Monday, October 31, 2011

Christian Liberty ~ Trick or Treat?

You often hear the verse quoted that “where the Spirit of the LORD is there is liberty.” And often this is used as a justification for doing whatever the brother or sister wishes to do at the time.  So the question is… What does Christian liberty really mean?  Can I do anything I want now that I am born-again or are there certain things that are still taboo?  I really am not going to answer the question now but it is certain that some of you (especially if your blood just started to boil); some of you think its taboo to even broach this question.

The answers to the question vary but there really are only two perspectives.  The carnal approach that says “I can do whatever the H-E-‘double tooth picks’ I want and no one is going to tell me otherwise.”  And the spiritual approach that says… “What does God’s Word say? Does it say?” and “How will this thing affect others in the Body of Christ?” and “How will this thing affect my effectiveness as a witness, will it help or tarnish my testimony? Will it help or tarnish my church’s testimony in the community?”

We believers love to take our liberties don’t we? We really need to consider our responsibilities.  We do.  Now don’t you go getting all, like, “Who made you the Holy Spirit?” and “Who do you think you are?”… If you are born again then I am your brother.  That’s who I think I am.  How do you evaluate the things you allow or disallow?  Do you use the Word? Did you know “His divine power has given us everything that pertains unto life and godliness” in His Word.  He has no ‘grey areas’. None! How do you evaluate things? Do you merely rely on ‘impressions’?  Keep in mind that many of those watching us are very impressionable.

I have a great deal of freedom in writing online.  There is a huge untapped ‘audience’ of believers who have never heard of The Warming House. I say ‘audience’ because even though I don’t use much audio there is nevertheless a Voice.  Are you listening? I have a great deal of liberty but I have to be very careful what I write.  And we who write take a risk in putting things in ‘print’.  As we grow spiritually our paradigm, our viewpoint, of some things should mature.  There may be things I wrote back in July when I started this blog that I no longer agree with.  Someday I may no longer agree with this post also.  But If I evaluate my every ‘opinion’ through the filter of the Word then this is less likely to happen for sure.  But I am not infallible.  Only God and His Word are infallible.  That’s why I give you ‘my promise’, Read the page “My Promise” using the tab to the right at the top of the page. I promise. Try me. Write me. Text me. However you choose to communicate with me just do communicate. (Please be kind though.)

Now back to the question that I said I wouldn’t answer.  Are our Christian liberties a trick or a treat?  It certainly is a privilege. We through Christ have been liberated from sins power and penalty.  Now that’s true freedom. YES!!! We have to be careful that we don’t use it to hide any malice we may feel.  We have to be careful to uphold and not destroy the weaker brother.  Remember Peter Parkers uncle, “Peter, with great power comes great responsibility.”  I love super heroes!  Be a supernaturally super hero. Walk in the Spirit. Walk by faith. Walk in the Word.

Many churches have alternative-to-holloween parties in order to keep their kids off the streets and as a means of outreach.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do that.  I’m simply saying we need to consider these things in our every liberty that we do use so that we are careful not to abuse.  Don’t flaunt it. Don’t revel in it. Be like Jesus. Meek, humble, compassionate, and powerfully obedient to the Spirit.

If we do this He will increase and we will decrease.

“He must increase and WE must decrease!”

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