Power Point - August 26, 2005

August 26, 2005

 

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

--Romans 14:13-14

 

Once, a man was getting dressed in his house to go to a party. He yelled over to his wife in the next room, “Honey, is this shirt too dirty for me to wear?”

 

She yelled back, “Yes,” just before she saw him coming around the corner. He said, “You didn’t even look at the shirt. How did you know it was too dirty to wear?”

 

She said, “If you had to ask, it was!”

 

There’s a principle I stick to in my life—when in doubt, I don’t. We must never do anything that would violate our convictions according to Scripture. And Paul says that we shouldn’t do anything to make our brothers and sisters in Christ stumble (see Romans 14:21).

 

For example, I recognize that there are some Christians who believe there’s nothing wrong with social drinking. They say, “The Bible doesn’t say you can’t drink; it says not to get drunk.” But I know many teenagers, recovering alcoholics, and even adults that watch me preach and lead each week. I don’t want them to see me with an alcoholic beverage and think that because I’m doing it, they can. It could cause them to fall into alcoholism or stumble and fall away from the Lord.  

 

As a Christian, you have rights and responsibilities. Ask the Lord to help you never do anything that offends or weakens the faith of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

IT’S A MATTER OF TESTIMONY, LEADERSHIP, AND CONVICTION.

STAND FAST IN THE LIBERTY OF CHRIST AND UNDER HIS LORDSHIP.