#48 Moderation, part 1

From The Fascination of the Race and Other Essays, by Benjamin L. Sommer

When we consider the various acts which are counted as sinful, we shall find that most of them are either a misuse of something that of itself is good and proper or an excessive use of, or indulgence in, a thing that, properly and moderately used, is entirely wholesome and proper.

The sinfulness is therefore not so much in the thing itself as in its improper or excessive use. “For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving.” (I Tim. 4:4)

There are some acts that are essentially sinful; such as lying, stealing and so forth, but these comprise the smaller part of the catalogue of sins. By far the larger number of sins are a misuse or an excessive use of things which are good in themselves.

When we look upon the matter in this light, it becomes apparent how important is moderation as a Christian virtue. If Christians could only master the homely old precept, “Be moderate in all things,” what a wonderful forward step it would be.

The subject is such a large one, and there are so many phases of life where moderation should be employed that it will be impossible to cover them in one article. We therefore propose to publish a series of articles on the general subject of moderation, dealing with one phase of the subject in each article.

In this article we shall deal with the value of moderation in eating and the sinfulness and harm which come from excesses in this direction. First of all, let us see what the Holy Scriptures say on the subject. For once I could wish I were writing in German, for the German language has a much stronger word than the English to denounce excess of eating. It has two words in place of the English word “eating.” One, “essen” means respectable eating by human beings; the other “fressen” is used to denote eating by beasts or shamefully excessive eating by people. Thus, by the very forceful word used, it puts excess of eating by people exactly where it belongs—on a bestial basis. This is the language used (fressen and saufen) in Romans, chapter thirteen, verse thirteen, where the English translation uses words much less expressive and forceful, saying “not in rioting and drunkenness.” Many an overstuffed glutton has read these words, without realizing that he is meant. But that is exactly what it means. The apostle is warning and admonishing against excesses of eating as well as of drinking. The evil and sinfulness of excessive drinking of spirituous drinks is well understood, but the evil of excesses of eating is not so well understood. Holy Writ, however, places both in the same category, often denouncing both in the same breath. And rightly so, for both are destroyers of body and soul. When the apostle speaks of those “whose God is their belly,” (Phil. 3:19) he no doubt had other sins in mind besides gluttony, but the word surely strikes with great force those “who live to eat.”

Even in ancient times Sirach preached on this subject, saying: “Be not unsatiable in any dainty thing nor too greedy upon meats: For excess of meats bringeth sickness, and surfeiting will turn into choler. By surfeiting have many perished; but he that taketh heed prolongeth life.” (Sirach 37:29-31)

Ah, yes indeed, by surfeiting (eating to excess) have many perished, even in our day. How many an otherwise good man has literally eaten himself to death. The difference between him and the man who sends a bullet thru his brain is that the former did not realize that he was destroying himself and did not intend to do it, but he destroys himself nevertheless by the excessive indulgence of his appetite and desires.

Here also the word applies: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (I Cor. 3:16, 17) He that injures and destroys his own body by any excess can not be blameless.

Eating to excess is sinful not only because we injure our bodies, which we ought to honor as a temple of God, but because we consume (to our own hurt) food for which others are actually starving. How often, when we are called upon to help in a good cause, do we hear the reply, “I can't afford to help.” Waste is a sin and doubly so when we consume excess quantities of food which others need so badly.

Paul admonishes: “Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Cor. 10:31) Gluttonous or immoderate eating is not to the glory of God but the contrary and is a shame and disgrace to the gluttonous eater as well as an injury to him in body and soul.

And you, our dear wives, whom God has given us as helpmates, will you play the role of Eve and tempt us at our weakest point?—not only using every art at your command to make food tempting to the palate, often entirely without regard to its wholesomeness, but also urging us to eat, eat, eat; pleading “a little more of this won't hurt you,” and “a little more of that dainty will do you good,” when it is actually killing some of us and making beasts of many otherwise good men. Many a good woman has made herself an untimely widow by this method, of course, without realizing what she was doing. Yes, verily, many have been killed by kindness, or what was intended to be kindness but which was in fact the contrary.

You, women, make great sacrifice to put three square meals per day upon the table for us. We owe you appreciation and thanks for your efforts. But the Word of Wisdom says to all of us, “Be moderate.” Let us eat to live, not live to eat.

In many cases the temptation to excess in daily eating is not so great as when we entertain guests. For such occasions, when we have “company,” the gorging process is often reserved. What tables we have seen, literally groaning under a burden of food, which the guests could not decently consume.

Here a subtle vanity sometimes comes into play. One hostess desires to excel another in the elaborateness of meals served. None wants to stay behind in the race to see which can serve the finest and most elaborate meal. Each would feel humbled if she could not serve as good a meal or better than others. But that is a false ideal. On the contrary, it is an honor and a credit to the hostess who has the courage and the wisdom to say, “No! I will not engage in such a foolish race nor indulge in such excesses. I shall serve my family and my guests a reasonable amount of good, simple, wholesome food to meet their needs and there I shall stop.”

When Jesus was visiting at Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he found Martha to be also one of those women who went to excess in making much do in serving meals. How kindly and gently and yet earnestly did he rebuke her, saying: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 9:41, 42)

We have heard so much the last generation or two about excesses of dress and so little about excesses in eating, but the Scripture denounces both. If a good part of the preaching we have heard against the manner of dress had been directed against excesses of eating, it would have given a better balance, and it would have been more wholesome and more Scriptural. Not that we want to apologize for excesses in dress. We hope to have something to say about that in a later number.

Much has been written about diet as a means of maintaining health and curing sickness, but it has been well said that the best part contained in all that literature can be expressed in two words—avoid excess. The value of moderation in eating is attested to, both by the Holy Scriptures and by sound common sense. It is the only rule that can always be safely applied to this question as well as to so many other phases of life.