The Tree of McDonalds

I was watching Super Size Me with Morgan Spurlock the other day, a documentary about the health effects of a ‘McDonalds diet’. Following the lawsuits against McDonads where two teens sued them for their obesity, Morgan sets out to conduct a personal investigation of his own into the health hazards of fast food.

This was not the usual type of movie for me, but I found myself ‘addicted’ after the first few minutes and decided to watch it. It’s an extreme investigation obviously, but the results were still eye-opening to say the least.

Morgan gained 25 pounds in 30 days, felt sluggish and miserable, lost his sex drive and his cholesterol levels increased dramatically.

The film gave a sobering look into the effects that fast food has on our health - and on our childrens health. I walked away from this with the realization of my own ‘junk intake’… and I wondered to myself:

If there were a Tree of McDonalds in the Garden of Eden, what instructions would God have given to Adam and Eve regarding this tree?

 
Now I’m not going to tell you that eating fast food is a sin, or that it’s not. That’s a personal conviction for each individual person, I imagine. And as the experts say, the key is balance and moderation. But it did pique my interest, so I thought I would share the scriptures and resources that I looked up and found of interest on this topic…

Interesting to note, the word gluttony doesnt actually appear in the KJV Bible. And the 7 Deadly Sins? There is no formal listing of these 7 sins (pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth) in the bible, though it is said they are mentioned throughout. For more information, see The Seven Deadly Sins study.

I did find an interesting discussion on this topic - the Super Size Me movie and the “sin of gluttony” at the Casting Crowns Forum. I liked what Annelise had to say in that thread:

Eating too much junk does mean that we aren’t taking advantage of the huge opportunity we have for health in certain parts of the way of life now offered to us…

It’s also true that God loves and can use you no matter what your body is like and no matter what food you like… hehe the kingdom isn’t about food, necessarily. But He asks us to be wise with what we’re given, and I suppose being too lazy with looking after ourselves is really bad and actually severely affects our opportunities. Life and health are both gifts that we have and can use as we serve God.

I wouldn’t say it’s of the devil though. I say ‘in moderation’, it can be okay and sometimes practical or delicious. And essentially I don’t think it’s a sin… but not living wisely and being deliberately trustworthy with what’s given us is.

You can join that discussion here: The Devil Loves Fast Food!! 

Some will say that “our body is a temple” and anything we do to damage our body is a sin. What does the bible say about this?

(1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV) Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Again in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 6 verses 19-20, our bodies are referred to as a temple. Paul was specifically speaking on sexual immorality in this chapter:

(NIV) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

What the Bible says about ‘Disputable Matters’:

(Romans 14: 1-23 NKJV) Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

If you are interested in learning more about why fast food is ‘bad’ see Super Size Me with Morgan Spurlock. For more information on gluttony, see The Seven Deadly Sins study. Feel free to leave your comments below.

Tags: super size me, morgan spurlock, mcdonalds, fast food