Disputable matters, part 1

I just had something start to click for me, and it's not a huge thing, but it's very interesting. I was thinking about how to live a life of worship, what to do, what to avoid, etc., and I was reminded about Pastor Dan saying something about watching Survivor, and how that doesn't make him a bad person, but just a person (. . . that was an unnecessarily long sentence). I have the feeling that some people in the church were a little taken back by that. Instead of jumping to judgement, let's look to the Bible.

"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Romans 14:1-8

(DISCLAIMER- I am not trying to imply that if you don't watch Survivor, your faith is weak. Neither will watching it help your strengthen your faith either. It has everything to do with living in God and nothing to do with the TV shows that we can/can't, should/shouldn't, or do/don't watch).

Basically, to apply this to the example above, if you feel like watching Survivor will lead you to sin, then don't watch it. But don't judge those that do; that's not your job.
On the other side, if you can watch something in a way that doesn't cause problems for you, great; but don't treat others as though they are lower than you because they "can't handle it."
Either way, there should be no doubt in your mind how you stand on the matter is OK, and ultimately we should be focusing on God through whatever activities we do.

(I'm gonna take an aside and say: This is NOT the same as moral relativism in that there are definite sins ("I (fill in the sin) for the Lord" doesn't cut it in God's eyes, as He outlines a lot of specifics throughout the Bible). This is only for "disputable matters." To me, that means situations that aren't specifically outlined. After all, we are not bound by the law, but by grace. It is because of the freedom of grace that we obey, and not the other way around, since our actions will never get us to Heaven).

I think this is also a great passage for the "church music" debate. Don't be quick to judge churches that "don't use enough" old hymns, or use "too many" of them. After all, it's not really about music; it is about the object of worship!

It also applies to the idea of the "church dress code." Are there things inappropriate for church? Yeah; you shouldn't be distracting or bringing attention to yourself. For me, while I won't come to church in ripped jeans and an undershirt; however, I do not feel guilty wearing sandals and shorts when the weather is nice. I also don't judge people who wouldn't be caught dead NOT wearing a full suit to church. "Come just as you are." I could go ahead and defend myself, but that would defeat the whole purpose of this entry :)

Remember- each of us belongs to the Lord, whether we are living or dying to Him. With the exception of outright sin, your opinion about another's life choices do not matter. It's one thing to go to a brother or sister who is clearly disobeying God. It's another to tell them that their preferences are wrong because they are not YOUR preferences.
In the same way that a thought by itself is not sin until we give in and do something with it, so is a disputable matter not sin unless it causes us to stumble.



Moral of the story? God made us all unique, and He prefers our individual heart worship above all else. If He has an issue with something that we are doing, He'll take it up with us.

Man. . . there is so much more to this discussion in the rest of Romans 14, but I don't have time to continue. Maybe I'll do the next entry expanding on this.