Above All Else: From Gluttony to Self-Control

In week eight of Above All Else, a series on the heart and the seven deadly sins, Grant Clark explores gluttony. Drawing on Proverbs, John 6, and the unforgettable image of Augustus Gloop tumbling into Willy Wonka's chocolate river, Grant argues that gluttony is not fundamentally about food but about a disordered appetite in the heart that cannot say "enough." He then points us to Jesus, the Bread of Life, as the only one who truly and lastingly satisfies."Gluttony is a third car when one will do, a third drink when one is best, a third hobby when the other two you started aren't satisfying enough. Alcoholics and drug users are gluttons, but so are some web surfers, card players, and businesspeople. In other words, '-aholic' is the suffix attached to the glutton's meal of choice, for gluttony is immoderation, and immoderation is not about having body fat; it's about having a gaunt soul." - Jeff Cook, SevenWhat gluttony is (and isn't):- Gluttony is not simply eating too much; it is any appetite that refuses to say no, not yet, or enough- Thomas Aquinas: gluttons eat "too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, or with too much finicky fussing about... food"- The Desert Fathers: gluttony is not fundamentally about food; it is about the heart. Food simply reveals the deeper issue- Gluttony is about MORE: the pattern that shows up in our spending, our shopping, our screens, our stuffGluttony in our culture:- 26% of Americans spend more than they earn (highest level ever recorded)- 90 million Americans use buy-now-pay-later services; 40% of purchases are regretted within days- People buy 60% more clothing than 15 years ago and wear each item only 7-10 times before discarding it- Global viewers consumed over 2.43 billion hours of YouTube every single day in 2025- Humanity now consumes the equivalent of 1.7 Earths' worth of resources every yearGluttony and the heart - John 6:- The crowd who followed Jesus across the sea came to him not because of who he is, but because of what he gave them: "you are looking for me... because you ate the loaves and were filled"- "They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies." - Leon Morris- "The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God." - Bruce Marshall- "The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night." - John Piper- Jesus's response: "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again." (John 6:35)From gluttony to self-control - fasting:- Fasting is abstaining from food so that we might pray; when hunger pangs come, we turn to God rather than the fridge- "Fasting reveals the things that control us." - Richard Foster- Dallas Willard: "Very little of our being lies under the direction of our conscious minds and very little of our action runs from our thoughts and consciously chosen intentions. Our mind on its own is an extremely feeble instrument... If we are to be transformed, the body must be transformed."- Fasting disrupts our automatic habits and retrains us to hunger for God, not the table of the world- Challenge: practice 24 hours of fasting this week (sundown to supper), using meal times to pray and read ScriptureVerses referenced:Proverbs 4:23Proverbs 21:17, 20 (CSB)John 6:24-26John 6:27John 6:33-35Philippians 3:18-19Mark 8:34Matthew 6:161 Corinthians 10:31