Torch, Summer 1985

struggling with sins that violated God's standards with the body , i.e., commiting sexual sins with close relatives , etc. The first step for their deliver– ance was the realization that God, Who is Spirit, cares about what we do in our bodies, which are physical. It was the gnostics who taught that only the spiritual was of consequence to God; therefore, it made no difference what a man did with his body. Paul established that this is a lie. Q. What is your prescription for good stewardship of our bodies? First , believers must acknowledge that our bodies belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul told our Cori nthian brothers: "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it , why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (I Co– rinthians 4:7) And Romans 12: l tells us: "I beseech you therefore, brethren , by the mer– cies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy , acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Now the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant involved no living sacrifices. All sacrifices were placed on the altar after their death, which death was not by their choice . The Lord Jesus Christ was the first living sacrifice; He ascended the altar of sacrifice by choice. Now we are invited to make a reasoned choice to ascend, gladly and willingly, the altar of living sacrifice to glorify God in our physical being. This is the first step in the steward– ship of our bodies . Secondly, we must give our sexuality to God. It is no accident that fidelity to God and consequently proper stewardship of one's life in the Old Testa– ment were often referred to in sexual terms. God's people were admonished to know God, which is the same word for intimacy between a husband and a wife. When God's people were condemned for in– fidelity with other gods, God said that they had gone "a whoring" or that the "spirit of whoredoms" was in them. One prominent Bible teacher said: "If a man tries to give his emotions to God without giving his sexuality he becomes a gushy, sentimental Christian. If he tries to give his will to God without his sexuality he be– comes an impetuous Christian. If he tries to give his mind to God without his sexuality he becomes a pseudointel lectual Christian." Until a man makes a covenant with his eyes which are the avenue to his heart and the lust which resides there, there is no possibility for proper and godly stewardship of his body. Third, believers must give their appetites to the Lord. Hunger is the God-given need for nutrition which results in our eating food. When we give this drive to the Lord, we commit ourselves to proper nutrition. There are many nutritional guides in the Old Tes– tament . While there are no eternal consequences today for violating them, these guides offer tem– poral benefits for those who are directed by them . One example is the prohibition for eating pork. It is not a sin to eat pork, but because of the high con– centration of cholesterol and triglycerides, there are temporal benefits to avoiding pork . Appetites are learned patterns of behavior which result in desires for certain things. There are cul– tures in the world in which children develop an appetite for lice. In our culture children develop an appetite for refined sugar. Most of us would find lice unhealthy and disgusting as an item of our diet. Yet few of us understand the disgusting, unhealthy effects of refined sugar. Another appetite which our culture has de– veloped in most of us is the desire for a certain body morphology, i.e ., slim, trim, and muscular. While there is nothing inherently evil about this, neither is there anything inherently godly about this body morphology. Physical fitness should be practiced in the perspective of the preeminent value of the spiritual over the physical. The fourth step of stewardship of our bodies is effected when we discover that our worship of God involves our total self - body, soul, and spirit. In fact, the Hebrew words for worship, bless, and praise are physical terms. Stewardship of our bodies is not optional. It is intrinsic to our relation– ship with our Heavenly Father and to our worship and adoration of Him. Q. Since our bodies will die, why does God require us to be stewards of them? One of the ironies of stewardship, financial or physical, is the apparent temporary benefit achieved. For instance, in the area of finances, the needs of the kingdom of God are so enormous that they dwarf our resources, no matter how wealthy we might be. In the area of the physical, we will die, if the Lord tarries, no matter how healthy, vig– orous, or disciplined we are. Then why stewardship? If we are doomed to fail – ure, why try? The reason is foundational to our nature and to the nature of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. This life is a sort of prep school for the real work of eternally glorifying and adoring our Heavenly Father. Therefore, every activity in this world is to be brought into "captivity .. .to the obedience of Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5). We are stewards as an act of worship, even though our stewardship, with– out the supernatural multiplication of God, will be inadequate for the needs of the Kingdom of God. Q. How do people violate this commanded stewardship? By neglecting to do the things that we've men– tioned - most obviously by involvement in such 9