Our relationship with food:

Yep, you read my title correctly.  This blog post is going to be about food.  This is definitely one of the weirder titles that I have had on my blog.  However, I realized recently that my relationship with food, as well as our cultures, can actually have a big saying in our relationship with God.  Despite what many people will think, God does have some words to say in regards to food and our relationship with it that we need to reflect on as his followers.  I recently was watching a youtube video by Kiana Docherty called, “The Disturbing Truth of Mukbangs,” and I realized that our culture’s relationship with food is one that needs to be reflected upon.  

If you are not on youtube a lot like me, you may not know what a Mukbang is.  A Mukbang is “a video, especially one that is live-streamed, that features a person eating a large quantity of food and addressing the audience.”  The term from the years of 2017 to 2019 was searched at least 100,000 times on Youtube, and the youtubers who do Mukbangs can raise over $100,000 dollars because of subscribers watching these Mukbangs.  Essentially, you are watching people overeat.  You are watching them enjoy their own gluttony and food.  

So we have this one side where we see people who are obsessed with watching others eat food, but then we also have many people, including teenagers who still struggle with eating disorders.  Eating disorders in the sense that these teens choose not to eat or eat and then throw up, so they can achieve a thinner size.    I know that since I have become a teacher, I often hear about some of my students who are struggling with an eating disorder and often not eating in order to stay skinny or to achieve a certain weight. So on the one hand you have a culture who loves to watch and maybe participate in making Mukbangs which is again essentially watching people eat food for the duration of the video, to also a high amount of teen girls and boys who are not eating in order to stay thin.  These are two very different extremes, and I am going to say here that neither one is healthy.  

What does the Bible say about food? One thing is that the Bible talks about gluttony.  The Lord condemns those who are gluttons.  Some of the verses that speak wrongly to being obsessed with overeating and gluttony are Philippians 3:19 and Proverbs 23:2.  Philippians 3:!9 says, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”  This verse clearly points out that there are those who have made feeding their stomach and the food that they enjoy as their God.  They care more about eating and feeding themselves, plus indulging in the things of this world.  This was used in the New Testament, but this concept is also referred to in the Old Testament.  Some of the people who were sinning in Sodom were sinning because they had a love of food and indulging themselves.  They were more self-indulgent and not caring about the needy.  

Then there is also a verse of Proverbs 23:2 which says, “and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”  This verse is intense.  This verse is a clear warning against having a clear obsession with food or with anything that is not the Lord.  This verse is a reminder that we need to get a handle on our obsessions before they become a major problem.  This doesn’t mean that we should put a knife to our throats, but maybe we need to talk to our friends and mentors about our obsession with food.  We also need to make sure to pray to the Lord and bring him any concerns or problems that we have with food.   I am not a therapist, but I know that if there are times when one feels they are overly obsessed with food or counting calories, then seeking professional help is also another great option.  

Does this mean that we should never talk about food?  I am again going to go to the Bible and answer this question with a no.  The Bible does think that we should be hospitable, especially when sharing the Gospel or through growing in fellowship.  Because food is filled with nutrition and everyone needs to eat, it is important to include food and to make sure your guests are fed and enjoying their food when you have people over.  

The Lord also speaks well of food.  The Lord is the one who made food.  In Genesis 9:3, God was telling Adam that all the food that is on plants can be for him and something that he can enjoy.  “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”  The Lord wanted to make sure that Adam and all the people who are in the world are able to enjoy food and feel well nourished.  Oftentimes throughout the Bible, there is a lot of discussion of the disciples eating together and convincing others to be hospitable including serving meals to those who are being shown love.  This is because God knew that food is important to creating relationships.  Many share their thoughts and emotions while they are eating shared meals.  

In conclusion, God created food and wants it to be used for goodness.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t ever enjoy it, but also means that we shouldn’t become obsessed with it.  The last verse that I am going to highlight is 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  This is a good reminder that no matter what we do, or whatever is in our lives, we need to honor the Lord.  Some helpful tips I have tried to learn is to pray over my food.  I am not the best at this, but I know that I should make sure to pray thankfulness over what the Lord has given me.  Then again the next important thing is that I need to make sure to share food in a state of gratefulness and in a state of hospitality.  I need to make sure that I don’t look to food as my own god, but rather as a gift from the one and only God.