The care pulled to a stop in front of the church. The door swung open, and the pastor maneuvered an overnourished belly from underneath the steering wheel. With his right hand he pulled himself up and out of the car, then waddled through the door of his office and sat down for a day of paper shuffling.
Unfortunately, our society has come to accept, maybe even to expect, the preacher to be overweight and out of shape. But there is a Christian discipline that, if practiced, would not only help to take some of the excess weight off of pastoral paunches, but would also aid pastors' pursuit of holiness.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus recommended three practices: alms-giving, prayer, and fasting (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). The early Christians felt duty-bound to do all they could to bring themselves closer to God. They looked upon these practices as a sacred privilege.
It seems that preachers of the twentieth century have replaced this trio with a duet. They still encourage prayer and alms-giving. But fasting has gotten lost in the shuffle.
Both the Old and New Testaments re fer to fasting. In the New Testament the word is nesteia. It is derived from ne, which is a negative prefix, and esthio, meaning to eat. Thus nesteia literally means not to eat. New Testament references to nesteia include Luke 2:37; Acts 14:23; Matthew 17:21; and Mark 9:29. Nesteuo, the verb form of nesteia, appears in Matthew 4:2; 6:16-18; Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33-35; 18:12; and Acts 13:2, 3. Both nesteia and nesteuo are used for voluntary fasting.1
Colin Brown says nesteuo means having an empty stomach, or abstaining from any kind of food for a limited period of time.2 Leon-Dufour gives a synopsis of what fasting is and what it is not. He states, "In Judaism, unlike other religions, fasting was not an ascetical exploit— is not food a gift of God? It was the equivalent of humbling one's soul, an attitude, of dependence on God, to make lamentation, or to implore some favor." 3
By simple definition fasting is a voluntary abstinence from any kind of food for a limited period of time for a sacred or holy purpose.
The Old Testament speaks of fasting as afflicting one's soul. Once a year Moses called the children of Israel to afflict their souls. This was a time when no food was eaten, no work was done, when the children of Israel would reflect on their sinfulness.4 It was a time of humbling themselves before God (Lev. 16:29-31; Num. 29:7). In the book of Joel we dis cover that Judah was called to a national fast in the face of an impending disaster (Joel 2:12). These examples demonstrate that in the Old Testament fasting referred to a cessation of eating for a limited period of time for the express purpose of humbling oneself before God or pleading for mercy. It was a cessation from eating in the hope of averting God's wrath. It was used as a means of worship, but never as a means of earning the favor of God. Fasting played an important part in the life of God's people in both the Old and New Testaments. Have the passing centuries diminished our need for it?
Fasting and weight control
Weight control is a real problem among preachers. Their eating habits and sedentary lifestyle can leave them in desperate need of girth control. Perhaps obesity is the greatest destroyer of physical health among ministers. Heart dis ease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other diseases that plague today's preachers are often caused or exacerbated by obesity. 5
And there is a direct relationship be tween the physical, mental, and spiritual health. John implied this harmony when he wrote, "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well" (3 John 2). * Any pas tor who suffers from any of these diseases would do well to consider anew the discipline of fasting. James Morrison states, "There are multitudes of diseases which have their origin in fullness, and might have their end in fasting." 6 If the minister would seriously practice the discipline of fasting, which in effect teaches self-control, he or she would witness a change not only in eating habits, but in health and weight. In fact, after three days of fasting, it is possible to begin losing up to two pounds a day.
During a prolonged fast the body be gins to act like an incinerator, burning up the waste and decaying tissues. This process brings about considerable weight loss because fat and waste make up a large percentage of the body weight in over weight people. With the decline in body weight and the cleansing and healing that has taken place during the fast, the minister should be able to leap from the car with renewed energy to carry forth his or her mission to the world. Wallis describes this renewal as a cleansing process that "usually produces, after a prolonged fast, a brightness of the eye, pure breath, clear skin, and a sense of physical well-being. The digestive system should be come like new. A Christian worker after only a five-day fast declared, 'I feel as though I've got a brand-new stomach.' A digestive weakness he had had for years had disappeared." 7 A healthy body helps to make a sound mind.
Fasting and dependence
But fasting is needed for more than just physical and mental health. Today's ministers face many dangers. For those living in an affluent society the greatest danger is self-sufficiency. God warned the children of Israel, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord. ... Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God" (Deut. 8:10, 11). There is no conflict between God and food. But when temporal needs are met there is the tendency to forget God.
Self-sufficient ministers pervade our world. Puffed up with the helium of pride, they proclaim, "Is not this [church] the great Babylon, I have built?" (Dan. 4:30). No one who is proud can approach God, let alone work for God. "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Ps. 34:18). Every minister must learn the lessons of meekness and humility that Christ taught.
Fasting can help a minister learn humility. Fasting itself does not humble a person, but it does prepare the vessel for the humbling work of the Holy Spirit. It is an outward act that helps to reinforce an inward change. Thus fasting is an external act of humiliation that helps to engrain the lesson of humility so needed in the pursuit of holiness.
"Fasting, then, is a divine corrective to the pride of the human heart. It is a discipline of the body with a tendency to humble the soul. ... If humility is the basic ingredient of true holiness, the soil in which the graces flourish, is it not needful that from time to time we should, like David, humble our souls with fasting? Behind many of our besetting sins and personal failures, behind the many ills that infect our church fellowships and clog the channels of Christian service — the clash of personalities and temperaments, the strife and division— lies that insidious pride of the human heart."8
Fasting and divine guidance
The work of the minister, by its very nature, is the work of God. Knowing God's will, having His guidance, is a serious matter to the devoted minister. The very souls of men and women depend to a large extent on this guidance. Thus ministers need to use every avail able method to seek God's will and guidance. We have evidence from the New Testament that the apostles used fasting as a means of discovering the divine will. "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off'(Acts 13:2, 3).
I cannot help believing that the experience of fasting provided such fellowship with the Holy Spirit that a better environment for understanding the will of God was created. No, fasting does not guarantee spiritual guidance. But by fasting we place ourselves in a situation that allows the Holy Spirit to have easier access to us. The stomach is closely related to the brain, and when the stomach is full, the body diverts energy from the brain to aid the digestive organs. When no food is in the stomach this energy is available for the brain to use. "A clogged stomach means a clogged brain." 9
When Daniel, the prophet of God, used this discipline, God revealed to him the future of his people (Dan. 9:2, 3,21, 22). Today's ministers should follow Daniel's example. We need to know God's plan for this world and its people. The cry is still heard, "Is there any word from the Lord?" (Jer. 37:17). Fasting will give the minister the environment needed to receive the unadulterated word of God and to pass it on to a hungry world.
Still we must be careful not to take fasting to an extreme. There is the danger of coming to regard fasting as a meritorious act—of using fasting as a means of earning favor with God. Some Christians believe they can earn merit by mortification of the body. 10 Some of these Christians view fasting as a good way of working themselves into the favor of God. Such a view misunderstands the place of human effort in the divine plan for our salvation. Paul explains, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9). It is our need that commends us to God, not our fasting. The latter is just an outward indication that says we recognize our true condition, sinners in need of the Saviour.
But to be sure, no outward act is acceptable to God if there is no inward change, no humility of heart. This is why the prophet Joel told the people to rend their hearts and not their garments (Joel 2:13). The most important part of fasting is the condition of the heart. Have we truly humbled ourselves before God, or are we just putting on a show of piety? Jesus told His disciples, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matt. 6:16-18). Fasting is a secret discipline done not to make one acceptable to God, but simply to show the desire of the heart for a closer relationship with God.
Jesus' example
Jesus, our perfect example, illustrated in His life the need and benefits of fasting. At the very beginning of His minis try He chose to go 40 days and 40 nights without food (Matt. 4:2). He was concerned that nothing would interfere with the communication between Himself and His Father. Through fasting and prayer He gained strength for the battle, insight into the word, and a determination to carry out His mission. But this was not the only time that our Lord fasted.
"When Christ was the most fiercely beset by temptation, He ate nothing."11 If our sinless Saviour felt the need to fast, how much more should feeble, sinful ministers feel the need of fasting!
Finally, those ministers whose eschatological view of Scripture points to the imminent day of the Lord ought to be particularly aware of their need of fasting. Joel and the people of Judah fasted because the day of the Lord was at hand. The people of Nineveh fasted because the wrath of God was soon to be poured out on them. Daniel fasted because he saw what God was about to do to Israel. But Daniel saw even more. He saw what would come to pass at the very end of this earth's history—and this revelation prostrated him in fasting.
One day the disciples asked Jesus, '"What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?' Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning birth pains' " (Matt. 24:3-8).
The books of Daniel and Revelation reveal that the day of the Lord is at hand. We can see that the signs Matthew wrote of are all around us. Now, more than ever before, we need to fast. God will soon pour out His wrath on this world, and many precious souls are doomed unless we can help them. If there ever was a time that we as ministers needed to humble ourselves by fasting and prayer, it is now. If there ever was a time that we needed the guidance of God in directing His people, it is now. If there ever was a time when we needed to be physically fit to carry out such an urgent, decisive mission, it is now.
So ministers, continue your praying and alms-giving, but add to your Christian practices the much-needed discipline of fasting.
*All Bible texts in this article are from the New International Version.
1. W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1966), vol. 2, p. 80.
2. Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1975), vol. 1, pp. 611-613.
3. X. Leon-Dufour, Dictionary of The New Testament (New York: Harper and Row Pub., Inc., 1980), p. 191.
4. D. R. Smith, Fasting: A Neglected Discipline (Fort Washington, Pa.: Christian Literature Crusade, 1972), p. 13.
5. Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, 4th ed. (New York: D. Van Nostrand-Reinhold Books, 1968), pp. 512, 881.
6. A. Wallis, God's Chosen Fast (Fort Washington, N.J.: Christian Literature Crusade, 1975), p. 81.
7. Ibid., p. 83.
8. Ibid., pp. 36, 37.
9. E. G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1942), p. 307.
10. Smith, p. 28.
11. E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 2, p. 202.
