By the Way: Curb your consumption!
By ROLAND WEISBROT on May 28, 2022.
Those who are familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins know one of those sins is gluttony (cf. Philippians 3:18-19). Of course, gluttony usually refers to the over-consumption of food and drink; however, it can encompass much more. Every day the average North American spends hours and hours watching movies, television shows, or YouTube videos, scrolling through social media, surfing the web and/or playing video games. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these activities in and of themselves, but they can become an issue when we spend too much time on them; that is, when we become gluttonous in our consumption of them. Such gluttony can easily distract us from important things, often causing us to neglect them – this includes God – hence the inherent danger. When I was a teenager, I had a terrible addiction to videogames, and I would spend 40-plus hours a week playing them. At that point in my life, I did not particularly care about anything else except gluttonously feeding my addiction. You see, it was not enough to enjoy a few hours and stop; in fact, it was never enough. This, unsurprisingly, came at a cost to my body, mind, relationships and soul, as sin always does. Now there is a popular idiom in our culture which dictates “everything in moderation.” This is fundamentally a warning against gluttony, in all its forms. Just as we cannot have as many chocolate chip cookies as we may desire without consequence, so too we cannot expect to consume hours and hours of entertainment in its various forms without consequence. Obviously, as humans we must consume in order to live and in order to learn, but we were not created for consumption alone. So, I challenge you, examine your life, and see where gluttony may have a hold. For the sake of your well-being, curb your consumption! Pastor Roland Weisbrot is the Associate Pastor at Victory Lutheran Church 6-5
