How many people have you met over the length of your Christian life that when asked, “are you a Christian” answered yes…then as time went by, you really, really wondered? And…as you wondered, felt guilty because you were “judging.” Well, I have a lot of experience with that kind of question and answer. Very perplexing to say the least. Not the part about judging but people saying they are believers and yet live like heathens. What are we to do? How are we to know? Some of what I am going to write is my opinion, some from Dr Kinlaw’s writing. I trust you will have something to ponder.
Our belief must be authenticated by how we live and how we live on a consistent, day-to-day basis. We are NOT to be like the world, the Scripture says to be “in the world but not of it…” Have you ever thought about what exactly that means???? I have given that a lot of thought, mainly because of hearing people say things about judging when you ask about or discuss certain behaviors. There are the obvious things like drinking, smoking, sleeping around…but today, those are socially acceptable ways of behaving, God forgive us….you get answers like, “the Bible doesn’t say anything about not drinking or not smoking…” but the Bible does say not to be drunk. In my opinion, and I say that on purpose, it is a better thing not to drink at all if only for testimony sake. But, there are other reasons. Alcoholism pretty much runs in family lines. If there are drunks in your family line, why would you want to risk the behavior just to be sociable??? Believe me when I tell you, it’s not worth it, my husband was an alcoholic, from a long line of alcoholics. It not only eventually killed him, but it ruined our life together, destroyed our business, had a profound influence on our two kids, (God took a hand in that, He brought them both to Himself and gave them partners and careers that led them to a life lived for Him) and forever influenced our way of looking at “social drinking.” As far as promiscuous sex, the bible does directly address that as a no-no. Some have said silly things like “God doesn’t want us to have any fun,” or “no one will know,” or “I’ll be careful not to get pregnant.” There are other results and implications that hardly ever get talked about. STD’s for one, physical damage for another. I think the worst is the emotional damage, because it is never talked about or recognized. God made us to be monogamous, that is what He indicated when He said, “the two shall become one flesh.” Two people joined in sexual union are for all intents and purposes, one. That oneness was designed for one man, one woman for life. When we break out of God’s order, not only are we in sin, but we are damaging ourselves emotionally. It may not show up immediately, but in the mind, it does it’s work because the way God made us is broken. And, that can make for serious damage. All three of those things usually cause one to “sneak around,” to hide the behavior. We would not want everyone to know what we are doing! And in the end, it is the emotional damage worldly living causes that does the damage. inappropriate dress goes with worldly living, and……….it could lead to rape……..or worse. Going to movies or viewing video/tv that is inappropriate can damage the mind/emotions. Watching too much brutality twists the conscience. There are probably many, many more. If you let your mind wander you can probably think of quite a few yourself. Ponder these things, they may be in your life or you may be thinking of putting them in your life…my advice…DON’T!
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