Where to draw the line?

新年快樂! (Happy Chinese New Year!)

I have been going slow on updating the blog. I hope that the I can get rid of the "holiday mode" I am in, so that I can work harder. Let me use this post to talk a bit about the SWORD (Studying the Word On Radical Discipleship) ministry I am co-leading with other three brothers.

We started last term with bible study techniques, such as sentence structure, looking at different bible translations, researching the meaning of certain key words in its original language, understanding the context, etc. This term we are focusing on being more discussion-based (instead of lecture style), and we have decided to engage in controversial topics about Christian-living, church, and theology. This include topics such as "can Christians gamble with money", "can Christians swear", "can Christian take part of non-spiritual leisure activities (eg. movies, games)", "can there be female pastors at church", "problem with evil and suffering", etc. The cool thing is that Simply Church is covering similar issues in Sunday School.

Some of the topics are morally black and white, as in I think they are clear-cut right/wrong answers. For example, "is homosexual practice a sin?", I certainly believe it is a sin, but not any different than stealing and telling a lie. Other topics are morally neutral, as in either choice are not biblically wrong. For example,the debate in worship between the multi-generational Chinese churches about traditional vs contemporary worship. I have heard from people that bringing a drum set to a Chinese church is quite the drama.

And there are other topics that are very "grey" where it is hard to draw a line what conditions make a particular activity a sin. For example, the issue of downloading media content (music or video) online. At first glance, the common answer is  that we should not download any copyrighted material. In Canada, it is illegal to upload copyrighted material, but it is legal to download this material for personal use. So if downloading is legal in Canada, can we as Christians just go ahead and download? We are called to submit to authorities (Romans 13), but we are also called to follow God's moral standards, so we need to determine whether downloading is stealing or not.

Another example is swearing (saying profanity). We actually talked about it during the first CCF, and the general conclusion was that profanity is unbiblical (Ephesians 4 and 5 tells us to say edifying words to one another, and to not have obscene and foolish talk). But most of the words that are considered profanity are morally neutral, and they can be used fine in other cultures and generations. It's just that they are associated in our current society with derogative or sexual connotation. So then, we can proceed to ask whether a Christian can speak these words without any intention of profanity.

These are merely just two examples, and there are a lot more. In general, this practice of asking ourselves where a Christian should stand in these issues is very beneficial as we have to dig into the bible and search for principles that applies. And not every time is easy, sometimes it is quite hard to find the correct answer, to the point that churches have split because they can't agree with each other.

For the "grey"  topics I have discussed so far, is very natural for us to want to determine where we can draw the line before that specific activity is considered a sin. Assuming that we are able to find that line, I think we should not be satisfied with just walking carefully enough to avoid crossing that line. I think the discussion should not stopped with "where to draw the line?", but it should be continued with "what does God desire for me to do in that situation?" and "how can I glorify God?".

Instead of just wanting to avoid breaking those rules and boundaries, our focus should be to seek God and living to please Him. God has called us to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) because He Himself is holy. We should not be conformed by the standards set by rules, but to raise our standards even higher, and especially for leaders we are called to be "above reproach" (1 Tim 3). When our focus is to pursue God, it will become natural for us to want to do good.

"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:3-6