Edification part 3
Here's kind of where the rubber meets the road on edification, or building someone up--sometimes that means you can't do whatever you want to do. There's a whole story in 1 Corinthians chapter 8 about this. I want to quote just verse 9 in the NLT for sake of brevity, "But you must be careful so that your feedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble." This is the whole deal about how anything is clean to eat, but if someone else doesn't understand that... don't eat what they can't accept. Or, I suppose, don't eat it around them? If they see you (in their opinion) abusing your freedom, that's going to lead them down a potentially dark path. And whenever I read this passage I always (selfishly) thought, "What does what I eat have to do with anybody else?" Like if I'm ok with what I'm doing... mind your own business. But, in reality, that's a selfish mindset. That's not an "esteem others higher than yourself" mindset. That's not a "laying your life down for your friends" mindset. Because what you do matters. And whether you think it should or not, what you do affects other people. Whether you think they should be or not, people are watching you. Especially when they know you're a "Christian." Because most people think Christians are hypocrites anyway, and they're just waiting for you to mess up. "You judge me, but you're not perfect either!" That's the way things have kind of become these days. Unfortuntely. And while it's not ALL our fault... we can't shirk all the blame either. Because Christians can be judgy. We do think we know what's best for people. Sometimes we forget to focus on our own patch because we think we can (and should) tend to everybody else's. I think, in large measure, it is "Christians" who give "Christianity" a bad name. And I'm not trying to do the very thing I say we shouldn't be doing. I'm not trying to judge you. Or rather, I'm not judging by appearance. I always endeavor to judge righteous judgment. To apply the blood of the Lamb and the finished work of the cross to everything and everybody. But that's the point: If you can have sympathy on someone else, you won't do something that would hurt them. Even if you think it SHOULDN'T hurt them. "They shouldn't care what I eat." Well, that may be true. But if they do... they do. Should or shouldn't doesn't really factor into it. My point is: loving someone means going out of your way to NOT hurt them. Or NOT cause them to stumble. To walk with them. Hand in hand. And if that means you have to walk slower than you're capable of so that someone else can keep up with you... that's a small price to pay. That's not a huge deal. You don't always need to be in such a big hurry. You don't always need to be first in line. In fact, those that are last will be made first, am I right? So we don't need to worry about it. God will take care of it. All we need to concern ourselves with... is each other. Taking care of each other. And I'm telling you--when I take care of you and you take care of me, at that point neither one of us needs to worry about ourselves, because we're covered. We cover each other. If NOT doing something makes someone else's life better... wouldn't you say you're making YOUR life better by making THEIR life better? The tide raises all ships. If I can do something to help you, then I'm fulfilling my purpose on this earth. To be loved and to love--that's our purpose. That's why we were created. God loves us and we love Him back by loving each other. When we do that, what we eat or drink doesn't really matter. Because we will be filled by giving away what we've been filled with--the love of God!