The government seems to have declared war on fast food, large drinks, candy bars, and of course, the greatest perpetrator of them all…high fructose corn syrup (Frustratingly, no one is declaring an all out war on durian except me. See picture on left.). Of course, this is not really a war on food, its a war on obesity. No one can deny that obesity is a growing (pun intended) problem in our culture. However, I find it odd that with all of the emphasis on food, few people are arguing for more P.E. classes in school or longer recess times. No, the problem is apparently not exercise, the problem is food.
Certainly, a lack of exercise is a major part of the obesity problem along with eating too much food and eating the wrong kinds of food. But, why is the government so set on going after food and not exercise? Perhaps it has something to do with political agendas or personal vendettas. I’m not qualified to speak specifically to all of that, but I do believe that there is something far greater at work here. Sin is certainly involved.
One of the greatest challenges to overcoming sin is repenting of sin. Repenting is hard on two levels. It is hard because it means changing my life. Repentance is also hard because it involves accepting responsibility and guilt. Repentance means that I must admit that I was wrong. Since the very beginning of time, human beings have worked to blame others for their sins and short-comings. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve, and then ultimately God, “The woman YOU gave me caused me to sin.” Now, McDonalds made me do it.
The Bible paints a different picture. As believers in Christ, we are called to take responsibility for our own sins and our own actions. If I am obese and do not have a medical condition that leads to it, it is not the fault of McDonalds, Starbucks, or the federal government, it is my own fault as a result of gluttony (a sin) or sloth (a sin) or both. If I am in have road rage, it is not the fault of the guy in the other car who cut me off, it is my own pride (a sin) that leads me to believe that my time is more valuable than his. Thomas Berger recently quoted James Cote this way,
The seven deadly sins have been redefined: “pride has become self esteem … lust has become sexuality … envy is now channeled into initiative and incentive … sloth has become leisure
Ultimately, the government is doing what humans have been doing for all time: redefining sin and looking for someone else to blame for our problems. We must talk more about those who have made us unhealthy with the food they sell than about we who have become unhealthy by eating bad food and refusing to exercise regularly. If exercise is the problem, then I may be the problem and in our culture that is simply not acceptable, I must find someone or something else to blame. The Bible, however, presents a different picture, we are all responsible for our own sins. Isaiah 59:2 warns,
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
We are all responsible to God for our own sins, whatever and however numerous those sins may be. We stand condemned. The good news of the gospel, however, is that even though we can blame no one else for our sins, God has willingly taken the punishment for our sins. We can only point our finger in the mirror when we look to focus blame for our sin, but we must only point our finger to Christ when we look to give credit for our salvation.
In sin, we want to take credit for the good and blame others for the bad. In Christ, however, we know that we must take credit for all of our sin and give him credit for removing all of our shame. We are dead, but he gives life.
