Liberty

There are many things the Bible makes clear are sins.  There are also specific ways God tells us to worship.  However, some things aren't addressed.  In those things, we have liberty.  In the ancient church at Corinth, there was some disagreement about eating meat that had been offered to idols and other such things.  The apostle Paul encourages the church to follow their conscience.  However, in doing so, we must make sure our heart is right with God and our goal is to glorify God.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31-33, it says, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved." When we meet in the home of another, we should seek to follow their lead.  If they abstain from eating or drinking certain things, then we should respect that conviction.  Our liberty is for their benefit, not our own.  Too often people use liberty as an excuse to offend people.  We push our own desires over the convictions of others.  Rather than trying to encourage our brother or sister in Christ, our time becomes a time of berating or mocking them for the convictions we do not share.  However, as Christians, we are called to build up one another in the faith.  These matters of preference and conviction, outside of what is explicitly stated in Scripture, are really not important.  Those of us who do not have a conviction about a topic like food, drink, or clothing, are at liberty to honor the convictions of those who do.  While we may disagree with their stance, we can have respectful discussions based on Scripture rather than just dismissing their position without thought or consideration.

One current issue I often see is the consumption of alcohol.  Some people view drinking any alcohol as a sin.  They don't believe alcohol has any place in the life of a Christian.  They may even go so far as to avoid any and all establishments that serve alcohol.  Others may take a moderate view in which they believe some alcohol may be permissible, such as in cooking, communion, or on special occasions, but they believe no Christian should ever be drunk.  Others hold that the consumption of alcohol is fine in all forms as long as there is not a life pattern of drunkenness or alcoholism.  For this reason, we like to double-check with people coming into our home.  While we do not have a problem with the consumption of alcohol and sometimes use it in our cooking, we do not want to offend the conscience of someone who is opposed to it.  Therefore, I will not cook with wine if someone opposed to alcohol comes for dinner.  I would not want to cause them to sin and thus sin myself.  This would be the same as the food offered to idols in Corinth, about which Paul says, "Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." (1 Corinthians 8:8-13)

In the same respect, those of us who are convicted about a certain issue, should not make it cause for a fight or discord among our brothers and sisters in Christ.  While we may ask them to abstain from something while visiting our house, we cannot judge them for living according to their conscience in their own house.  Too often people use their own convictions to judge others and puff themselves up thinking they are a "better Christian" because we don't do what they do.  The idea of Christian liberty is that we are free to live according to our conscience on matters not explicitly stated.  Just as we are free to abstain, they are free to participate.  However, we should not use this as an excuse not to confront a brother or sister in sin.  There are some things such as sexual immorality, idolatry, or blasphemy that are not a matter of conscience.  When someone is doing something the Bible explicitly states as sin, then we are to confront them with the goal of pointing them to Christ so that they may repent and be restored.  We should not confuse Christan liberty with what is explicitly stated in Scripture.

The goal of our lives, in liberty and adherence to Scripture, is to bring glory to God.  As members of the Church, we should seek to edify other believers and point them to Christ.  We should also seek to reach out to those who do not believe with the good news of the gospel.  Our liberty should never interfere with the proclamation of the gospel or the edification of others.  You are free in Christ: free from sin, free to share the truth with the world, free to point people to Christ, free to build up others in the faith, and free to live in accordance with Scripture and your conscience.