If your body is a temple then why aren’t churches talking about weight?

Let’s assume for a moment that the average church is roughly representative of the UK population as a whole. If that’s the case, then one in four of us in every congregation in England (or 25.9 per cent of the adult population) is obese. Wales has broadly similar rates and, in Scotland, it rises to 31 per cent. Add in those who are considered overweight, and we’re looking at nearly two-thirds of all adults in Britain.

According to the World Health Organization, being overweight or obese can cause cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke, Type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis and certain types of cancer – as well as many more health conditions. Obesity reduces overall life expectancy by three to ten years and costs the NHS £6.5bn annually. It is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking.

Most of us could probably do with consuming a little less food and moving about a little more. Physical inactivity is associated with one-sixth of all deaths in the UK. More than one in three men and almost half of women are more sedentary than we should be. I could go on…

Hard truths

Those are the cold, hard facts. And if this problem affects those of us in the pews as much as those outside, surely the Church should be doing something more about it? Looking to its own and leading by example, perhaps? At present, very little seems to be going on. Perhaps that’s because talking about issues of health and wellbeing, especially in relation to weight and our physical bodies – or reading articles on the subject – feels awkward for many of us. 

In our imperfect world, being overweight or obese is often not straightforward. As well as physical health issues, injuries and disabilities that can prevent us from being as active as we know we should – or would want to – be, there are also emotional and mental health issues. Some people may feel that, for a whole host of reasons, they do not have the time or resources to prioritise their own physical health. Some may feel they cannot afford it.

Because of these complexities, even trained medical professionals say they find it hard to tell patients when they need to lose weight. No wonder physical health is a topic rarely tackled in a Sunday morning service – or at all in our churches. But just because something is tricky, it doesn’t mean that it should be avoided. Because a good theology of the body is crucial to living in the fullness of life that Jesus promised (John 10:10).

Free from shame 

In Genesis, we learn that God created human beings in his image (1:27), and breathed life into us (2:7). In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul explains that our physical bodies “are temples of the Holy Spirit”. It could take a book to explore just that one mind-blowing statement, but the summary is this: when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins and choose to follow him, God’s Spirit comes and dwells in us. This is not an abstract theory but a very present, physical reality. 

Paul’s statement was radical to first-century Christians, and it should be to us today. For the Corinthians, this was especially pertinent in the area of their sexual behaviour. Paul was making sure they understood that what they did with their bodies was important to God. Our physical actions and our spiritual health are intrinsically related, and how we care for our body, and what we do with and to it, matter.

A good theology of the body is crucial to living in the fullness of life

Today, the average person probably has no idea that the concept of our body as a temple is a Christian one. Most often, the term is used in mock horror to refuse a sugary snack or another glass of Pinot, but that ignores the true beauty contained within this most holy of ideas.

In a society that seems to swing from one extreme to another, a healthy, holy understanding of what our bodies were created to be, and how we should care for them, is a great gift that should bring with it enormous freedom and peace. 

At one end of the spectrum, there are increasing pressures that exhort women and men to be thin or buff for wholly superficial reasons. An internet generation is bombarded with unrealistic photoshopped images of unobtainable physiques that are designed to make us feel less-than, somehow – and buy a whole raft of products, from protein powders to diet pills, that will make us feel better.

At the other end is the body positive movement, one in which fat-shaming has (rightly) been called out but that, in the process, has perhaps fallen into the trap of making yet another subject one in which disagreement is simply not acceptable. Of course we shouldn’t heap shame on people because of their body shape, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the very real health issues that come with being overweight or obese. 

Because, ultimately, this isn’t about thinness or fatness, it’s about health. It’s affecting us all, and it’s not getting any better. 

Under pressure

In the 1950s, most households did not own a TV – let alone a device that streams shows 24/7 – and social media was half a century away from distracting us all half to death. Models were curvier, and yet the proportion of the population estimated to be obese was one or two per cent. 

Fast-forward to 2024, and with the obesity rate now at 25 per cent (and still rising), we’re living in what has been described as an “obesogenic environment”. Think about your last visit to a service station, cinema or local high street. Chances are, you saw fast-food outlets, advertisements for fried chicken, super-sized meals, overpriced donuts and energy drinks in rainbow hues. You probably didn’t see much fresh fruit. 

Today, you’re far more likely to drive to the supermarket than walk into town to buy your fresh produce from five different stores. And much less likely to grow your own food or cook from scratch than previous generations. All of this is evidence of the obesogenic environment that is becoming more and more dominant.

Our physical actions and our spiritual health are intrinsically related

There’s also a whole host of complicated socioeconomic factors. Obesity and deprivation are positively correlated, which means that in areas where income is lower, obesity rates are generally higher. The reasons behind this can be most simply illustrated by looking at the cost of a loaf of bread: in general, an own-brand, white supermarket loaf will be significantly cheaper than an organic, multigrain wholemeal one. In other words, the cheaper foodstuffs are generally the most processed and contain higher levels of sugar, fat and salt. They kick our metabolic processes out of whack, meaning we ‘feel’ hungry again, crave more salty, fatty, sugary food, and so the cycle goes on. 

Prepared for the journey

Now for the good news…We know what the problems are, and we know how we’ve got here. And from warnings about ultra-processed food (see last month’s ‘Culture’ column) to the pressure being applied on the government to ban junk food advertising to children, it seems that we are finally beginning to wake up to the evils of convenience foods and the assault on our bodies that decades of cheap, poor-quality produce has had.

But there’s still some way to go. Change is hard work, and will require willingness – both as individuals and families, and corporately, in our society and in our churches. 

The Church has a responsibility to love and accept unconditionally, not to judge or cause someone to feel shame, especially if that person is struggling with the weight of physical or mental health issues, caring responsibilities or other difficulties.

But we also have a responsibility to look after what God has given us to the best of our abilities. Just as we are called to use our money, time or talents well, we are also called to use the good gift of our God-given bodies for his purposes. We sometimes call this ‘stewarding’ – a little bit of jargon that essentially means looking after the resources we have, considering them not ours to own, but God’s gifts to manage well, invest and use to do good for his purposes, just as the servants did in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

We are called to use the good gift of our God-given bodies for his purposes

If you own a car, you’ll appreciate the wisdom of maintaining it well. You know that by driving it regularly, using the correct fuel and servicing it when required, it will likely last longer and travel further than if you leave it sitting around, neglect to maintain it or, God forbid, fill it up with diesel when it needs unleaded petrol.

In the same way, when we exercise regularly, feed our bodies good food and generally look after ourselves, we are more likely to enjoy good health for longer, giving us more years to do the things that God has for us to do here on earth.

That’s because, alongside obesity and being overweight shortening our life expectancy, it also affects the number of years that we can expect to experience good health. The illustration of the car provides an easy-to-understand analogy: whether we are actively abusing our body or just benignly neglecting it, it will not last us as long or serve us as well as it might if we looked after it. 

Of course, this is no guarantee. Health challenges, accidents and disabilities cannot be entirely prevented by our actions alone. But we can take proactive steps to safeguard our physical health as far as it goes with us.

Fullness of life

The Church is uniquely placed to offer a theology of the body that most fully encompasses a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. 

Acknowledging that we are made in the image of God, knitted together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-14), enables us to approach the complexities and nuances of physical health with a pastor’s heart, seeing each individual as “fearfully and wonderfully made”, whatever challenges they may be facing.

Within that, yes, I do think we have a responsibility to address the issue of health – both individually and as a community of believers. Not that our weight in itself becomes the big issue, but so that we are adequately educated and encouraged to see our physical health as something that needs time and investment as much as our spiritual health does.