The Big Value Of A Little Profit
Godliness benefits both this life and the next, while physical training also has value—especially in this life. This “little profit” should not be overlooked.
1 Timothy 4:8
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
In this post, I will discuss one of the most significant taboos in the church today: obesity.
SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL STRENGTH
The apostle Paul tells Timothy that godliness is profitable for this life and the next, as the body will be perfect in eternity. We all understand that godliness should be desired by all who follow Christ, but we must not overlook the first part of Paul’s teaching. Paul says, “bodily exercise profits a little” because, compared to godliness—which serves for eternity—the profit of bodily exercise ends when we die.
A “little profit” does not mean it has no value. Just because godliness is our ultimate pursuit does not mean we should ignore the “little benefits” of exercise. As Christians, we ought to care for our bodies for “the life that now is.” Paul never said we should neglect our health or let ourselves go. How can we not desire to honor God with our bodies? (See 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19.)
Are we, then, to spend countless hours every week at the gym focusing on physical strength? Consider Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 16:13, where he says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” Does this mean lifting heavy weights? No, Paul is not referring to physical strength here but to spiritual strength. As he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:27, it is about disciplining one’s body to keep it under control. Strong men are self-controlled and, as Paul concludes in 1 Corinthians 16:14, “Let all that you do be done with love.” Strong men are self-controlled and loving.
Any external adornment, including physical training, is temporary. As the apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:3-4, “Your adornment must not be merely the external—braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on apparel; but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” One’s beauty should not focus solely on the external but should also shine from within.
IDLENESS LEADS TO OBESITY
Another point to consider is how people often become obese because of idleness. Many don’t make the connection between idleness and sin, but such inactivity is sinful. In the words of J.C. Ryle, “I believe that idleness has led to more sin than almost any other habit that could be named. I suspect it is the mother of many a work of the flesh;—the mother of adultery, fornication, drunkenness, and many other deeds of darkness, that I have not time to name.”1
This perspective is further supported by Matthew Henry, who wrote, “Idleness gives great advantage to the temper. Sanding waters gather filth. The bed of sloth often proved the bed of lust.”2
OBESITY CHANGES YOUR BRAIN
From a scientific perspective, while researching how pornography addiction affects the brain, I found an interesting study. The study on pornography addiction noted the following about obesity:
In 2006, a VBM study was published looking specifically at obesity, and the results were very similar to the cocaine and methamphetamine studies. The obesity study demonstrated multiple areas of volume loss [in the brain], particularly in the frontal lobes, areas associated with judgment and control.3
Obesity directly alters the brain, much like drug and pornography addiction. To address this issue effectively, we must take a stand against all forms of addiction, including unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle (idleness), which lead to obesity. If it harms the brain, it likely harms the entire body. Obesity can cause cardiac arrest, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and numerous associated health risks. Obesity should not be encouraged or celebrated, particularly within Christian circles.
Elisabeth Elliot, widow of Christian evangelist martyr Jim Elliot, addressed the issue of obesity within the church, emphasizing its spiritual and physical implications:
Gluttony, one of the more obvious modern sins, is generally tacitly accepted. Little is said about it from the pulpit. It is too embarrassing; it gets down too close to where the people, often including the preacher, live. No one who is fat dares to preach about it—he has no room to talk. Seldom will one who is not fat have the courage to broach the subject, for he will be told he has no business to talk since he has never “had a weight problem.” (How does anyone know? Maybe he practices what he preaches.) Who then is left to talk?
While a very small percentage of people are overweight for physiological reasons, the vast majority simply eat too much of the wrong things. That's the long and the short of it.4
CONCLUSION
Although we normally associate gluttony only with food, gluttony is the “overly hearty appetites of any kind,” as one dictionary defines it. The worst type of glutton is the one who deceives himself by thinking his peak physical condition will absolve his gluttony. You can be a glutton without being obese, just as you can be obese without being a glutton (e.g., health issues). How many Christians binge on worldly entertainment? We also have gluttons who drink excessively (alcoholism), indulge in lust (pornography), and so on.
Having said all this, as Christians, our ultimate goal is not physical training alone, even though it is good and proper for our time on this earth. Rather than focus solely on physical training, we are to conform to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). You could be physically strong, but if you have no love for your brethren, all your strength will be for nothing in the life to come.
J.C. Ryle, Wheat or Chaff, (Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857), pp. 257-258
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Volume II-I: Joshua to Second Samuel, (Devoted Publishing, 2017), p. 459
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060
Elisabeth Elliot, Discipline, (Fleming H. Revell, 2006), p. 48