1 Cor. 10:23-11:1

Okay, we've been having an interesting discussion in the comments for my previous post! I spent so much time writing my own point of view on the issue at hand that I thought I might as well post it here, too! If you want the background, read the comments, but you don't have to in order to understand what I'm saying. So here are my views on... drumroll please... the Grey Areas of Life!!

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Stephen said this: "Ok, I can understand the detriment of watching senseless violence, but this is getting ridiculous."

I have to agree with him. I think it's pointless to go over every single act of violence or language (or whatever else!) in this setting. Every person has their own limits that God has placed in us with what we can handle and what we can't. We can't just say that because one thing effects someone in a bad way that it is therefore totally bad and that EVERYONE should shun it. I'm not talking about stuff like murder and adultery and stealing—those are specific sins that God has most definitely given us specific commandments about. I'm talking about the grey areas like, for instance, playing poker, drinking things with alchohol, or watching movies with violence and language. You might feel a conviction to stay away from one of these things. Another perfectly normal and God-following Christian might not.

For instance: I know that for me, I feel a conviction that I shouldn't play poker. I disagree with betting the money. But I know many Christians who play it (friends... some of you, actually!) and I'm not about to judge them for it because it may not be a sin for them. I NEVER KNOW. I am not God, and God as far as I know did not say in the Bible that POKER (or gambling) IS A SIN and that NO ONE should play it. No person can judge a man's heart but God. Only one thing I do know: it would be a sin for me myself to play it.

On the other hand, I'm perfectly fine with having a little bit of wine at a banquet, Passover, etc. WHEN I'm of age. As long as it is not an addiction, I'm fine with that. If I ever got to the point where it was something I craved though, that would be either an addiction or dangerously close, and the Bible tells us not to be addicted to alcohol (in Proverbs, I believe, and probably elsewhere, too). So of course if it came to that it's a sin! But as long as my conscience is clear on the matter (where it's grey, I mean), I would be doing no wrong.

Again, one thing that we absolutely can NOT do in these grey areas is to make everyone else accept and shun things according to one person's convictions (lol, unless, of course, that person is Christ!). That would be legalistic and would, in fact, go against Biblical teaching.

You wanna know where I'm getting all of this, what this "Biblical teaching" is that I'm talking about? Read 1 Cor. 10:23-11:1, and think about it for awhile. Our youth pastor did an AWESOME talk on this passage a few months ago... remember, my fellow Wildwoodians? That one rocked, n'est-ce pas?

Just to ward off a question that might come up, I do think though that this does not apply the parents' direction of their family. They are supposed to set godly rules for what their family is and is not allowed to do, and the children need to obey 1. because it is commanded and 2. because God has placed them under the authority of their parents. Of course this changes when the children grow up and become adults themselves, and are no longer under the jurisdiction of their parents.

I think it is important to note that in the 1 Cor. passage it also makes it clear that we ARE to honor the convictions of those who are with us. In other words, we can't cause someone else to stumble. Something that is okay for us might not be for them, and we have to realize and respect that, and not try and make them do something that they can't and we can.

Hmm... that made me realize: I really like this passage, because it's an argument against both legalism and liberalism all at once! How cool is that!