With
that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat
anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an
“idolatry test” on every item. “The earth,” after all, “is God’s, and
everything in it.” That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the
butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going,
go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both
bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical
purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his
way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so,
you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from,
he isn’t, and you don’t want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
But,
except for these special cases, I’m not going to walk around on eggshells
worrying about what small-minded people might say; I’m going to stride free and
easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is
served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about
what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
So
eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re
eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do
everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time,
don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the
toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of
everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too. - The Message -
Oh,
it’s not about me?
The
freedom is wonderful. Because of God’s grace and redemption I’m no longer bound
by all the restrictive rules my dad taught me. I can go to movies. I can dance
(well, Mali says I can’t) and I can have a glass of wine now and then.
Paul
thinks I might have missed the point. Of course we can do those things…but we
want to live well so we can help others live well...not so we can immerse ourselves in our newfound privileges. The closer we live to the
edge of sin the less capable we are of fulfilling that mission.
When
I have trouble with my computer at work I don’t call one of my chaplains for
help. I did that once and…enough said. I now call our computer management
department. Those guys are brilliant. And, guess what? They “WANT” me to call
them. That’s why they’re here.
When
was the last time somebody asked you how they can better live for Christ? Has
it been awhile? Maybe they don’t realize you’re an expert.
Live boldly out there today…
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