"When in doubt.... Don't"

Romans 14:22-23

"The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin."

This past Sunday in church we talked about not violating your conscience. The sermon, based on the passage above, was very practical and thought provoking... and convicting - all of which are good things especially for me.

One of the most thought provoking things Pastor shared was that one behavior can be right and wrong at the same time. How? Because of two people with a different conscience in regard to the same issue. Interesting isn't it? Of course this refers to those things that are not explicitly stated in scripture as sin (Rom. 13:12-14; I Cor. 6: 9-10; Gal. 5: 19-21; Eph. 5:3-5). For example dancing, playing cards, having a glass of wine, full frontal hugging, music preference, appropriate dress lengths and necklines, etc.

These "gray areas" are hot spots that can easily become points of division. In regard to Christian liberty, while it is true that we have freedom in Christ (Gal. 5:1) AND all things are lawful for me... not all things are profitable (I Cor. 6:12) - we do have our brethren to consider.

Christian liberty is a blessing from God and should we choose to restrain it, the motivation should be to demonstrate love toward a weaker brother or sister. How is that demonstrating love? Because it is an expression of agape love to restrain our liberty in order to do what is best for our weaker brethren. The weaker brethren are those who may be stumbled by our actions because their conscience tells them that our action is sin.

Where does the conviction come in for me? Being a person who tends to be principle driven, it is easy for me to be dogmatic and very black and white. While God has created me this way, He has also called me to live a life full of grace and mercy toward my fellow man. So when our pastor reminded us to not go around trying to bring people around to our own personal convictions in any of these areas... I was convicted. Whether or not I intended to or purposed in my heart to force my convictions on others, I was and have been guilty of that very thing. Ouch.

Practically speaking, the basic take away thought is this: If you violate your own moral code, you are guilty of sin. When your conscience is clear you can exercise your liberty without feeling badly. So "When in doubt... Don't."