Comments on: Guest Blog: Anna Meadows

By: Diane Kacvinsky

Diane Kacvinsky — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:04:48 +0000

After reading all the blogs posted, I am very discouraged. Most of them were directed to the losing weight issue. That should not be the point of her story. If the only way we as individuals can feel good about ourselves is to lose weight and get fit and trim, I don’t think we can call ourselves Christians at all. Yes we may look better, but are we any better? We can still have the same attitude about life, fit or fat. Attitude as a Christian starts in our heart. God is in our heart. If He isn’t, then we need to get Him there. He won’t care what we weigh, or if we are pretty or handsome.

By: Southwood Lutheran Church

Southwood Lutheran Church — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:02:11 +0000

Fat or Fit?

A few years ago, Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life confronted me head on with these words: “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your

By: PastorJuan

PastorJuan — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:18:13 +0000

As a big man I can say I am happy being big, but not stratified. Its a health, issue with me. As with the church, its a health issue. Even a FIT christian can be unhealth. There is a right and a wrong way to be fit, in my opinion.

Hey Nick, as far as being teased, I did say I am a big man…..

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:52:18 +0000

Thanks, everyone!

I wanted to reply a little deeper on the more practical subject of weight loss because I know how it can be when dealing with this very difficult subject. There are a few very practical things I did to drop the weight and I’d love to share them with you if you are interested. Shoot me an e-mail and we’ll chat a little more in depth…

anna.meadows@lifechurch.tv

By: Sheri

Sheri — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:33:09 +0000

Anna, love how you hear God’s voice and act on it! What a wonderful example you are for all of us to OBEY AND to know who we are in Christ! :O)

By: Hope

Hope — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:10:05 +0000

This is one of THE most poignant blogs - to the point, underscored, full of truth and love. AMEN Sister! God bless you!

By: Nick Carnes

Nick Carnes — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:52:26 +0000

Good point, Carrie. I wanted to put my objection out there so that everyone could think on it, but there’s no doubt that Anna is laying down some great insights in this post.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:11:59 +0000

Great post Anna. I agree. When we realize who we are in Christ on the inside, we turn from being someone who is focused on ourselves to someone who is focused on how we can impact others.

Neeraj and Nick-
Your heart for those who are struggling with eating disorders and the like is awesome. I truly applaud that. Just make sure that does not get in the way from understanding the spiritual principle that Anna was trying to get across here :)

By: neeraj

neeraj — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:07:36 +0000

i appreciated the dialogue and the main point of this blog. DA i appreciated your comment as well… there are definitely things I can learn from this blog….

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:07:15 +0000

Really appreciate you sharing and providing an insight the YOU took away from the whole experience. I totally agree too that when it comes to Christians and the church, way too many people make it all about them and how they can get filled up on more and more great “church” stuff. Yet ask them to serve, pray or reach out to others and they’ll tell you they’re too busy (feeding themselves while others are starving for a kind word, expression of love or the truth that Jesus loves them) Thanks again for sharing.

By: heath

heath — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:39:22 +0000

neeraj & nick,

I’m a little chubby myself, (middle-aged guy losing hair and gaining weight) and i thought this post was really eloquent. The word “fit” was used, not skinny. She was excited because her mentality changed, not just her weight. I think the criticism of this post is a little much. But, I guess i’m no better for criticizing your criticism :)

Heath

By: Jimmy Paravane

Jimmy Paravane — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:49:11 +0000

Oh yer gonna hate me now. Shame. A topic I know well. Love. Now that’s a difficult topic. But shame? We can chew the fat on that one all day. Did your button get pushed? Marginalized people and the Bible. Doesn’t that just some it all up? Are you a Pharisee or a Tax collector? Demon possessed or a Leper? Mary or Martha?
The only perfect person in the entire history of man according to scripture is Jesus. All the rest of us are marginalized. And we spend all day trying to marginalize each other so we can feel better about ourselves. IMHO, of course(grin).
I’ll trade you my darkness for your fat any day of the week. But it wouldn’t matter. It’s a matter of perspective, not degree. Pride, Shame and Self-hatred. And the greatest of these is…

By: brandon

brandon — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:08:18 +0000

@Nick: I understand your what you’re trying to say. Yet the statement about Jesus simply isn’t true. Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees names all the time. [Matthew 23:33] is one example. He even spoke to a Canaanite woman and called her a dog. [Matthew 15:21-28]as another example.

It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t love these people, He knew their heart and often called things the way they were to reveal the truth. I don’t think Anna was intending on slamming people who are over weight, but if you are over weight physically, spiritually Anna has confronted the truth of it, and it appears to me has dealt with it. Congratulations Anna and great revelations.

By: DA

DA — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:53:00 +0000

I find it interesting when a person writes on a blog about a personal experience they have been through that the value of what was learned can not be applied because of being insensitive or offensive to “some” group or individual. Jesus didn’t worry about being insensitive when he spoke the truth in love. Why then do some find it necessary to come to the aid of those they think might be offended? When we can’t learn from what others have gone through it may tell us we aren’t very open to what God is saying to us. The truth can be very tough, especially if we continually remove ourselves from it.

D.A.

By: SCOTT hamilton

SCOTT hamilton — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:44:04 +0000

Consumer or Contributor?

As followers of Jesus we often struggle with being influenced by our consumerist society. We let ourselves become consumer oriented/driven in regards to our faith. As a leader in ministry I’ve actually fed that tendency at times. And for this

By: Gina Witcher

Gina Witcher — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:20:49 +0000

Great blog!!

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:04:52 +0000

Love your blog, You guys are creative gurus at Lifechurch.tv, so I would love for you to interact with this post and get any feedback, if you have any. I am trying to refine and hone some thoughts on this subject.
http://provocativechurch.blogspot.com/2007/07/5-ways-to-spark-creativity.html

Thanks,

bill

By: Scott H

Scott H — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:56:17 +0000

What a great challenge! I think it’s one of the biggest challenges for the church in America. To say that we are not influenced by the consumerist environment we live in would be foolish. This post is an appropriate reminder of where our focus should be.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:40:04 +0000

Thanks for the comments and discussion… Steve, you make me laugh!

Neeraj and Nick, I’m not saying that fat=bad… instead I’m saying that fat=bondage. At least it did for me. When I carried the weight I also carried a MINDSET of selfishness. (I’m not saying that every person who struggles with weight has this mindset, I’m just saying what it was like for me.) That bondage kept me from being the person God intended me to be because I was always worried about what people thought. I held myself back because I didn’t feel free to be myself.

That’s the parellel I’m drawing to ministry. When we’re fit in Christ we’re free. When we carry extra “weight” we’re bound by rules, regulations, religon, and not free to focus on the only thing that matters: those who don’t know what freedom really is… We’re bound by a self-centered thinking that gets in the way of what we’re truly here to do.

To answer the other questions… how I lost the weight. I finally realized that being fit isn’t just going on a diet. Being fit means to completely change your lifestyle… making better choices when it comes to food, eating less and working off more. But the real reason behind the loss is because I realized who I was in Christ and the transformation happend from the inside out. I believe that the outward body is a sign of what is going on, on the inside. So when I realized freedom from within, the outward followed.

I can’t really explain how it happened I just know that it did… and now I want to help others experience the freedom and joy I’ve found in losing not only the physical weight but also the weight of consumeristic thinking… because it’s just better.

By: Nick Carnes

Nick Carnes — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:58:47 +0000

I understand what Anna was trying to convey; my point was that the use of “Fat Christians” as a metaphor for self-centered church attenders is kind of insensitive. People who are overweight or who suffer from eating disorders get teased a lot, and even though Anna didn’t say that fat people are bad, describing lazy/selfish believers as “fat” seems to imply that fat people are bad.

There should be a way to communicate spiritual truths without comparing moral error to some undifferentiated group of people like the overweight. Jesus used parables about everyday activities like sewing seeds or running a vineyard or fishing. And when Jesus’s stories had villains, they weren’t entire groups of socially marginalized people, they were the proud or selfish individuals in the story–ungrateful servants or a proud older brothers.