Love Over Liberty - Day 227 Month 8-14 Week 33-3
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Kings 1:1-37, Proverbs 19:16-29, Ezekiel 26, 1 Corinthians 8
Love Over Liberty
I have a lot of freedom in what I eat and drink. I dislike some foods so I obviously don’t eat those things. I love eating most meats. I’ve enjoyed Beef, Pork, Lamb, Venison, Poultry and seafood. I haven’t tried Bison, but if I have the chance I’ll try it. I suspect I’ll like it. I can drink what I want but mostly I drink decaf coffee, water, and I also enjoy beer and wine. I’ll drink pop on the odd occasion and I will break the decaf rule to enjoy an Ice Cap from Tim Hortons.
In this day and age, none of the foods I talked about in the previous paragraph are sacrificed to idols where I live. There are some places where this happens but not generally where I need to concern myself with people's perceptions of the food I eat.
There are some people I know who are vegan. Though I am not vegan, I respect their choice. If someone who is a new Jesus follower believes that eating meat is wrong because of their conscience or understanding of their faith, I would be careful not to make an issue of eating meat in their presence. I may ask them to help me understand why they have made that choice, but I would not want my freedom to eat meat to cause them to violate their conscience or stumble in their faith. My freedom is not more important than their spiritual wellbeing.
There are other people who have preconceived ideas on how a Jesus follower acts. They may have come from a rule driven religious background and know from their own history the perceived “do’s” and “don’ts” of a Jesus follower. One of those is drinking alcohol. I came from a “do’s” and “don’ts” background myself. In the home I grew up in, I remember my father talking on the phone one day to someone who was not a Jesus follower and explaining who we are as Christians. He said “we don’t drink, we don’t smoke and we don’t dance because we are Christians.” In my mind, sitting across the table from the phone I thought to myself, “We are boring.”
I, being the black sheep of my family, saw through the rules-driven life and recognized that alcoholic beverages are a creation of God. In fact, throughout the Bible, we see where wine and strong drink are regularly consumed with Godly people.
All this preamble regarding alcohol is to say: If someone is a new Jesus follower who feels a Jesus follower should not drink alcohol. I will abstain in their presence because my love for them must supersede my freedom.
Paul said “Therefore if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13). Paul is specifically talking about food, but the principle applies more broadly. Our freedom should never be exercised in a way that causes another believer to stumble.
Any action that could cause another Jesus follower to stumble in their faith should make us stop and ponder whether our freedom is worth exercising in that situation.
What does it come down to? Here I go again. The greatest commandments. Love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind and soul and love your neighbour as myself. If I truly love my neighbour, I will only do things that grow that relationship and point them to God. If that means I need to abstain from alcohol and become vegan, then so be it. Loving them is more important than my liberty to eat and drink what I want.
Have a great day!
Steve
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