The Obese Preacher Problem

Speaking from experience...

It is no secret that weight struggles and ministry often go hand in hand.

It makes sense, in a way—the job is primarily sedentary, there’s lots of fellowship eating involved, and the sometimes unpredictable hours can make it difficult to keep a consistent schedule of healthy habits. I speak from personal experience as someone who was categorically obese for almost every Sunday of my tenure in full-time pulpit ministry.

Difficult though it may be, I think it’s time we make a concerted effort to reverse this trend.

You’re probably thinking that I’m here to say it’s a matter of self-control, and someone who lacks self-control also lacks moral authority. I do believe there’s plenty of merit to that point, but it’s one that’s been made before to little effect.

No, I want to make the case that a church full of out of shape preachers might face an even more costly issue.

Fat is estrogenic. So, the heavier a man is, the less he has proper hormone function, particularly with regard to his testosterone levels. External softness often has a measurable correlation to internal softness, in other words.*

If you understand why God chose men to lead the home, the church, and the society as defenders who take on threats and chart unpopular but true courses, you can see where this might be a problem.

I believe you can make the case that much of the church’s weakness in the face of a degenerating culture can be laid at the feet of the weakness of our leaders. And this weakness, whether chicken or egg, is closely related to their physical weakness.

I don’t think I could put it any better than this viral bit of internet wisdom:

“People who can't defend themselves physically (women and low T men) parse information through a consensus filter as a safety mechanism. They literally do not ask ‘is this true,’ they ask ‘will others be OK with me thinking this is true?’ This makes them very malleable to brute force manufactured consensus; if every screen they look at says the same thing they will adopt that position because their brain interprets it as everyone in the tribe believing it.”

In other words, your natural fight or flight sense is turned off when you know you’d lose the fight and can’t outrun anybody. Instead, you are subconsciously susceptible to cultural pressure to conform.

This may even be backed by research. A study found that increased testosterone showed a material impact on political views (and you can probably guess in which direction).

This is not to say that fitness = virtue or rightness (see, Schwarzenegger, Arnold on both counts). It is also not to say that weight problems devalue a person or bar you from heaven, or that everyone with a weight problem is spineless. This is also not to throw rocks at or make fun of anyone. As I said, I spent a lot of time in the same boat. I know it’s tough.

It is only to say what I’ve argued in this article: struggles in this area have a material impact on a preacher’s ability to do his job. Modern Christianity has been marked by softness and spinelessness, and there may be a correlation here.

See, when you take on a fitness journey of diet and exercise, excuses and false self-talk are exposed immediately. The numbers don’t lie. Difficult truths become a way of life rather than something to be avoided, downplayed, or twisted. The ability to tell these truths to one’s self affects one’s ability to tell difficult truths to others.

To be honest, that fact was one of the contributing factors to my step away from the ministry. As the unwavering truths of the scale and the gym taught me to be more self-honest and I saw how undisciplined I was, I realized how unworthy I was in numerous other ways to lead God’s people. “Clean your own room before you set out to fix the world,” and all that.

So maybe I’m projecting my own internal monologue onto a bigger issue. Or, maybe I learned something that might be a benefit to others. I’ll leave that to you.

Even if you disagree with all of this, ask yourself: maybe the downsides to being unhealthy aren’t so drastic, but what are the upsides? If nothing else, do it for your health. But you may be surprised at other ways it changes you along the way.

What if I’m not a preacher?

First of all, I don’t want this article to be the catalyst for anybody to go from loving and respecting their preacher to suddenly viewing him skeptically. If you have a man of God who is preaching the truth to you but could also trim up a bit, give thanks for him and build him up through prayer and verbalized gratitude.

Beyond that, I don’t think it would be untoward for elderships to factor health into their preacher searches, or to lay out reasonable expectations for the man in the job. We can quibble over whether Paul meant to tell Timothy that physical fitness was “a little benefit” or ”of little benefit,” but there’s no denying the three epistles written to ministers demand a high level of character and discipline.

You can also encourage through example.

It’s long been a trope that Christians (especially Bible Belt Christians) are chronically indulgent and out of shape with our big pot lucks and such. Research may even back this up to a degree.

But we are not gnostics. The body matters, and we are to be good stewards of what God has given us. What we believe comes out externally, too. So, if anything, we should be a culture that encourages each other toward better health.

Believe me, I know the struggle. But I’ve found it’s far simpler than we’re led to believe. Insane deprival is not required—just a moderate, math-based approach. If I can help in any way with what I’ve learned on my journey thus far, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

*Linking further reading on testosterone and masculinity, if you’re interested.