In the Church today, it is well accepted that to deny oneself something is better than to indulge in something. It is thought that being poor is better than being rich. I would like to question if this is really biblical. The evidence in the Bible is that self-denial of this kind is not what Jesus was talking about when he told the disciples to deny themselves (Matt. 16:24). Jesus continued to spell out that whoever would be his disciple must “take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24–25). Jesus is speaking of losing our lives from our will to God’s will (and even losing them in death, if necessary).
Jesus was called “gluttonous and a winebibber” (Matt. 11:19). He was definitely not fulfilling man’s expectations of self-denial. In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites three to four feasts a year, and only one time of fasting. (The many fasts observed in the days of Jesus were added later, not by God.) These feasts are fulfilled in Christ, and we have the New Testament feast of the Lord’s Supper, which takes their place.
The Bible does not give us the pattern of self-denial that is accepted in the church today. It tells us that God created a good, abundant world for us to enjoy! Certainly, we are not to take that enjoyment to the point of gluttony or drunkenness, but we are called to enjoy what God has given us. The Psalmist calls us to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8)! If we are only allowed to have very little and we are to deny ourselves the enjoyment of life, how can we “taste and see”?
Read the full article at: https://rcus.org/article/asceticism-and-stuff/
