In part one of this series, we looked at how gluttony gives us the wrong model, using Philippians 3:17 to illustrate this. Then, in part two, we saw how it’s a wicked master, using the next two verses, Philippians 3:18-19, to make this clear. Now, we’ll finish looking at this section of Philippians with chapter 3 verses 20 to 21, as we see this third idea:
Gluttony gives us a weak mindset (vv20-21)
Gluttony weakens our minds because gluttony doesn’t make us think – it doesn’t make us think because it gives us the default mindset of “yes.” The answer to whatever we want in the moment is yes…
Gluttony never makes us toil over saying no to something we want; it never makes us question whether waiting for later is better than having it now. Our minds need to wrestle with the good and the bad, but gluttony doesn’t make us do this; it’s just a slave to the immediate.
Gluttony doesn’t make us think, and because it doesn’t make us think, it weakens our minds. Just as a body grows weak that doesn’t exercise, the same goes for the mind.
Here, it’s like this: We make decisions out of one of two things. Decisions are made out of our identity or our impulses. Gluttony says, “Go with your impulses,” whereas godliness says, “Go with your identity” — not the façade of an identity that’s actually just a slave to our impulses, but our renewed identity that we have through God working in our lives.”
As we see in Philippians, Paul puts us in contrast to the gluttons whose god is their belly, and their glory is their shame
“20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
This is how we live. This is the framework from which we make decisions:
That we are citizens of heaven, and we follow godly examples – that we are not slaves to our impulses, but we have a King who we obey who sits on the throne of heaven and our hearts – and who gives us a future… a future that is coming very soon, a future we must prepare for now.
And so, as we consider fighting gluttony and preparing for the battle before us with the future that’s coming, the people of God need to throw off gluttony and pursue godliness.
This brings us to the fourth and final part of this series.
