All Things Are Lawful — But Should You?

Now your decision isn't just personal or private, it's influential and it's impactful. And so Paul says, don't eat. Not because suddenly it's become a sin and not because suddenly your freedom has disappeared, your freedom isn't removed, it's just redirected. It's redirected to choose others over yourself. See, that's what's happening here and where we can see the application of question number two. Question number two, does this build others up? When you're if you're just thinking and concerned with your own conscience, then you're okay. But when others are involved, even though you're free, you choose love because it affects someone else. [00:42:04] (43 seconds)  #ChooseLoveOverFreedom

And this is exactly why Jesus chose to do what he did for you and for me. So think about this for a second. Jesus, he had every right, every freedom. He's our God, he's our savior, he's our king, and he is lord of lords. And yet, we're told that in the scriptures, he did not come to be served, but to serve and lay his life down because he loves us. He could have stayed in heaven, he could have avoided the cross, but he didn't choose what he could do. He chose what would save you and me. That's what we just celebrated last weekend at Easter, Jesus pouring out his life so people could be saved. [00:52:07] (50 seconds)  #JesusServedUs

Because we weren't just asking what are we allowed to do, we are prayerfully considering what would be the most loving, what would be the most helpful, but most importantly, what would best reflect God. And this leads us to the greatest question we could ask when we need to know if we should, when we could, and it's found in first Corinthians ten thirty one. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. That's what it's all about. This is the question that trumps everything else. Question number three, does it bring glory to God? [00:47:30] (47 seconds)  #GloryToGod

Because now you should consider not just yourself but others because there's one there's not one clear answer for every single situation, but one thing is very clear that Paul wants us to understand. It's not just about you and what you're free to do, but the heart of being a believer is to consider others and what's going on. Because there are gonna be moments where something might be appropriate, and then in other moments, things kind of change, and it's not. So it's not about creating a list of rules. It's not that things are always black or white. Why? Because context matters, and people matter. [00:44:22] (40 seconds)  #ContextMatters

So here, Paul is saying that you should not be dominated, enslaved, or mastered by any habit, any pleasure, any behavior, or any action that can turn into an addiction or compulsion because we only serve one master, and that's God. But I think one thing that we should really consider when thinking about is this helpful for me is we should check our motives. Because what's our goal in finding out if we could or should do something? If your goal is to try to get as close to sinning as possible without sinning, then we're missing the whole point of following Jesus. [00:32:29] (42 seconds)  #CheckYourMotives

And he says we should try to please them, but I want you to understand this. He's not telling us to be a people pleaser for the happiness of people, for them to like you, to gain their approval, or to be popular. No. He's saying, please them in a way that you would be thoughtful, that you would be considerate, and that you would do anything and everything in your power within the scriptures, guidelines, parameters to remove unnecessary barriers. Why? So that many may be saved. So I pray and I hope that you will never let your preferences be the reason someone rejects Jesus, that you won't let your freedom even be the reason someone misses Christ because we're not just individuals, we're family on a mission. [00:50:29] (48 seconds)  #PleaseOthersThoughtfully

And see so even the thought that it could weigh heavily on believers, but Paul's instruction, don't let fear, overthinking, or legalism trap you. Don't feel like you have to investigate everything and live in constant fear and paranoia of doing right or wrong. Paul just says this, he said, don't go looking for a problem when there isn't one. What does he mean by that? Because he wants you to remember, idols aren't real. The meat itself is not bad because ultimately, it all belongs to God anyway. [00:39:31] (33 seconds)  #DontOverthinkFaith

And what Paul wanted to let them know at the very end was one important thing for you to consider as a believer is your own conscience. If you have to go against your own conscience, that's a sin. Because he put it like this in Romans fourteen twenty three, whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats. If you're wondering, should I, should I not, I don't really feel like I should, but you still eat it, he says, because the eating is not from faith, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. [00:31:25] (30 seconds)  #FollowYourConscience

And we don't just represent ourselves, we represent our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. You know when I realized that it's more than just about myself? It's when I became a dad. See, there are things that I realized that I could do that aren't sinful, that aren't bad, but I won't do, especially when I think about these two, my twins, Harper and Hudson. See, when I think about them, I think not just, hey, what what should I do? What could I do? But I'm like, hey, I'm not gonna do things that will impact them or influence them in the wrong way. And it's not because I can't, and it's not because someone told me not to, it's because I love them. [00:51:17] (50 seconds)  #ParentingWithLove

See, the question that we should ask ourselves, while all things are lawful, there are things that we could do, the question that we should ask, question number one, if you're taking notes, write this down, does it benefit me? Does it actually benefit me? See, this idea all things are lawful, it removes the question, am I allowed to do this? You are. You're free. You have every right to. But he follows it up saying, but should you? And this is a question we should ask ourselves. Should we? [00:30:07] (30 seconds)  #DoesItBenefitMe

And so while we could do a lot of things, what about your conscience? What is it saying? If you're sitting there trying to convince yourself or justify something is okay to do, maybe it's not helpful or beneficial for you to do. Another thing for us to consider, is it helpful for us or not, is to consider this question, could it possibly control me? Because see, back in first Corinthians six verse 12, Paul uses the same phrase that they were talking and using, all things are lawful, but he adds this, but I will not be dominated by anything. [00:31:55] (34 seconds)  #CouldItControlMe

That is not what Paul is saying right here. I wanna make it super, super clear. This is not about someone's preferences or opinions. This is about the spiritual condition, their faith, and their relationship with God. When that's in jeopardy, when that could be affected, that's when we consider them love over our rights and ourself. This is not about walking on eggshells. This is all about walking in love. And see, Paul's example shows us to think through situations that we face and ultimately think through how sometimes it may change depending on the context and the people. [00:43:00] (42 seconds)  #WalkInLove

But here's the thing, not only were we thinking about our church and our people, our fellow brothers and sisters, but we couldn't help stop thinking about our witness to the world around us. What would show them God's love the most? We wanted our response to reflect love over rights for the sake of salvation. So we took our time coming back. We didn't come right back when we could, and some of you thanked us for it, and yet, at the same time, many disagreed with us as well. But I hope all would see how we really took our time and made every effort to seek the Lord and do right by him. [00:46:48] (42 seconds)  #WitnessWithLove

Because the heart of following Jesus is not how close can I get to sin without sinning to not offend him and just keep rules, then we realize that we're making it all about that, what we do or we don't, rather than a relationship with him? Because when we think about it like a relationship, think about me and my wife. That's like me going to my wife and say, hey, could you just tell me and give me a list of what I should or shouldn't do, and tell me just how close can I get to cheating without it actually being cheating? [00:33:11] (29 seconds)  #RelationshipOverRules

And so a couple ways that we could determine if something is actually helpful for our relationship with the Lord, number one, you could consider your conscience. See, because Paul, he addresses matters just like this in Romans 14, when there were Gentiles and Jews that were now Christians that were arguing over a lot of different things, things like food, things that were debatable, matters that weren't explicitly black or white or that the Bible was explicitly trying to give you an answer for. But also, I just wanna make this clear, things that weren't necessarily essential to their faith. [00:30:55] (31 seconds)  #ConscienceCounts

But now, now that I'm married, I get it. I get it. I still have the same freedom today to do this if I wanted to, go skydiving, but now I have reason to pause. My decisions don't just affect me anymore. I have a wife to consider. She's my family. And this is something that all Christians need to consider as well. When we are faced with the I could situation, we should be asking ourselves, not only does this benefit me, but does it build others up? Is it helpful for them? Is it strengthening their relationship with God? And see, Paul goes on to share a very practical example of the time to see how to use these questions. [00:36:56] (50 seconds)  #DecisionsAffectFamily

Paul says, give no offense. And here's the thing, that doesn't mean we won't offend people. The gospel will offend people. Jesus even offended people. But what I want you to understand in the original word, the Greek word here, it could be better translated to, don't be a stumbling block for people. Don't be an obstacle for people. And think about the people that he was talking about. He used the Jews, which were those that had an incomplete picture of Jesus. They were religious, but they didn't quite understand. Then there were the Greeks who had no idea who Jesus was or understood anything about him, and then he also included the church, fellow believers, [00:49:42] (40 seconds)  #NoStumblingBlocks