Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life
Episode: Gluttony: The Case of Achan
Speaker: Tim Keller
Date: October 10, 2025

Overview of the Episode's Main Theme

In this sermon, Tim Keller explores the biblical story of Achan from the book of Joshua to examine the sin of gluttony—not only in the sense of overindulgence in food but as a framework for understanding all forms of disordered craving. Keller connects the ancient story to contemporary issues with temptation and addiction, showing how sin misaligns our desires for good things, leading to self-destructive cravings. He draws from both theological tradition (especially the medieval concept of the seven deadly sins) and psychological insight, offering a pathway to healing rooted in the gospel.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is Gluttony? The Medieval Framework

• Gluttony is more than overeating; it’s “when food and drink becomes too important to you, and you use it immoderately” (04:20).
• Medieval theologians, especially Thomas Aquinas, identified multiple kinds of gluttony:
  • Excessively: Wanting too much food and drink
  • Sumptuously: Demanding only the richest foods
  • Daintily: Insisting on perfectly prepared foods
  • Impulsively: Demanding immediate gratification
• Gluttony points to broader issues of addictive craving and lack of self-control in all people.

2. Gluttony as a Window to Disordered Desire (Concupiscence)

• Keller introduces Augustine’s term “concupiscence”—an inner infection that disorders our desires, making necessary things into cravings.
• “Sin makes us all addicted to something...the spectacular addictions, like alcoholism...they are just a template for understanding how all of our hearts work in some way.” (07:45)
• All humans, in various ways, suffer from misaligned desires that control our lives beyond the reach of reason or conscience.

3. The Depth of Craving: Lessons from Achan (Joshua 7)

• The story of Achan reveals how desire can overwhelm rationality, conscience, and even self-preservation.
• “Our craving...is so strong that it overcomes our conscience, that it overcomes our understanding, our reason. Eventually it will overcome your fear of consequences and even your own sense of self-preservation.” (13:10)
• Keller uses vivid illustrations—Edmund's Turkish Delight from Narnia, hypochondria, relationship issues, social anxiety—to show the self-destructive nature of insatiable craving.

4. The Structure of Temptation and Craving

• Keller outlines four steps Achan takes, mirroring how temptation works in all of us:
  1. Gaze: More than noticing, it’s focusing attention and openness to temptation. “The first step in temptation is to move beyond noticing to gazing.” (20:25)
  2. Weigh: Imagining the value and formulating its ‘glory’—the imagination inflames desire.
  3. Covet: Glorifying and worshipping the object, the heart becomes inflamed by it.
  4. Take: Yielding to the temptation in action.
• “Sin is always an inflammation of the imagination. Your imagination is that which gives glory to something.” (23:30)

5. The Healing of Craving: Breaking the Chain

• Healing involves interrupting the four-stage process at any point:
  • Be aware of what you’re gazing at: “Nip it in the bud. Don’t let your mind...be in a situation where these things can happen.” (27:21)
  • Accountability and avoidance are helpful but not sufficient.
  • Replace the object of desire: Keller quotes Thomas Chalmers—“the only way you can ever release the soul from the power of a beautiful object is to give it a more beautiful object.” (30:03)
    • Jesus is the ultimate “beautiful object”—his love and sacrifice can displace lesser cravings.
• Notable quote: “If you don’t imprison me, I’ll be imprisoned by something else. And if you don't ravish me, I'll be ravished by something else.” (31:20, quoting John Donne)
• The gospel’s paradox: Giving Jesus all glory gives us the deepest possible sense of being valued and loved.

6. Hope for Restoration

• Even if we have suffered the consequences of our craving, Keller insists on God’s ability to transform our failures into “a door of hope” (Hosea reference).
• “You may have already been stoned and burned...You think, no. Says God. No, I tell you. If you repent and come back...I can rebuild you from the ground up.” (34:20)

7. Living Moderately in Anticipation of the Ultimate Feast

• Keller concludes by reflecting on the biblical image of the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” With confidence in God’s future feast, we can practice moderation now: “When you know there’s an incredible dessert coming, you don’t eat too much, do you? ...You say, ‘No, thank you. I’m saving some room for dessert.’” (35:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Universal Craving:
  “Gluttony is taking something good, something necessary, and cramming it in until we’re sick of it, until we’re ready to explode.” (06:17)
• On Addictions and Despair:
  “At the bottom of almost all of our discouragements, at the bottom of almost all of our deepest difficulties is this [craving].” (16:36)
• On the Imagination's Role:
  “Sin is always an inflammation of the imagination...the imagination is the tongue of your soul, the palate.” (23:35)
• On Displacing Cravings:
  “The only way you can ever release the soul from the power of a beautiful object is to give it a more beautiful object.” (30:03, quoting Chalmers)
• On God’s Paradoxical Grace:
  “You come to see that you matter enough, that he died for you, and that you matter to the only one in the universe whose opinion matters.” (33:14)
• On Hope for the Addicted:
  “Even if your life has fallen apart because it’s gone too far, God says, I can make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.” (34:20)

Key Timestamps

• 04:20 – Medieval view of gluttony and its different categories
• 06:17 – The universal nature of disordered cravings
• 13:10 – Achan’s story and how desire destroys self-preservation
• 20:25 – Four steps of temptation: gaze, weigh, covet, take
• 23:30 – How imagination inflames craving
• 27:21 – The need to be aware of what we gaze at
• 30:03 – Displacing craving with a “more beautiful object” (Jesus)
• 33:14 – Paradoxical glory given to believers through Christ
• 34:20 – God’s capacity to bring hope out of failure
• 35:45 – Metaphor of saving room for the ultimate feast as a motive for moderation

Episode Flow & Tone

Keller’s language is direct, compassionate, and filled with vivid illustrations drawn from everyday life, literature, and biblical history. He combines theological depth with practical wisdom, always rooting application in the gospel’s hope. The tone balances seriousness (about the destructive power of craving) with a warm invitation to healing and deeper joy in Christ.

Summary prepared for listeners and non-listeners alike. For more resources, visit gospelinlife.com.