Diabetes, obesity, cavities. … You already know the host of health conditions directly related to poor dietary habits.
Listen, the most important thing is helping my students know Jesus. But I don’t think I need to jeopardize their health to do it. So I’ve worked to remove gluttony examples from our program.
What We’ve Done About It
In our youth ministry, we’ve already gone caffeine-free. The free soda is gone, and so are the vending machines. It was the very definition of foolishness to try to get a group of sugar-high, caffeine-filled 13-year-olds to sit still long enough to experience something meaningful.
We’ve dialed back on sugar for the same reasons (and because we were tired of finding Skittles everywhere).
Maybe the next thing we need to address is the pigging out we enable—and the gluttony examples I’ve set for students. Because it’s true: I eat like a glutton only at youth group. But kids don’t know that. All they know is that I seem to eat an irresponsible amount of food every time they see me eat. And if teens decide they want to be like me, that’s not a habit I want them to emulate.
How about you? Do you indulge in gluttony only at church events? Or have you succeeded at responsible eating when surrounded by mountains of free food?
