AfterWords: “Seven (Deadly Sins) Life-Giving Virtues”

 

John 6:35

We continue this week with the “Seven Deadly Sins”—that list of attitudes and behaviors that our Christian ancestors began developing in the 3rd Century, those attitudes and behaviors that rob us of life, and separate us from God and one another.

Gluttony is taking an excess of food or drink…more than we need. We find gluttony mentioned and condemned in the Old and New Testaments. In the 21st Century, we continue to wrestle with gluttony. We tend to celebrate every good thing with excess food and drink, and we tend to respond to every set-back with excess food and drink. Our culture glorifies food, promotes excess, and generally encourages us to throw off restraint. To make it worse, our food manufacturers today desig addictive ultra processed foods.

But, food and drink are no longer the only excesses of our lives. We have hundreds of channels and dozens of streaming services that tickle our desire to be entertained. So, we watch more and more and more. We live in a capitalist culture that encourages us to buy more and more and more. We now binge on potato chips, binge on alcohol, binge-watch shows, and binge-shop at the mall. We eat, drink, watch, and buy more, and these excesses are robbing us of life.

Paul writes that people have becomes “enemies of the cross” and that “their god is their stomach” (Phil. 3:18-19). In short, people are trying to fill the spiritual hole in their lives in the same way they fill their stomach—with food and drink. All of our excess is our attempt to deal with the emotional and spiritual issues of our lives with physical, earthly stuff. We eat too much, drink too much, watch too much, and buy too much as we deal with personal emptiness, strive to handle the pain of life, or attempt to fell something instead of nothing.

Jesus knows this is true, and we find it in John 6. Over 5000 people are fed. Jesus leaves and travels to another part of the lake. The people follow him and want more food. Jesus tells them that what they need is not more baked bread but the “bread of life”—himself.

As with bad habits, we need to replace sinful attitudes and behaviors with virtuous ones. Just as I replaced bread, butter, and honey (deadly) with cucumbers, hummus, and whole-wheat crackers (life-giving), we replace gluttony (excess for self) with generosity towards others. We say ‘no’ to the sin, ask God to show us what we’re avoiding or not dealing with well, and instead of feeding ourselves, getting drunk, watching the screen until we fall asleep, or buying yet another blouse or another tool, we help feed others, we do chores that await us, we serve others, we get outside of ourselves. In short, we recognize that Jesus is what we lack, and we stop trying to fill ourselves and our time with food, drink, and stuff. We turn to God to help us redirect our lives towards Jesus—the bread of life—and his Kingdom.

Sunday, June 22, 2025
“Seven Deadly Sins Life-Giving Virtues”
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