Todd Brady, minister to the university at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, had this to say today in a Baptist Press First Person article entitled, “Vaccinating our indulgences:”

Obesity in America is a weighty problem. Approximately 30 percent of children and adolescents (ages 6 to 10) are overweight. Nearly 65 percent of adults are considered overweight or obese.

Even more discouraging is the fact that the problem is bigger among clergy. Several years ago, a survey by Duke University’s Pulpit and Pew, a pastoral leadership research initiative, revealed that 76 percent of clergy are overweight. In addition, in his book “High Calling High Anxiety,” Guidestone Financial Resources President O.S. Hawkins cited statistics saying that 75 percent of Southern Baptist pastors eat fried foods at least four nights a week and that 40 percent snack two or more times a day on cookies, chips or candy.

Joe Thorn toyed with the idea of submitting a resolution on gluttony to this year’s Resolutions Committee of the SBC (just for the record, it was a resolution against gluttony). I think he ought to do it next year. In fact, I think several people should plan to submit such a resolution. The Bible does speak of gluttony as a real sin, even though we don’t speak of it nearly as much as we do some of our own culturally manufactored “sins.” By addressing it publicly perhaps many of us who have rather mindlessly imbibed very worldly attitudes about eating will be helped to reconsider what the Scripture actually says about this actual sin, and will be granted strength to repent.

Read the rest of Brady’s article here.