Humans for the most part, both Christian and non Christian can be quite selfish at times. A topic I would like to expand on and voice my thoughts on the issue is the issue of “making your brother stumble”. The scripture 1 Corinthians 8:9 “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.” For the most part speaks of eating food that may make others think wrong of you. Or at least thats how I interpret it. But it really goes beyond that into a much broader spectrum.
One of the best examples would be one similar to this:
You are having some Christian friends over for dinner and you plan to serve wine as an option with dinner. Now in your mind, scripture doesn’t really say you can’t drink so you don’t really see a problem with it. But you also know that many Christians think that any type of alcohol consumption is sin and should be avoided. So what do you do? Actually the answer to this is quite simple and you don’t even have to find some scripture to back up your decision. Think of if you were having a person to dinner who is a recovering alcoholic, and obviously you care about this person or you wouldn’t have them over for dinner. So then you ask yourself, “do I break out the wine or not”? In this particular situation, you would quite the idiot to serve wine to your guest or even to consume it for that matter. But that is a grey area about you having a glass. If you are friends well enough with them you will know if by you having a glass of wine will bother them. For many alcoholics, it may not be an issue. But as a precaution, as a blanket policy you should refrain from drinking in front of them until you know how they can deal with it.
So there is not really nay difference in if they were just fellow Christians and not alcoholics. If you don’t know how they feel about drinking, then you should not serve or offer wine at the dinner. What’s really funny and stupid, is the Christian that has the “I don’t care what they think” attitude. Basing it on the assumption that it’s up top them wether they choose to drink or not and they should not judge you because you have a drink. Now I tell you… just how much more selfish could you be.
As in the referenced scripture, it is noted that eating the wrong foods in the wrong place is not the issue. the issue lies in the fact that you cause a brother to think ill or wrong of you. In essence actually causing them to sin. By you causing them to sin, indeed you yourself have sinned as equally. Christianity is about lifting your brother up… right. Where in the Bible does it say that it’s none of their business what you do and if it does it’s their problem. ?For the most part, that type of selfishness is sin and very wrong and certainly not something Jesus or God the Father would appreciate.
One of the greatest over used test that someone ever came up with is “what would Jesus do“? Well we already know that He turned water into excellent wine at a wedding party. And if you were hanging out with Him and something came up and response was “I don’t care what they think” do you think Jesus is going to agree with you. If Jesus wouldn’t agree with you, are you not saying that you know better or more than God. If you think not, then you better go have a chat with Him right now.
There are lots of things that we do that we think nothing about when it comes to making a brother stumble. Sure we might not go out and rob someone, or maybe even gossip or talk wrong about our brothers in front of another brother. So then what about if you were with a brother in Christ and you used a lot of cursing and swearing in your vocabulary? And it makes that brother think less of you as a Christian, or maybe even that He doesn’t even want to hang out with you because of your language. So he is actually, under his breath or silently in his mind thinking you are not the Christian you claim to be. Well, I can tell you one thing… None of us are the Christian we claim to be. Since “Christain” is being a “little Christ”, does every one of our actions and thoughts imitate Christ? I very much doubt it…
Some scriptures are very clear to us and when we muddy them up, we are doing a disservice to God. For example, the scripture of being salt and light (Mt 5:13-16) pretty well can be a great way to view your own behavior and if God agrees with you. The idea is to be able to have those that don’t know the Lord and those that do, to look at you and see good and not bad. You hopefully set an example that they would like to set themselves. So if you are causing a brother to have not so good feelings about you or even not wanting to hang out with you… well then, what kind of light is that?
In almost every instance of our interactions with fellow Christians and those who are not, we can ask ourself if our actions are ones that exalt God. If they don’t, well then… are you still right in your thinking. Just in case you don’t know… If your actions, words, thoughts or behaviors do not exalt our God… then you are most definitely in the wrong and shouldn’t expect others to just deal with it. You are the one who needs to deal with it.
So as a simple summation to my original example… Drink your wine at home, but do not offer it or even drink it in front of your brothers if it makes them think less of you or causes them to sin. And remember, by the fact that you don’t care what they think and they just have to deal with it, is just as wrong as if you hit them in the face with your fist for no reason. Get rid of your selfish attitude, life is not about you.
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