] lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). In other words, they were only concerned and focused on themselves and not on anyone else which is why Paul said that they must be silenced.

Conclusion

Gluttony is a sin but we can’t judge people who are overweight because they might have a medical cause for this. We all have different metabolisms and we don’t know their story or the reason for their being overweight. We can’t judge a person from the outside for God judges rightly for He alone knows the heart. We do know that even Jesus was accused of gluttony, which we know was not true, but gluttony could be a symptom of something wrong in the believers life but we must trust God and let Him be the judge of that.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.