Gray Issues

and so if we're not careful as we deal with these gray issues we can create subsets inside our church where some people think they are superior we can be tempted to use our Liberty as a license to sin and in this case the real victim can become ourselves the thing we think brings us freedom ends up enslaving us let's dive in uh we're talking here in chapter 8 about the subject of gray issues and uh today we're going to talk about something that may have never been consciously on your radar as a Christian and that is what about those issues that we deal with in all of our Lives whether uh consciously or subconsciously that we might call Gray areas of our faith areas where we don't have a chapter R verse or areas where we may have a chapter reverse that but but we may have a conflicting or competing chapter a verse in other places in the scriptures now let me just say up front gray is my favorite color all right I have a beautiful Gray beard uh and uh I I'm wearing my favorite gray shirt this morning to preach in uh if you ever came to our house or come to our house you'll see that we have decorated with with different accent walls and primary walls of different Shades of Gray uh like five different Shades of Gray my my wife wanted 50 but I said no uh we're not doing that uh but uh you get the point we like gray we have two cars in our family my wife's car and my car are the same color they're what gray I like gray uh and some of us like it but we don't like it when it comes to these gray issues of spirituality let's think about some examples of gray issues as we get our minds rolling this morning uh here's a gray issue for for some uh can a Christian be a Dodgers fan now personally my conscience doesn't allow that all right I think that's a black or white issue uh but in my baseball player down here is agreeing amen uh but uh in two in two weeks I have some uh friends that are actually my bosses coming in from LA from my other job and to visit with me and they want me to take them to a Dodgers spring training game that day and that day alone they're playing the Diamondbacks that day and that day alone uh I may let it be gray you know I don't want to you know do anything to upset their conscience here's another one more maybe more personal because I've watched your social media feeds can a Christian be a Democrat can a Christian be a Republican and honestly though some of you think that's a black and white issue it's really a gray issue here's one that's more practical that we've all lived through during Co should a Christian wear a mask or not wear a mask um some Churches during Co and let me tell you something if you were a part of a different Church during Co and and your pastor told you he knew exactly what was going on he was lying there was not a seminary class on to man manage your first pandemic all right so it was uh we were all trying to learn in real time and some Churches took a very hard line on that against it and some Churches put took a very uh more liberal line for it and like it or not whether you agree with this or not hindsight's always 2020 here at Cross Church we took a sort of the middle of the road stance on the issue of mask for us as believers preferring others above ourselves it was a gray issue here's an one that'll take me back in time a little bit and prove why I have a Gray beard um back in the day it was a big question in some Churches can a Christian woman wear pants to church and some of you looking down lord I hope so right please Lord let this answer be yes uh um I'd prefer they wear pants than no pants but that's a different uh that's a different deal but true story in my first Pastor uh my wife got called out by some church members because she would occasionally wear pants to church I mean they were paying us a $100 a week and literally that's not fabricated and expected us to wear the finest clothes uh here's one that we've wrestled with over the history of Christianity in America can or should a Christian smoke cigarettes uh my pastor used to tell me it won't send you to hell just make you smell like you've been there um but honestly it's probably if we were honest it's not a chapter and verse in the Bible on it it's a gray issue so what I'm saying is can a Christian do this or this fill in the blank because I there's a thousand others of those that I haven't even touched on now we know for certain a Christian can't be a Seahawks fan so let's just drive that steak in the ground can we get a witness sometimes you have to take a stand on the word of God so specifically in the passage that we'll look at in just a moment Paul is asking this question and he presents it as a an issue in the local church can a Christian eat meat that has previously been sacrificed to idols and on the surface we might look at chapter 8 and think like this issue has absolutely zero application for our lives today but hold your horses we're going to see some principles in just a moment that are going to make it Ultra r relevant for us so I want us to start with sort of an explainer and to get things started let me just read Verses 4 and six of chapter 8 it says about eating food sacrificed to Idols then we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one for even there are so called Gods whether in heaven or on Earth as there are many gods and many lords yet for us there is one God the Father All Things are from him and we exist for him and there is one Lord Jesus Christ all things are through him and exist through him so an explainer is defined this way it's a statement an article or video that provides an explanation of a concept topic or situation in a real sense every sermon is an explainer we take the text we explain the text and then we apply the text so the issue in this explainer section in the church at Corinth is is it permissible to eat meat sacrificed to idols and it was a real world issue in the city of Corinth which we've said was much like modern day Vegas today that was renowned for its Idol temples that uh the worship in the idol temples would often overflow into the daily life of even Believers it would not be uncommon for you to go to a celebration a a uh a baptism or a bar mitzvah or a wedding uh celebration or a graduation celebration and there be a buffet set out before you and you realize that on that Buffet there was two or three day old meat that had been previously sacrificed in an idle Temple and so what were they thinking as they wrestled with this real world issue in real time some were thinking you should never do it it was poll polluted meat evil meat used in an evil practice some would say to eat the meat was to give support to that idolatry uh sort of like uh the don't shop it Target craze that's went around chrisom several years ago and may be going around in some of your heads still today I want to respect your conscience they would say I'm not going to do this I'm going to abstain from this I'm never going to go to Disneyland I'm never going to go to Target I'm never going to do this because of my conscience and my faith others on the flip side who were mostly struggling as that first Christian world was due to persecution they were struggling severely financially would say why not it was cheaper it was probably cheaper than the price of modernday eggs now furthermore they would argue by conscience that uh what difference does it make there is no power in an idol anyways so what would you say how many in the room eat the meat raise your hand like I don't know the answer this question yet I did that in college a lot I'm looking around for the smart guy uh eat the me don't eat the meat how many raise your hand just let the record show there are more don't eat the meat Christians in this service then eat the meat Christians and Paul's saying we're wrestling basically with two questions the first question is can I eat the meat but the second question sounds the same but is totally not the qu second question is should I eat the meat and Paul's answer is interesting Paul's answer is eat the meat it's just meat unless unless it violates love for others and in your heart for Jesus for all of you eat the meat like four of you eat the meat people Paul says eat the meat but then to make this passage more complicated he in the same paragraph says uh by the way don't eat the meat and so for all of you many the majority rules here that said don't eat the meat Paul says don't eat the meat and Paul's answer basically is it depends and you say depends on what it depends on what love looks like in each particular setting and situation now we might be tempted to just kind of close our Bibles and say good word Paul thank you but since that specific issue is not something that applies to us that live here in the surprise area because let's be honest as far far as I know unless there's some black market uh uh meat sacrificed to idol store that I don't know of we don't have any meat markets that serve meat sacrificed to Idols the closest thing is probably the Walmart meat counter all right so while that specific issue doesn't apply there are principles that we're going to let speak up out of the text that do apply for all of our lives today so that's the second section we want to deal with is life principles from the passage and what you find with this passage is though we don't struggle with that specific issue of whether or not to eat the meat there are underlying principles that apply now I would say to you this is where the worm turns or the plot clots a little bit we're about to get into some very personal issues so hang on buckle your seat belt um hang on to your chair and we've dealt with Pastor Andrew and his team have dealt with walking you through some very sensitive issues matter of fact when I saw my assignment for uh preaching several months ago out of uh chapter8 I'm like whooo I don't have to deal with the hard ones I don't have to deal with sexual immorality in this passage I don't have to deal with lawsuits In this passage I don't have to deal with the issue of marriage or divorce or remarriage In this passage but it's pointed nonetheless and as we move and morph into this more pointed and poignant time in this message I want you to understand something very clearly when we talk about the topics we're about to talk about I have one finger pointed at you but I always when I preach each have three pointed back at myself and what I've tried to do the weeks and even months leading up to preaching this is I've tried to preach this passage to myself before I was privileged to come and stand before you so I'm not just preaching at you I'm preaching to you and to myself both now there is an underlying principle that is the primary principal and we'll get to it in just a moment to help me get to it there's a picture on the screen of isn't that a beautiful bird that's a gaml quail man we got them everywhere we have a little cubby that walks around our church all the time I watch them they get in this little Cactus over here on the corner of the parking lot and think they're hiding in there and and I watch them Scurry it's fun when they're young or born and they got you know about that tall they can't leap over the the curb you've got them on the golf course if you go there maybe around your home and your yard maybe you feed eat them in your backyard these are beautiful birds and they taste really good because you that know me know that I'm a Avid uh Upland Game Hunter and one of the primary species to hunt with my Wonder Dog Nash are these birds but specifically this bird in its position is what you would call The Sentinel quail and if you've ever been out in the wild or maybe even uh in in your neighborhoods you'll notice that there'll be one Quail that's sitting on top of the fence or one Quail that's sitting sitting in the tree out in the wild in a on a stump like this or on a cactus or a rock and that one Quail you may think that's the only Quail there but beneath that that's where the whole big cvy is and if you're lucky in the wild you can get close enough to shoot this guy on a stump but the Sentinel overlooks and oversees everything else that's going on around them there is a guiding principle a sentinel here what we will call that we are to be governed by The Sentinel of love now I mentioned to you this whole section on hey Paul deals with some very personal sensitive issues but in Chapter 13 it's like Paul sets this Sentinel up that looks back and looks over all these other passes passages that he's dealing with and he's unpacking and it's the Sentinel of love and he says in Chapter 13 Verse one if I speak H human or Angelic tongues but do not have love I'm a noisy gong or clanging symbol if I have the gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all knowledge and I have all Faith so that I may move mountains but I do not have love I'm nothing if I give away all my possessions and I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love I gain nothing love here's the Sentinel it is patient it is kind it does not envy it does not boast it is not arrogant it is not rude for some of you think that sometimes you have the moral High ground and you want to act like it it isn't rude it is not self-seeking it is not irritable it does I love this one it does not keep a record of wrongs Love Finds no joy and unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth it Bears all things it believes all things it hopes all things it endures all things love never ends and even in chapter 8 as he starts with this other what we'll find to be a very personal issue in our lives he sets over the top of it this Sentinel of Love verse one now now about food sacrificed Idols we know that we have all knowledge knowledge puffs up but love builds up when we come to the gray areas of the faith areas where let's be honest good Christians can disagree the guiding principle inside this local body and inside our larger world of Christianity should be the principle of love what is the loving thing to do how will my actions or inactions affect our other brothers or sisters in Christ could my actions or inactions cause a weaker brother or sister to stumble and Paul's going to use this language a couple of times we'll look at it the both times that he uses it in Corinthians but 1 Corinthians 10: uh 23 says everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial everything is permissible but not everything builds up so the question should always be asked and answered in the context of love will this action or inaction on my part build other believers up or will it pull them down there's an axom and it gets floated around it gets uh referenced to different Church fathers but it's been true through the history of our Christianity and it's the key thought is that in the essentials unity in the non-essentials Liberty but in all things charity so the first axium one of the things that we've tried to do I believe we've done here at our church is build a church that is grace-based and that means we are guided and governed by The Sentinel of love this will make a lot more sense in a moment so I just want you to hang in there all right uh the second principle here is don't be puffed up by the sin of legalism uh uh the Bible says in uh chapter 8 veres 1 and two primarily verse one it says that knowledge puffs up that's prideful arrogance it would say later in verse eight of the same chapter food will not bring us close to God we are not worse off if we do eat it you never eat it hands that were raised and we're not better off if we do eat it for those that lifted their hand and said eat the meat you're not better off if you don't eat the meat or if you eat the meat yet some of us if I could just say this with love are guilty of thinking we are superior to others because we have a different opinion on what is clearly a gray issue in scripture better Christians because we do this or we don't do that in that case the one who thinks he is the stronger brother or sister actually becomes the weaker brother or sister because we become victims to the greater sin of Pride and let me just be clear pride is not a gray area in scripture pride comes before the fall six things proverb says the Lord hates and yeay seven an Abomination a prideful look and so if we are not careful as we deal with these gray issues we can create sort of subsets inside our church where some people think they are superior I personally grew up in one of those subsets of legalism and that can be a sin as well the third principle here don't be fooled by the Temptation Of lawlessness verse 12 says not now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience you are sinning against Christ therefore if food causes my brother or sister to fall I will never eat meet again I pray God that my Outback Steakhouse does not cause you to stumble let me know if you're going to be there for a salad I'll try to order something different so I won't cause my brother or sister to fall on the flip side of this issue from legalism we go to lawlessness and we can air on the Other Extreme we can be tempted to use our Liberty as a license to sin and in this case the real victim can become ourselves uh the thing we think brings us freedom ends up enslaving us it's like you could eat the meat eat all the red meat you want Gorge yourself for the rest of your life on red meat but don't be surprised if you have a heart attack uh 1 Corinthians 6 uses that common language of chapter 10 uh and it says this in verse 12 everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial in other words not everything is good for me everything is permissible for me but I will not be Mastered by anything so it's possible not to fall into the pothole of legalism but on the other stream extreme to fall into the pothole of lawlessness and we not only harm our other brothers and sisters but we potentially harm ourselves in so doing so with that explainer in order and with those guiding principles in place I want to I want to dive into what I think is a relevant application now when I study this text and and it was very clear you know last week we're going to talk about marriage we're going to talk about divorce that was a very clear the week before lawsuits and sexual immorality uh the week before that immoral members in the church and church discipline those were very clear but then as I begin to sort of wrestle with this text I begin to ask the Lord what is maybe there's many other gray areas this could uh this these principles could be applied to but what is the primary gray area that maybe the majority of the people in the room either directly or indirectly run hle with that that could be applied letting the text speak coming out of the text to our personal lives and the lives of just living in the culture that we live in and even the church culture and I will tell you that changes from region to region but in our region and our culture what is the applicable application and I want to apply this relevant application this morning to the subject of alcohol and the room got quiet you probably didn't see that coming maybe some of you did but let me just give you some bullet point so I sort of stay on track here let me tell you what I personally believe what I believe the scriptures is clear on that this is not absolutely forbidden in scripture the consumption of it is not absolutely Ely forbidden in scripture if you still believe that Jesus turned water into grape juice you probably need to read it again in its context in its in its current setting Jesus most likely in his last supper shared a glass of fermented wine that's a clear teaching culture has shifted on this over the years and we may all have grown up in a scenario where we thought uh all all of the wine in the Bible is like the the juice in this cup that we'll observe in a few moments and yet we have to balance that with other scriptures remember I said gray areas are not just scriptures where there's no scripture on it but where scriptures where there may be conflicting scriptures on it you go to the Proverbs and proverbs clearly says wine is a mocker and and and beer is a brawler but at no point that I see was it ever absolutely forbidden I also want to say to this say to you this that we need to realize the risk our our Liberty in this area May potentially have on others uh the Bible says in verse 10 that uh for if someone sees you the one who has knowledge dining in an Idol's Temple won't his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to Idols the reality is our freedom could not always but could lead others to stumble and then the third bullet here is we also need to realize the risk our Liberty has on our elves uh verse 12 says now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their own conscience you sinning against Christ you may not be the stronger brother that you think you are and you may not be as in control of this specific issue in your life that you think you are are you may actually being be being Mastered by the thing you think you're the Lord of so in all of this we must constantly run to the most loving response verse one says knowledge puffs up but love builds up and by that I mean recognizing that as a part of the body of Christ you do not live in isolation so at all points we must be sensitive to how our actions either by legalism or by lawlessness affects others now let me get very personal here and very real here how this can affect people who are sitting in this room here and I realize in a room this size and even with a watching audience online that I am speaking to some people that haven't spoke this to anybody else but have an problem in this area let me tell you the tale of two church members uh we've been here 12 years when I first came we uh had a family in our church great family um and uh this young mother served faithfully and these stories will both remain anonymous served Faithfully in our church in very visible role and yet privately she had a very big problem this couple was close enough to us that we actually had gone to their home on a couple of occasions to share dinner and break bread together and yet she had a private problem that soon became public she was in and out of rehab centers I saw her one day a day out of rehab buying something that she shouldn't have been buying and I ended up preaching that young mother's funeral in this building what timing is everything if you're in the room you get it if you're watching online you probably don't let me tell you another tale I have another friend who's in this church who Faithfully serves in this church he was serving this morning in this church they are dear friends to our family we have been in their home they have been in our home privately he was having a struggle with this issue uh I had him in the cab of my pickup and he was weeping and crying and through a series of events with his family and myself we were able to get him in rehab and just last month our family celebrated with him one year of sobriety amen but here's what he told me when we celebrated that he said I didn't even know it but I was literally on death's door so we can fluff over this Rush past it but let's just realize that there's some good people in this room that may have a real struggle with the specific application that we're dealing with and so because of that I want to introduce to you what I'm calling the Cross Church lint challenge you're like Pastor I I left the Catholic church I I'm here now or did I show up at the wrong Church am I should I be parked in Safeways parking lot this morning and stood have an ours but there are some lessons we can learn from our Catholic friends here here here's how ly described it lent begins on Wednesday March the 5th that happens to be this next Wednesday and ends at sundown on Thursday April the 17th Holy Thursday and so here's what I'm challenging you to do whether you think you have a problem or you don't have a problem or you do have a problem for the next 40 days beginning Wednesday traveling all the way through Thursday before Easter just push it away just say I'm just for conscience sake maybe I have a problem or maybe there's somebody else around that may have a problem uh I'm not saying I'll never uh partake again I'm just saying for this these 40 days I'm going to stay physically clean in this area and and honestly I may be speaking to some in the room or some online that that you may have a rising problem in this area like my two friends that I just told their story and I would say first of all why I do this because it is good for you and for others in the room you may not have a problem that you know of but even if you don't have a problem that you know of it's still good for you and will it and make you focus for the next 40 days solely on the father and I want to challenge you why because it is good for others it may be that your example will be a an example that others friends and extended family or immediate family would see in your life and say if they can do that I can do that and then finally because we love our God Paul says in verse 6 yet for us there is one God the Father All Things are from him and through him all things exist and there is one Lord Jesus all things are through him and we exist through him to laser focus our attention on the father this week and if you're in the room you say well I never drink at all use these 40 days to pray for others that need help just to focus on the father overall we need to focus on that of most importance do you have a relationship with Jesus are you saved and if so are you living in fellowship with the father now we're about to observe communion and and instead of doing it the way we typically do it we're not going to uh do the perfunctory you know everybody take the bread and everybody take the shot I'm sorry um the juice at the same time well we're going to have you live in this moment intentionally for a moment often times when we observe communion we focus on the actual Act of communion this bread what it means it's the body that was broken this juice what it means it is the blood that was poured out but sometimes we're of skipping over the examination and the preparation for communion let me give you a verse in preparing for communion Paul instructs for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself in the real world there were actually because it wasn't unform fermented grape juice in the real world in the church at Corinth there were actually people getting drunk in church and he says to [Music] us examine yourself you may not be drunk this morning you could be hung over you could be having some areas that you've compromised in in other areas that we haven't specifically addressed here because there's thousands of great areas that can come become black and white areas if they get between us and our relationship with the father [Music]