Obesity and Homosexuality: One in the same?

September 12, 2007 by David.

Quick - name one of the seven “deadly” sins. I’ve got one for ya:

Gluttony.

Yup - we tend to remember wrath, pride, envy or lust. But, for some reason, we gloss right over the one we’re probably most guilty of in the US. You may be wondering what this has to do with the title of this post. Here it is - the church, for years, has been more than willing to overlook one of the seven “deadly” sins in exchange for openly condemning another. Here’s how it breaks down.

You hear people often say that homosexuals can’t serve in church because they live in a constant state of sin. Well, by that standard, we’re probably allowing quite a few people serve that are “living in a constant state of sin.” By the way, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that principle espoused by Christ. I’m pretty sure he chose to look at the heart. Anyhow…

I’ve seen quite a few leaders in churches who were more than just overweight. They were obese. Some were morbidly obese. Yet, not nearly as many people would raise a question as to whether these people were qualified to be in leadership. But, their own physical appearance suggests strongly that they are living in sin - and one of the seven deadly sins, at that. You might be saying - “…but David, many of these people aren’t necessary engaging in gluttony. They may have physical problems that cause them to be obese.” You don’t say…

You know, there is quite a bit of evidence that suggests that homosexuality is a physical condition. At the very least, even if being gay was solely based on psychological scarring, it does not make the “need” any less intense than it is for the 500 lb man leading worship. Yet, we’ll gladly put the man in size 60 jeans on stage to lead us in singing, while we turn a stiff hand to the homosexual. In fact, we’ll suggest that the gay person go and get themselves “fixed” so that they aren’t gay anymore. Then, we might consider them for church leadership. We may suggest that our 500lb worship leader lose weight, but not because he’s living in sin but because he may not live much longer. Oh, and we have no problem letting him croon while he pounds down 2 boxes of ho-hos in a sitting.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that we remove fat people from leadership. Far from it. There is much we can learn from each other, regardless of what we struggle with. And I believe that we all struggle with something. For some of us, our struggle is far more visible. For others, we have the option of hiding it better and making people believe we’re somehow “better” or “more holy” than the obese man or the gay man.

But, employing a double-standard, especially when we’re dealing with peoples lives - no, their very souls - is not only dangerous, it is inherently wrong.

The truth is, when you deal with people and get involved in their lives, things get muddy. They get dangerous. There is the very real risk of getting hurt or being betrayed or finding out the person you met is not the real person. But the flip side is the wonderful possibility that you’ll get to know an amazing person, as flawed as you are.

That possibility does not happen until you’re willing to pull down the double-standards we’ve accepted for so long.

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