Confrontation

Let's just jump right in, shall we?!

In today’s society it is totally acceptable to tell someone that they’re fat if you claim that you’re doing it because you’re concerned about their health.

 

In today’s society it is totally unacceptable to tell someone that they’re a sinner even if you claim that you’re doing it because you’re concerned about their spiritual health.

 

Does anyone else see a problem with this besides me (Aimee)?!

 

I’ve even personally experienced this. The negative side of both, unfortunately. 

 

Almost 10 years ago I began putting on weight. It was a mixture of different things all coming together to mean that I packed on almost 100 unnecessary pounds. And I wasn’t even 30 years-old yet (not that it’s ok when you get older). I had a few very well-meaning people come to me near the end of my weight-gain period to tell me that they were concerned about my health. In the last few years I’ve been working on trying to bring my weight back down. It’s a struggle. And it’s slow work. But it’s happening. By God’s grace, His strength, and the support of friends and family, I am mercifully shrinking.

While it wasn’t fun to hear those people tell me that I was getting alarmingly fat, I understood why they did it. And I loved them and respected them for stepping out of that comfort zone that tells everyone to simply accept and not question—I’m sure you know that zone, I know I do—and tell me their concerns.

Around the same time that I was coming to the end of my weight gain period, I made comments about my concern for someone’s spiritual health. The details aren’t important, and since it’s someone else’s life I’m not going to share them here. The point is that there were things I was seeing consistently that were raising red flags in my head. So I said something out of loving concern. 

 

I was told that I was just being a goody-goody, I just don't know how to have fun, I'm a stick in the mud, and so on and so on...

 

Why is it ok to say something when someone is throwing away their physical health with both hands but not when they’re throwing away their spiritual health?!

 

Which has eternal consequences?! Well ... both. Yes, it’s true. You’re physical state is important., but it’s importance lies in your state of heart and mind that is allowing you to throw your health away. Let me try to explain.

 

Paul says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16 and again in 6:19-20). Jesus Christ died so that you “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b). You were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God has no desire for us to throw away the life that He has given us to live here on this earth. When we neglect our health because we’re not considering His plans for us, that’s very, very bad.

 

However, God cares most about the state of our hearts and minds. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says:
 

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”

 

Hence, our physical health matters. But our spiritual health matters more. When we neglect our health for selfish reasons, we're ignoring God's plans, and that's bad. When we neglect our spiritual health for selfish reasons, we're ignoring God's plans, and that's bad. My selfish consumption of food is not better or worse than another’s selfish consumption of anything that takes their attention away from where it rightly belongs: on God!

 

“… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …” (Romans 3:23)

 

I want to encourage you to talk to people when you’re concerned about their spiritual health. But be warned! It's likely that 9 times out of 10 it will not be received well. At least not at first. I also caution you to do it very carefully and with lots and lots and lots of love.

 

Galatians 6:1 says:
 

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.”