{"id":4436,"date":"2021-01-24T13:42:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T12:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/?page_id=4436"},"modified":"2022-06-14T22:56:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T20:56:35","slug":"how-about-obesity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/faq\/how-about-obesity\/","title":{"rendered":"Silly Christian, How about Obesity?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"iframe-container\">\r\n<iframe id=\"lbry-iframe\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/odysee.com\/$\/embed\/silly-christian-how-about-obesity\/ccf5e3f9f4d59d3d33546a7930bd6955b3867c61?r=3PrQMQMnGRc2PatFeom9Jm1bZ49aZpkk\" allowfullscreen frameBorder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p> Oh boy, this video is going to cost me some followers\u2026.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>How about obesity? Or in other words, how about living an\r\nunhealthy lifestyle? Do we, as Christians, have anything to say about\r\nthat? And if so, are there consequences for those who are mistreating\r\ntheir bodies?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Nissan Patrol<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>Well, before I dive into this one, I would like to tell you about\r\nmy car\u2026 Boy! I love my car. You see, we work and live on\r\nMadagascar, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Honest! We live in a\r\nsmall village, in a wooden house with no running water, and only\r\nelectricity from a solar panel. We pay a man to get our water from a\r\npump on the other side of the village and sometimes, when the pump\r\nisn\u2019t working, he gets it from the rice fields\u2026 In that case our\r\nwater comes with many extras like dead frogs and insects. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Anyway, to get to our village we need a strong car. The last\r\nstretch is about 18 km unpaved road. Well, I wouldn\u2019t even want to\r\ngive it the honour to call it a road. It is more like a path with\r\nsome smooth spots here and there. So, there we live. Me, my wife and\r\nour five children. The nearest decent hospital is about 2hours drive\r\nand vegetables need to be bought outside the area as well. No shops,\r\nno good markets etc. Maybe, you start to understand why I am so happy\r\nwith my car. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What do you think is my first priority when I come to the capitol\r\ncity Antananarivo? Right, the garage! There my car can be checked and\r\nif needed, fixed. Just last week I bought brand new mud-tires.\r\nMudstars. Not the most expensive ones, but they do their job well.\r\nEvery time I\u2019m planning a trip I check all the fluids, tire\r\npressure and what not. Every time we come back I do the same. That\r\nway the car is ready when I need it. I clean it, I check the\r\nelectrical system, whether the wires are still intact and I cover the\r\ndashboard with cardboard so that the heat will not melt anything\r\ninside.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>So, you tell me. Am I doing the right thing by maintaining my car?\r\nIsn\u2019t that the responsible thing to do in our situation? I know,\r\nsome would say that I should never had gone to that village in the\r\nfirst place. But that is besides the point. I am there, together with\r\nmy family, and the car is our main transport in and out of the area.\r\nSo keeping it top fit is the way to go.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Festivals<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>So let\u2019s get back to the topic. Are Christians not allowed to\r\nenjoy life? Well, that statement is nonsense of course. When we look\r\nat the One we are following, we see that He was enjoying life quit\r\noften. Jesus went to weddings, He got invited for diner and so on. If\r\nyou look at the Jewish history you\u2019ll find out that Jews are very\r\nkeen on good parties. God actually gave them all sorts of festivals\r\nto celebrate. It is like He is telling them to have a good time\r\nremembering Him and by celebrating the great deeds of God they\r\nhonoured Him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Over-indulgence<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>But now things seem to have changed for many believers, especially\r\nin the richer countries. Again, I am going to give a little example. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>You might have heard about the Corona crisis? Well, we were in the\r\nmiddle of it during our furlough in Holland. Almost everybody was\r\npanicking. I was totally blown away by this response of our\r\ngovernment but also from people within the church.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Somewhere in the beginning of March 2020, a man came up to me and\r\nsaid with big eyes: <i>\u201cYou must be terrified for all your friends\r\non Madagascar!\u201d<\/i>. Not\r\nunderstanding his question I asked why I should be. He said that they\r\nwould all die because of Corona. His idea was that because they are\r\nall poor they are all weak, and they would definitely die. I told him\r\nthat this was not going to happen. I explained to him that most\r\nMalagasy don\u2019t have heart problems,\r\ndiabetics or obesity. I told him that if a poor Malagasy would have a\r\ncondition like this they would probably die soon because of a lack of\r\nall the wonderful medicine and\r\nother healthcare we have in\r\nthe west. This was not the\r\nanswer the gentleman expected. He concluded by\r\ntelling me that I was wrong,\r\nthe Malagasy were going to die, and I was just\r\nnot\r\nknowledgeable enough.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Now, 10 months later.\r\nMadagascar\u2019s official count is about 270 deaths, and\r\nmost of them already had health issues\u2026\r\n270\u2026 Madagascar\r\nhas a population of 22 million\u2026 Just saying.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What happened in Holland? In the first\r\nseason we counted about 6.500 deaths. Most deaths were 70+ and among\r\nyounger people mostly those with obesity, asthma, heart conditions\r\nand other known welfare deceases. Still, 6.500 is not even that high.\r\nIn the flu season of 2017\/2018 Holland counted 9.500 deaths, also\r\nmostly among the elderly and the unhealthy. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is a painful conclusion that people\r\nwho live an unhealthy lifestyle are the ones who will suffer more\r\nduring outbreaks of the flu or a virus like Covid-19. In truth,\r\npeople who are obese or those who drink too much alcohol and all the\r\nothers who neglect their body, aren\u2019t healthy at all. It is more\r\naccurate to say that they are sick al ready.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>How to treat your body?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>Until now, I didn\u2019t even mention the Bible, did I? Your body is\r\nyour vehicle on this earth and like my car you better maintain it or\r\nelse.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Do you think it is strange that our Creator is concerned with our\r\nlifestyle? When the Bible teaches us to live in a sober way, it\r\ndoesn\u2019t say it is forbidden to enjoy!<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Bible does teach us however that we need to honour God in\r\neverything we do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"margin-left: 12.51mm\">1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV<br>\r\n<i>\u201cOr do you not know that your\r\nbody is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from\r\nGod? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So\r\nglorify God in your body.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Your body is more than a car, your body is way more than just the\r\nvehicle you use here on earth. When you become a Christian the Holy\r\nSpirit wants to live within you, making your body a temple. How do\r\nyou take care of a holy temple? Are you just going to fill it up with\r\ntrash? Are you going to ruin the walls with mayonnaise and ketchup?\r\nOf course not! You\u2019ll try to keep the temple clean and beautiful.\r\nYou are going to maintain the temple. The other way around goes the\r\nsame. The temple is beautiful and you are not going to strip away all\r\nthe beauty. You are not going to throw away the nice paintings or\r\ngolden chandeliers. Stripping the temple naked is just as wrong as\r\nfilling it up with trash.  \r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin-left: 12.51mm\">1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV<br>\r\n<i>\u201cSo, whether you eat or drink,\r\nor whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.\u201d<\/i> \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Warning<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>Yes I actually believe that Christians should do their best to\r\nlive healthy. No, that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t eat a hamburger so\r\nnow and then. But I\u2019ve seen that many Christians seem to think that\r\n<i>\u2018so now and then\u2019<\/i> means something like daily. They like to\r\neat it now and then in about two hours again. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>We might consider someone who is fleshy as being healthy but in\r\nreality that is just not true. Skin over bone is the other extreme,\r\nso that would not be necessary. And although we are pretty lucky with\r\nthe good medicine and healthcare in the west, that doesn\u2019t mean\r\nthat someone with obesity lives a longer healthy life. Yes sure, we\r\nall know people in their 80s who are way too heavy, but just ask them\r\nhow much it takes to go for a walk. Or ask them about the medicine\r\nthey need to use. On the other hand I also know about 80 years old\r\nwho are not using any medicine. And whattah you know! They are mostly\r\nnot to heavy or to light. They always worked and because of that had\r\nenough exercise. The ones I know are still working. Maybe not as hard\r\nas when they were younger, but they keep busy and make sure they get\r\ntheir exercise.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"margin-left: 12.51mm\">Proverbs 23:20-21 ESV<br>\r\n<i>\u201cBe not among drunkards or among\r\ngluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come\r\nto poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>This proverb might not be relevant for us today? Think again.\r\nPoverty is not only the lack of money. During the whole Corona\r\noutbreak, countries went into lock-downs. Why? Because we were to\r\nprotect our fellow countryman and woman. Don\u2019t take me wrong! I\r\ndon\u2019t have a dead wish for other people, far from that. However,\r\nwho are the people in that danger group? Yep, old people and people\r\nwith all sorts of welfare related health issues. Now, the fear of the\r\nCorona virus has been and still is unwarranted. It is a good thing to\r\nknow it is no more lethal than a severe flu. Of all the 70+ only\r\n0,23% of the infected people die and for those below 70 it is only\r\n0,04%. Still, wouldn\u2019t you just love to walk around without having\r\nto fear a virus like this? I guess it most be pretty scary to know\r\nyou are suffering from health issues and then hearing about a virus\r\nthat seems to target people like you. In that sense you might\r\nacknowledge that you live in poverty because of your unhealthy\r\nlifestyle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Balanced<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>It is possible to become so absorbed with our physical well-being\r\nthat we let it take over our lives. When that happens, life can lose\r\nits joy, and we end up ignoring things that are just as important or\r\nmaybe even more important.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"margin-left: 12.51mm\">1 Timothy 4:8 (AMP)<br>\r\n<i>\u201cFor physical training is of\r\nsome value, but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in\r\neverything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present\r\nlife and for the life to come.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Again, it is good and Christ-like to\r\nlive a healthy life. Eat good food and don\u2019t eat too much! Or at\r\nthe other spectrum, don\u2019t exhaust you body to the limit through an\r\nextreme diet. Live a balanced life. But as always, put Jesus Christ\r\nat the centre of your life. Then strengthen your life spiritually\r\nevery day. Concentrate on a spiritual healthy diet. You\u2019ll find\r\nthat \u2018diet\u2019 easily. God has already provided it for us. It is His\r\nword, the Bible together with prayer, and fellowship with other\r\nbelievers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh boy, this video is going to cost me some followers\u2026. How about obesity? Or in other words, how about living an unhealthy lifestyle? Do we, as Christians, have anything to say about that? And if so, are there consequences for those who are mistreating their bodies? Nissan Patrol Well, before I dive into this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4442,"parent":1086,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[225,308],"tags":[264,262,258,263],"folder":[98],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4436\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4436"},{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apologeet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=4436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}