My intent here is to jot down a few notes on fasting, dieting and the dominion of the Christian man. Before I begin, I am not a doctor. I am a pastor who tries to reflect on the various disciplines from a Biblical perspective. So if any of my doctor friends see anything in here that should come with certain medical warnings, feel free to drop a comment.
Christian Liberty and it’s Boundaries
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:12 “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything.” Paul also writes in 1 Timothy 4:4–5: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” In both passages, if you look at the context, Paul is talking about food & sex. Both are connected to the appetites of a man.
Sexual relations and eating good foods and drinks are treated as a good thing in the Scriptures. Both are creational goods. God gave Adam & Eve for one another. He also gave man the seed of every plant and tree to eat of (Gen. 1:29). Later, in Genesis 9, God gave all the animals to man to eat of, even if he later imposed some dietary restrictions in Leviticus which disappeared again when Peter was allowed to eat bacon again in Acts 10.
And yet, in a sinful world, there are boundaries. This is because our appetites are distorted by sin. Gluttony is a sin. Conversely, anorexia is also a result of sinful treatment of the body when one has access to foods. Drunkenness is a sin.
Thus whether food, cigars or liquor are permissible they might begin to be unhelpful at a certain point in time or in certain quantities.
Thus, to be a self-ruled man (or woman) under Christ in a sinful world, one must recognize that just because something is permissible, it is not necessarily helpful. Thus whether food, cigars or liquor are permissible they might begin to be unhelpful at a certain point in time or in certain quantities. It is possible for a man to be dominated by food, liquor or smoking. Conversely, it is possible for a man to be dominated by a sinful rejection of what is good (I Tim. 4:1-5) and should be received with thankfulness. In other words, it is possible for a man to be dominated by fasting & dieting. And while a man is free to fast and diet, it may not be helpful for him.
Thus, before we talk about fasting & dieting, we must acknowledge that God wants us to enjoy His world and all the good gifts that He has given. Any sort of fasting or dieting should be used as a tool by men & women to better glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. While I will focus on the food appetite, I want to also draw connections from time to time to the sexual appetite, and how at times the two can be related.
Fasting
I’ve not reflected much on fasting over the years, in part, because I have not done it until recent years. But in recent years I have tried it whether as part of public fasts or private fasts. A 24 hr fast. A 48 hr fast. In other words, I’m preaching to myself as well in this essay. Enough with that. What is the Biblical basis?
There are frequent references to fasting in the Old Testament. For example, through the mouth of the Prophet Joel, God calls the people to return to Him “with fasting, with weeping and with mourning.” This is an example of a public or corporate fast (that is, God’s people do it together for a specific reason). In Psalm 69:10, the Psalmist speaks about fasting in this way: “When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.” This is an example of a private fast. In the Old Testament, you will find this and many other cases especially emphasizing the spiritual nature of fasting. The intent of fasting is to fix a man on God. It usually is an expression of a man (or woman) humbling himself before God.
In the New Testament, we find at least one clear positive reference to fasting in Acts 14:23: “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” In Acts 13:1-3, something similar happens when Barnabas is set apart for the work of ministry. This also is spiritual as they are fasting together for a particular reason: that is, to commit the newly appointed elders in the church to the Lord.
Jesus condemns not the use of fasting, but the abuse of it.
Now many will point to the teachings of Jesus on fasting in the modern day Protestant church to warn about it. But if we look at Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus condemns not the use of it, but the abuse of it. It is not supposed to be an act of pride, or self-aggrandization (no act of personal or public piety should be used in this way - ie, prayer), but an act of humbling oneself before God, and drawing closer to Him. In Luke 5:33-39, there is a conversation about fasting where the Jews criticize the disciples of Jesus for feasting, rather than fasting like the disciples of John. Here, Jesus does not categorically condemn fasting, but he points out that men ought to feast when the bridegroom comes. In other words, there may be inappropriate times to fast. But more importantly, Jesus is demonstrating that His coming is accompanied by the victory feast.
There is also a type of sexual fasting that is referred to in I Corinthians 7:1-5. If a husband and wife agree not to have sexual relations for a time by mutual consent. Nevertheless, Paul urges them not to abstain from it for too long, lest Satan bring them into temptation due to lack of self-control. In other words, sexual relations is the norm (within marriage). Sexual fasting may be for a variety of reasons, that are for the good of the other, and the glory of God. Again sexual relations, like feasting, is a good thing, but with both at times there may be a good reason to abstain from it.
Dieting
I would argue that especially certain diets are a type of a fast. For example, in comparison to his more religious abstinence from meat offered to idols in chapter 1, in Daniel 10:2–3, Daniel writes: “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.” I don’t know what he ate, but it is clear that he chose not to eat certain foods for a time. Again this is very spiritual in nature, given that God wanted to communicate with Daniel in this context.
Whether you are on a carnivore, a keto, a vegetarian diet, or intermittent fasting. We should not deny the need to have a spiritual element to it.
Spiritual or Physical?
When I read about fasting and dieting online there is tonnes of information about all the different fasts and diets one can do. Much of it is reduced down to external reasons: losing weight, physical health, mental health.
Now, it is not that all of this is unimportant. I’m learning that certain diets and other fasts can actually do a startling amount of good for one’s health, both mental and physical. Variations of the carnivore diet or the keto diet, for example, has been of help to a number of men I know. And praise the Lord for that, because He has made us wholistic beings, body and soul, spiritual and physical.
But as I am walking through some of this stuff as a pastor, I am realizing that even if the reasons for fasting/dieting are largely physical, there should indeed also be a cognizance, a recognition, and a seeking to understand the spiritual element of the cultural crisis that is leading to so much fasting and dieting.
There is no one who is without sin. As we see throughout Scripture, commands to eat and drink to the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31), commands against gluttony (Prov. 23:20-21), drunkenness (Gal. 5:19-21), are all spiritual matters. We find in Proverbs 23:2, that if you are in the presence of a ruler, you should “put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.” Throughout Scripture idolatry is often connected with food and the appetites (I Cor. 10:7). Gratifying the desires of the flesh is frequently used to refer to sexual immorality or harbouring anger, but there seems to be a clear connection to food and drink as well (Rom. 13:14).
Feasting
I cannot address this topic without talk about feasting. This is because there are also commands to feasting in Scripture.
God gave Adam & Eve a feast in the Garden. And yes, he gave them vegetables and fruit (for the quacks who think that the carnivore diet is the most holy diet). He also gave man meat to eat in Genesis 9 (for the quacks who think that vegetarian is the only way to go). And in Acts, He allowed Peter to eat bacon as the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament start to disappear in the New Testament (Acts 10). Finally, it is important to acknowledge that history begins with a feast when God gives food to man & woman in the Garden and then promises the future wedding feast of the lamb (Revelation 19). At this time in history, the Lord’s Supper, a victory feast of bread & wine is a sign and seal of the great wonders that the Jesus Christ has wrought in the salvation of His Church.
In the Gospels, especially at the end of Luke 5, Jesus comes into conflict with the sanctimoniousness of the Pharisees. They criticize his disciples for eating and drinking when the disciples of John came fasting and praying (Lk. 5:33). In fact, in another place in the gospels, Jesus Himself is accused of being “a wine-bibber and a glutton” (Matt 11:19). This is because like His disciples, He comes eating and drinking. In Luke 5, Jesus deftly responds to this critique by explaining that it makes no sense for the friends of the bridegroom to fast when the bridegroom is with them. In other words, the coming of Christ is means for celebration as the new breaks into the old.
There is a time to feast and a time to fast, and this is something that the New Testament Christian will learn as he/she grows in maturity and wisdom. You don’t fast at a wedding. You don’t withhold yourself from the Lord’s Supper because you are fasting. There is never a time for drunkenness and gluttony, but there is a time to celebrate in the good gifts of God, food & drink, and to use them for the glory of God. That includes donuts, too.
What is a time to Fast?
There are various reasons to fast in Scripture. And here I am assuming that people will research how to do it right and abstain from the fast if there are life-threatening health problems that could be triggerred. I’ll begin with corporate and then private.
There is reason to fast when there is war, pestilence, famine or other clear signs that the judgment of God is on a nation. It is in these moments that Christians should lead the nation in prayer & fasting for the national confession of sin and a return to the Lord.
There is another reason to fast corporately when elders/pastors/deacons are being ordained, or a church or a home is being dedicated, etc. In these moments, the fast is to develop undivided dedication of devotion of a community to the Lord.
There are many reasons to fast privately. For example, if there is sin present, and you know that you are a man (or woman) who is controlled by your appetites and that this hindering your growth in holiness or driving you away from holiness. A man (for example) who is struggling with sexual sin can use fasting in his arsenal of weapons to fight that sin. Fasting is meant to wean you from the things of this world and to focus you on God.
If you start a fast (or a diet), I encourage you to tackle one sin while you are on that fast or diet.
There may be physical or mental reasons to fast, but even then I would encourage men and women to seek to not just do it for physical reason. If you start a fast (or a diet), I encourage you to tackle one sin while you are on that fast or diet. It could be an addiction, it could be pride or self-pity, and you want to get your mind off the thing that is hindering your growth in holiness and set it on God and His will for you - that you grow in holiness.
But do not use this fast or diet as a reason to pass the Lord’s Supper by when it is celebrated on a Sunday. That is because this is where Christ communes with His people and shows His supreme goodness to you and me.
Conclusion
In conclusion, fasting and dieting can be a good way for a man or a woman to have dominion of the body, the appetites, but also a way to confess sin & direct all of life in service to God. Corporate fasting or dieting can be used as a tool in spiritual warfare by the church as a community to turn away from the wickedness of this world and focus on the need for widespread repentance of a common sin and the need for revival and reformation. Like prayer and Scripture reading, fasting & feasting are just part of the arsenal of the Christian as we go to war with all the powers of darkness. As Christians forsake their pride and vainglory, fasting is one tool in the arsenal that God gives to His people so that we can achieve a complete rout of the devil and his minions.
May God give us victory by the power of His Spirit and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Photo by Rachael Gorjestani on Unsplash