Disputable Matters
This week in our journey through Romans, we talked about matters of sin vs. matters of conscience (Romans 14). There are weak Christians - those with more sensitive consciences on disputable things - and there are strong Christians - those who have a more fully developed understanding of how to live all of life to the glory of God.
I listed some issues of conscience - disputable matters that good and godly people disagree on. What would you add?
Is drinking alcohol in moderation OK? Or should God-honoring Christians abstain entirely?
What music or movies should Christians enjoy or abstain from?
Which Bible translation is best?
Should faithful Christians celebrate Halloween or not (due to its pagan roots)?
What sort of dress is “proper” for church?
What political movements should Christians support or oppose?
Any thoughts on the issues on this list - or on additional ones that come to mind?
I listed some issues of conscience - disputable matters that good and godly people disagree on. What would you add?
Is drinking alcohol in moderation OK? Or should God-honoring Christians abstain entirely?
What music or movies should Christians enjoy or abstain from?
Which Bible translation is best?
Should faithful Christians celebrate Halloween or not (due to its pagan roots)?
What sort of dress is “proper” for church?
What political movements should Christians support or oppose?
Any thoughts on the issues on this list - or on additional ones that come to mind?
posted by Bob | 10:18 PM
24 Comments:
I have another one that immediately came to mind: christ's lordship over our finances.
christians have widely differing ideas of what simplicity and contentment look like. what size of house ought christians live in? how nice of a car is too nice? can i drive a bmw? even daily decisions like eating out vs. making food at home or buying generic brands vs. name brands. is it permissible for me to stop at starbucks for a $2 cup of coffee when i can make one for much cheaper. these may seem silly but financial decisions are deeply moral issues. what makes it challenging is that there are people that i seek to emulate on both ends of the spectrum, who greatly differ in their financial decisions.
is that what you were looking for? i wasn't in church today. forgive me if i missed the point.
derrick
Derrick - really good thought. That's one I hadn't thought of, but you're definitely right on.
Maybe sense of humor would fit in here - like which kinds of jokes would be appropriate. I guess it kind of ties in with the music/movies concept a little, but it could probably merit its own discussion.
There would be a debate about dirty jokes first of all, like "That's what she said" kind of stuff. If everyone knows you're just kidding, and you're not trying to offend anyone, is it still okay?
Secondly, there might be a disagreement over sarcasm/mean-spirited jokes in general. Because maybe there are some people who live and die for country music, and then take that joke personally. I always try to justify it because I would hate to have to give up a sense of humor. I think there are examples in the Bible of when Christ was sarcastic to the Pharisees, though.
So anyway, people might dispute the sense of humor.
Matt
So you're saying I should stop with the country music jokes...
Bob,
I've had a question about this for a while. . .it's a concept I call "the tyranny of the weaker brother".
Obviously the bible says that we're not to harm the faith of another by our lifestyle choices. . so we yield to the weaker brother. That's Godly and appropriate.
But, at what point should we also be free to sit down and have a talk with the "weaker brother" and explain why we like a certain kind of music/movie/car. . .and then go on with our choices.
I guess my question is. . . if the issue has been addressed and the reasons explained, in love,. . are we then free to make our choices as we would? Did that discussion defray the potential offense that could've been taken?
Aaron
ps. other items for the list. . . child care methods/ who makes more money husband or wife / government involvement by Christians
I actually love the country music jokes, but sometimes I feel guilty for loving them so much because the people I sit with look at me funny.
Matt
Also, I was wondering after the sermon about the transition from being a weaker Christian to becoming stronger. For example, I've been against smoking cigars for so long that some of my friends know that is my viewpoint and they try that much harder to get me to smoke them (in a somewhat lighthearted way). It's not even a matter of my moral stance anymore, but if I were to lighten up one day and give it a chance, it seems like that would make me a hypocrite. So I feel like I've become "stronger" because I'm not as judgmental (I'm not holding them to some standard of mine), but I still don't want to do that stuff anyway. Do I need to explain those motives every time the situation comes up to show that I've matured, or does it even matter?
Matt
Aaron and Matt - Will will be diving into some of these issues next Sunday. Stay tuned.
two words: Harry Potter.
One common issue that immediately came to my mind was the debate between home school, private school, and public school. I have heard arguments to support all 3 sides and I’m amazed at how it seems to be becoming less common for Christians to send their children to public school anymore.
I don't think this has been mentioned specifically yet - but another large issue for Christian women is whether or not to stay home after having kids, work part-time, full-time, etc. This has been a topic of conversation amongst many of my Christian women friends lately, and although we seem to agree about our personal beliefs, there certainly is a lot of cultural push against it at times (which makes our community that much more important to us).
I just found an article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/us/07halo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin that talks about the prevalence of the video game Halo in youth groups. It's rated M for Mature, but high schoolers obviously aren't old enough. The violence of the game makes a lot of people uneasy . . .
I've heard whether or not Christians should do Yoga debated from time to time
And involvement in some forms of alternative healing, particularly the type where philosophically it is connecting to "energies".
euthanasia or similar "end of life" debates
embryonic stem cell research
capital and corporal punishment
dancing
Okay, maybe good and godly people don't publicly agree with euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research or other seemingly indisputable Christian matters. But perhaps they still wrestle with these issues in their conscience.
Scott Y, that's a great example and something I'm trying to figure out myself! I'm interested to hear what you think on that matter.
Another good one is: How far is too far in a pre-marital yet moving towards marriage relationship between a man and a woman?
Bob,
It's looking like your sermon this week will clock in at about 2 1/2 hours. I'm taking the over :)
Aaron
Travis, I haven't dug into it yet. I'm just aware that some Eastern philosophies are concerned with balancing energy (broadly speaking). I'm concerned about the practitioner's focus being on influencing that _impersonal_ energy. Then some Christians say, Well God made the energy so why not take advantage of it for healing? That's where it becomes disputable for me -- when do we cross over into Eastern mysticism?
just noticed there seem to be a lot of issues, but no real responses to any of them. what do people think?
ivan
male, 23, fervently debating whether or not to sell his VHS copy of Jaws
Ivan, come to church, dude. The point wasn't to answer the questions, but to raise them, so that Will and I could be more informed of the matters that you guys are thinking about as we preached through Rom. 14.
The sermons are uploaded to the podcast/resource page if you want to catch them. Especially interesting is Will's excursus on whether attending the Wilco show last week at the Orpheum qualified as worship.
And sell the VHS already. VHS is so... 90's.
tattoos and piercings
cage fighting
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cigars
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