The BEMA Podcast — Episode 471: Vice & Virtue — Gluttony
September 25, 2025
Host: BEMA Discipleship (primarily "A"/Reid Dent, guest-host, and "B"/Brent Billings, co-host)

Overview

This episode continues the “Vice & Virtue” series, focusing on the capital vice of gluttony. The crew explores gluttony’s breadth beyond food, considering how our historical and cultural contexts shape not just our consumption of food and drink, but also media, education, and experience. Through biblical reflections, personal anecdotes, historic Christian thought, and practical self-examination, the hosts invite listeners to reconsider how we relate to anything consumable in our daily lives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Cultural Condition: Living Without Moderation

[00:14–02:48]

• Opening with a reading from Barbara Cawthorn Crafton’s "Living Lent," the episode highlights a pervasive lack of moderation in Western culture—not just in eating, but across every form of consumption (work, shopping, drinking, etc.).
• Notable quote (Barbara Cawthorn Crafton, [00:14]):

  “We didn’t even know what moderation was, what it felt like... We didn’t just eat, we stuffed ourselves... We felt it was dangerous to tell ourselves no about anything, ever.”

• The hosts relate to this, feeling both amusement and conviction at how the vices discussed (lust, greed, gluttony) overlap and infiltrate every aspect of life.

2. The Goodness and Tension of Enjoying Created Things

[03:12–07:25]

• The hosts reflect on the fundamental human experience of delight in food—"this incredible marriage of utility and pleasure."
• Discussion around the purposeful joy found in food, from homemade ice cream to favorite CLIF bars.
• Quoting Frederick Buechner, the crew explores the psycho-somatic reality of being unified body and soul:

  “Up to a certain point, indulging the body with clif bars or ice cream or whatever, can actually be good for the soul… But past that point, it starts to actually diminish the soul.” (A, [06:16])

3. Gluttony: More Than Just Food

[07:34–12:15]

• Gluttony is introduced as a “disordered desire” for consumption, not just food/drink but also media, education, entertainment, etc.
• The episode stresses that gluttony often isn’t about sinfully large quantities, but about obsessive orientation toward filling one’s desires.
• Media is identified as a primary, modern avenue of gluttonous consumption—"How much social media are you consuming?" (A, [10:30]).

4. The Psychology of Consumption

[13:35–13:44]

• Brent notes people’s desire to binge the podcast to “catch up” and belong to the community; the hosts caution about consuming more than one can use or live out, comparing binge-learning to physical overindulgence.

5. Varieties of Gluttony: Categories and Examples

[14:57–23:31]

• Drawing on C.S. Lewis ("The Screwtape Letters") and Rebecca DeYoung ("Glittering Vices"), Reid introduces two main types:
  • Gluttony of delicacy: fastidious/picky eating, or demanding high quality or fullness (“I only take grass-fed, homegrown, organic!”).
  • Gluttony of excess: quantity and manner of eating (e.g., ravenous, hasty, excessive).
• DeYoung’s acronym “FRESH”:
  • Fastidious, Ravenous, Excessive, Sumptuous, Hasty.
  • Applies to media—ravenous scrolling mirrors ravenous eating.
• Quote (A, [23:48]):

  “Think about the way we scroll, right? And doom scrolling… tell me that’s not ravenous.”

6. Cultural Contradictions: "Treat Yourself" v. Control

[27:28–31:02]

• Discussion of the paradox between the “treat yourself” mentality and hyper-vigilant attention to body and diet (nutrition labels, “zero calorie,” etc.).
• Observes the rarity and oddity of fasting in modern evangelical/western culture.
• Brent and Reid note denominational differences in fasting practices.

7. The Consequences of Gluttony

[33:58–41:14]

• Gluttony robs us of anticipation, true pleasure, and satiation—as we are never hungry, we never truly enjoy being satisfied.
• More insidiously, gluttony reduces us to mere consumers, rather than creators in God’s image.
• Quote (A, [35:23]):

  “We become primarily just consumer rather than as creator... what do we lose out on when we’re always stuffed to the gills?”

8. Communal and Creative Erosion

[36:29–41:14]

• Gluttonous consumption (food, media, “binge learning”) diminishes creativity and connection, both individually and communally.
• Overconsumption can numb us and sap the generative drive—whether with a guitar or building relationships.
• Gluttony exposes stark global injustices in resource consumption.

9. Biblical Contexts: Warnings & Wisdom

[41:14–49:35]

• Early churches fell prey to gluttonous patterns, like “private suppers” at communion (1 Cor. 11:20–22).
• Paul warns against being driven by appetite:
  "Their god is their stomach…" (Philippians 3:18–19, [42:09]).
• The showdown of “earthly” mindsets versus a higher allegiance (also comparing gluttony and greed as rival ‘gods’).
• Old Testament passages warn of lingering on wine, pride in being “champions at mixing drinks” (Proverbs 23, Isaiah 5).

10. The Beauty of Rightful Consumption

[49:15–53:00]

• Jewish and Christian tradition upholds food and drink as good gifts; Psalm 104 highlights bread, wine, and oil as blessings that “gladden the heart.”

  “Here we have consumables being held up in kind of a glorious way.” (A, [49:34])

• Jesus’ ministry (water into wine at Cana) and the Eucharist reveal the place for feasts, not just asceticism.

11. Living “Magnanimously”: Practice, Gratitude & Balance

[53:00–57:18]

• Quoting Wendell Berry, Reid advocates becoming “a great relisher of this world”—enjoying both the commonplace and the fine, neither enslaved nor dismissive.
• Introduces “magnanimity” (big-heartedness): the posture of enjoying and being grateful for any shared meal or experience, regardless of quality.
• Fasting and feasting are presented as complementary rhythms. Fasting primes the soul for feasting; feasting is more significant when contrasted with abstinence.

12. Practical Application: Fasting, Feasting, and Self-Examination

[57:18–62:36]

• Encouragement to adopt practices of fasting (food, media, etc.) as reset.
• Sample media fasts in the campus ministry context.
• Self-examination questions:
  • How much of my “mental furniture” is arranged around my next meal, drink, or scroll?
  • Are consumables my only means to self-regulate?
  • Can others notice when food/drink isn’t to my liking?
  • How might I become a “great relisher” of the world?
  • Am I magnanimous in my relationships and consumption?
• Quote (A, [59:46]):

  “How can I employ fasts and feasts in a meaningful way that helps me to become a great relisher of this world?”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Conviction over Vices:
  “I was like, initially, well, I wonder which one of these vices is going to be my pet vice. And then I’m like, I think it’s… I think it’s kind of all of them.” (A, [02:55])
• Modern Gluttony:
  “We binge consume... 50 episodes of BEMA in a week… Maybe we’re gorging ourselves here in a way that actually has… a negative effect on your own soul.” (A, [10:59])
• Gluttony of Delicacy:
  ”It’s about me and my own pleasure…insisting on that at the cost of… the company I am in or the celebration I am at.” (A, [17:06])
• Consumption and Identity:
  “Compulsive consumption is… I’m here to consume things, and so things become valuable to me primarily in… how do they serve my appetite?” (A, [34:55])
• The Fast-Feast Continuum:
  “Fasting and feasting are meant to be…a continuum… Fasting actually undergirds our feasting… the Easter feast hits different when you have actually spent… Lent fasting…” (A, [56:11])

Important Timestamps & Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-------------|----------------------------------------------------| | [00:14] | Crafton’s “Living Lent” reading; Setting the theme | | [02:55] | Hosts’ conviction about all vices being pervasive | | [07:34] | Gluttony defined as broader than food | | [14:57] | Types & categories of gluttony (FRESH) | | [23:45] | Gluttony of media/scrolling | | [27:28] | Culture: Treat yourself vs. food control | | [33:58] | Personal & communal consequences of gluttony | | [41:14] | Biblical perspectives; God as “appetite” | | [49:15] | Psalm 104: The goodness of wine, oil, bread | | [53:00] | Magnanimity and the role of gratitude | | [57:18] | Practical: Fasting, media fasts, self-examination | | [59:46] | Self-examination questions read and discussed | | [62:05] | Closing story: Practicing silent learning |

Takeaways

• Gluttony is not just about overeating—it’s about unrestrained, disordered, or obsessive consumption of anything, from food and drink to knowledge, media, and experience.
• True enjoyment of the world is rooted in gratitude, balance, and the ability to feast and fast; neither asceticism nor constant indulgence actually satisfies.
• Modern forms of gluttony, particularly informational/media binging, are just as spiritually erosive as physical overindulgence.
• The solution is not mere abstinence but cultivating a “magnanimous” spirit—a big-hearted gratitude and contentment with what is shared, simple, or ordinary.
• Practices of both feasting (in joy and gratitude) and fasting (limiting oneself to regain perspective) are vital, ancient tools for resisting consumer identity.

Recommended Practices:

• Try periodic fasting (food or media) to regain agency over consumption.
• Pay attention to how much your plans, emotions, and attention center on consumables.
• Seek to become a "great relisher," magnanimous in joy, gratitude, and sociability.
• Reflect on your consumption habits using the self-examination questions posed.

For Further Exploration

• Books: "Glittering Vices" by Rebecca DeYoung, “Bread and Wine” (anthology), “Wishful Thinking” by Frederick Buechner
• Selected scripture: Philippians 3:18–19, 1 Corinthians 11:20–22, Psalm 104, Proverbs 23, Isaiah 5
• Practice: Organize a communal media fast or discuss fasting/feasting traditions in your faith context

Endnote
This episode offers a nuanced exploration of gluttony that moves beyond caricature (overeating) to a comprehensive, theologically rich, and personally relevant view—one that intersects body, mind, community, and modern Christian discipleship.