Biblical Foundations for the Body, Diet and Exercise

Many in our culture are obsessed with physical fitness. Even some Christians may be able to tell you more about the Adkins’ Diet than the Gospel of John. It’s as if Satan’s main weapons against us are now trans-fats and carbohydrates - an alliance between the Devil and McDonald’s, if you will. We need to find a biblical perspective in the midst of all this. There are two extremes to be avoided on this issue: 1) A refusal to take care of our bodies at all by neglecting self-control, and 2) An obsession with either our health or our appearance. As Christians, we must be shaped by God’s Word, not Glamour or Men’s Journal. We need real wisdom on this issue.

The first line of thinking we must correct is the one that says that our bodies are irrelevant in our relationship with God. This may stem from an unbiblical view of man as being divided into two distinct, unrelated parts - body and spirit. In this view, our spirit is important and eternal, while the body is only temporary and neutral in our walk with the Lord. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that we are unified persons, with our bodies and our spirits being closely related and important to God. He created our bodies and they are His temple, as Paul reminds the Corinthians, “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) The bottom line is that what we do with our body matters to God.

Some people neglect the Bible’s teaching on self-control and godly wisdom through very unhealthy lifestyles. For example, the sin of gluttony means that we have allowed our appetite for food to control us. Paul warns the Philippians of “enemies of the cross of Christ” whose “god is their stomach” (Phil 3:18-19). As believers, we cannot let our appetites rule over us. We should take care of ourselves physically, not becoming addicted to any food or substance. We are called to make decisions based on godly wisdom, not bodily cravings.

Caring for our physical well-being affects us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually since, as mentioned above, we are whole, connected persons. While we may grant much freedom in terms of how people choose to present themselves and what kind of physical shape they’re in, it would at least seem reasonable that we would not want poor physical health to dominate our lives or cause undue suffering. Something as simple as a good night’s rest or a walk in the park may help us in our walk with the Lord. As one preacher from the 19th century said, “A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind’s face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.” (Spurgeon 158).

The other extreme to be avoided is that of obsession with either one’s health or one’s physical appearance. Being and feeling healthy is a good thing, but when it dominates our thoughts, our money, and our schedules, it is actually unhealthy. Our relationship with Christ is not connected to our cholesterol. For some, this preoccupation is actually fueled by a fear of death and eternity. Vitamins and exercise are used to avoid facing the fact of our mortality, instead of trusting in the promises of Christ for eternal life.

Those obsessed with an attractive or sexy appearance are also misguided. It is one thing to accent the beauty God has given us, but building an identity based on a toned stomach is far from a godly witness. Furthermore, seeking to cause those of the opposite sex to lust is not loving in any sense of the word. We can work out, but let’s keep things in perspective: “Train yourself in godliness, for, the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).

At the end of the day, God’s Word does have something to say about our bodies, regardless of how fallen and flabby they may be. The issue is not creating an artificial standard for how Christians should look or how much they should weigh, but growing in Christ-likeness. Our Lord Jesus took on a body like ours (except without sin!) in order to do God’s will by being crucified. Three days later, God raised His dead body and glorified it. Now, we look forward to God’s promise that we will be given a body like Jesus when we see Him (1 John 3:2). This means that one day our sinful, fleshly lusts will be taken away, along with our cancer and our genetic predisposition to heart disease. There will be no need to fear sin, death, obesity, or McDonald’s. We will all be in perfect shape.