Lemon Pie Theology - Part One

My husband was sitting in his easy chair this morning with an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper in his hand.  He was reading it and every once in awhile a chuckle would slip past his lips.  I asked him what he was reading.  He said it was about the topic for his next Men's Bible Study.  I asked him to let me read it.  I too, then,was chuckling.  Well, here, you read it.  It was written by the leader of the study.  In my next post I'll give you my thoughts on the subject but for now, just enjoy the humor.

I have a friend who is now in heaven where he is far, far away from every temptation of lemon pie.  Years ago, we determined that all of the talk about dieting in our culture was a subtle tactic of the cold war.  Enemies of the United States, we figured out, were behind the push to be thin and healthy (which by the way could make you the object of envy and we all know that envy is sin.)  Here is how it worked...

The object was to totally take away the pleasure of food which would result in a grumpy population.  Grumpy couples would fight more and that would lead to divorce and divorce would lead to the breakdown of the family and that would in turn lead to the collapse of our culture.

To combat this, when stressful situations would arise, we could call each other and go out for a piece of lemon pie.  There were few problems in his life that could be lightened by a good piece of lemon pie.

As fun as it is to reminsce about our irresponsible culinary activity, there is a serious side the subject.  It appears that gluttony has been taken out of our dictionary and replaced with the phrase "eating disorder."  What is it?  Is there anyone guilty of it anymore?  Is it sin explained away?  It is described as excessive eating but what is excessive?  How many of us are one french fry away from this sin?

In the Bible, the Cretans apparently had the reputation of being, "liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" - Titus 1:12.  Should a man with a pot belly participate in pot luck gatherings?  Should there be a weigh in requirement to go to the church picnic?  Is the world watching and concluding that many churches are filled with modern day Cretans?  Our Lord was accused of being a glutton - Mt. 11:19, Luke 11:34, so we cannot be fearful of false accusations.

Most of us like to play our metabolism card when accused of overeating.  In Proverbs 28:24 we read that, "He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife; but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat."  But can that be a life verse?  We certainly can't argue that all fat cells are apostles from God.  The Old Testament wisdom writer says, "The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself" - Proverbs 11:25.  I tried to explain to my wife for years that I am a little overweight because I am generous and God has rewarded me with a fat soul but she is more than a little skeptical.

There is clearly nothing wrong with having a piece of lemon pie but there is something very wrong with a piece of lemon pie having us.  If we are to be free of guilt from this subject, we must know the difference and stay far away from the line.