A Corrupted Appetite is Destructive

Yesterday we read about Paul acting as spiritual father to the church in Rome: “Stop fighting!” In today’s passage, he has not left the issue, but the focus has shifted slightly. He is most concerned with our responsibility to each other. In fact, in this section, the onus is on the “strong” in the faith to not “hurt” the “weak”. “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.” (v 20).

What a powerful thought: our desires can hurt others. Paul’s argument is centered on our food choices, but it is not an interpretative leap to consider our other choices—our appetites for stuff, for love, for sex, for entertainment, for power, etc. A corrupted (or sinful) appetite is a dangerous thing. A sinful appetite is selfish. It does not think about the other person first. Hence the horrific and exploitative porn industry—children and women used to satisfy an appetite.

Other things, not evil in themselves, should give us pause. The fashion industry can have a very dark side, where labourers are paid little for long hours and in dangerous facilities (remember the factory that collapsed in Bangladesh). These workhouses exist because of an appetite for inexpensive clothing.

According to Forbes, Americans spend more than $1 trillion on Christmas alone, and it would cost approximately only a fraction of that ($300 billion) to solve the world’s dirty water problem for good. We call ourselves good as a culture, but our appetites cost others deeply. We have so much at our disposal, yet because of our appetites, most of it is spent on ourselves. And if I wear those clothes, eat that food, to satisfy an appetite, then I hurt others too—and I wear all that to church!

Respond in Prayer

Oh, Father, I’m sorry. There are things I could do right away, starting with my own appetites. And then, Lord, I need to think about those who are hurt because of sinful appetites (child labourers in the cocoa plantations, miners in Congo, etc). I know that economically and politically some of these issues are complicated, but Lord help me, for my part, to step up. For Jesus' sake, Amen.

Cliff Fletcher