Brad:
“You think I’m just following my own belief and not God’s.”
Sophie:
“I am not accuse you of this, Brad. But I have read Scripture much, and I can
be honest when I say I stand before God without shame when I wear pants or
modest shorts. I am take for granted that you can back your belief with
Scripture. If cannot, then is not from God.”
Later
Brad asks Sophie: “Are you sure I can’t change your mind about these things?
Sophie smiled. “Can
I change yours?” She heard him sigh. “Please, Brad, do not lay sin at my
door.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, is only thing I worry about—sin against God, not pleasing man, but God. You are look at all us women in pants and say we sin. You cannot make that choice for us.”
He was laying sin at her door.
This morning I read a review of an author’s contemporary Christian fiction novel in which the reviewer was upset because the main character had a beer. The reviewer said that this was a factor that she wouldn’t expect to see in a Christian book and stated in part that, “Christians are called to be holy as Jesus is holy.”
Let me make something perfectly clear: Jesus drank. Jesus drank alcohol. Jesus served other people wine and told them to drink. Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding party. (For those who disagree with any of this, I would urge you to read the article entitled Did Jesus Turn Water into Wine or Grape Juice?)
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, is only thing I worry about—sin against God, not pleasing man, but God. You are look at all us women in pants and say we sin. You cannot make that choice for us.”
He was laying sin at her door.
This morning I read a review of an author’s contemporary Christian fiction novel in which the reviewer was upset because the main character had a beer. The reviewer said that this was a factor that she wouldn’t expect to see in a Christian book and stated in part that, “Christians are called to be holy as Jesus is holy.”
Let me make something perfectly clear: Jesus drank. Jesus drank alcohol. Jesus served other people wine and told them to drink. Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding party. (For those who disagree with any of this, I would urge you to read the article entitled Did Jesus Turn Water into Wine or Grape Juice?)
Let
me make something else perfectly clear: if you don’t want to drink, that’s
absolutely fine. I understand that some people cannot drink without sinning
(because being drunk is clearly, clearly
warned against multiple times in Scripture), and some people are simply afraid
(or know) that if they allow themselves to have even one drink that they will
inevitably get drunk. Furthermore, I fully understand that drinking too much leads to a
multitude of problems – that’s why we are commanded not to get drunk!
But
don’t say that we shouldn’t drink because we’re supposed to be like Jesus. Don’t lay sin at someone else’s door.
In
Romans 14:12-22, Paul states: So then, each of us
will give an account of ourselves to God.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your
mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or
sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus,
that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean,
then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed
because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your
eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know
is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating
and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because
anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human
approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to
mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All
food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone
else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything
else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
And yes, I am a big enough person here to go ahead and write the next verse:
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.
So
then why don’t I keep what I believe between myself and God? By stating my beliefs, I’m bound
to put a stumbling block in front of someone who is against any kind of drinking,
so why don’t I just shut up?
Because
I believe that it is even more important to remove
a stumbling block from someone who doesn’t already know Christ. A teetotaler is
likely to be somebody who already goes to church every Sunday and reads their
Bible, prays and already loves the Lord.
But
what about that person who wants to love the Lord, yet they’re certain they
cannot be a Christian because they’ve been told it’s wrong if they have a glass of wine or a beer?
I’d
rather remove that stumbling block.
I grew up in a family whereas my parents instilled in me NOT TO DRINK! That was not hard to follow, however, because I never, ever was around anyone who did not drink to excess, especially a great uncle and cousins on my father's side who were always drinking, so it is safe to say that those early and bad memories of folks drinking made quite the unfavorable impression upon me. When I met my future spouse, he, too, drank, but I made it known I wanted no part of it. We ended up married, but he drank on the sly for a long, long time. At business related social gathering whose attendance I was required, and then later at governmental functions, again, all I ever saw was drinking to excess. I did finally get to where I could tolerate seeing folks have a drink when at a restaurant, even my husband although it is a rare occasion that he has done that, but my point is that it has been very difficult for me to be tolerant of others drinking when I am in their midst. Just seeing folks either with a drink in their hands or sipping on one makes me uneasy, although I have learned to tolerate it more than I ever thought I would. So in essence, it isn't really that I think it is sinful so much, but I just have not had the experiences with people drinking and it not getting to excess. :)
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