HOW FREE ARE WE?

How free are we? This is a question that I've asked myself before, but not so often as within the past week. I've participated in several discussions lately that were sparked when a certain celebrity (whom shall remain nameless) graced the red carpet of the BET awards in a rather revealing dress. The dress itself really wasn't the topic of these discussions and neither was it whether or not an entertainer should dress that way. The actual question was whether a Christian (which she professes to be) should dress in something that leaves so little to the imagination. This then naturally progressed to the question of the freedoms we enjoy in our personal lives. And that is what I'd like to address here.

The world has long espoused the idea that we all have our rights to do as we please (within the limits of the law) and that no one should care how we live our lives. In short, privacy. In this modern culture where the progression and advancement of self is the chief goal in everyones life and privacy and the ability to ensure it are a multi-billion dollar industry, the notion of not being able to do what you want to do just because someone else may not approve seems like a ridiculous idea. I mean if someone has a problem with what I do, they can simply opt to not be in my presence, right? If they don't like what you're wearing they can close their eyes, right? Don't like the language I'm using, don't listen!

Is that how we, as believers, should respond though?

Before I proceed allow me to say this. Yes, it's true that you have your private life that no one can claim a right to be involved in. And it's also true that you have your own private places where you can do as you will when you will. When you are at home you can do as you please in the privacy of your own home and expect no one to say anything to you. But that really isn't the topic here and is another issue altogether. What we are talking about is whether or not you should care what people think of the things that they can see and witness with their own eyes and even ears. Should you care about what people think of your smoking, your drinking, your clubbing habits, or even the company you keep? Should it matter to you what others think of how you dress or how you talk? I say that if you call yourself a Christian and are a professing believer then the answer is a resounding YES! 

Now, let's be clear here; there are things that we do that are not sinful in and of themselves. Drinking isn't condemned in the bible, being drunk is. The dress that was the topic of so many discussions this week isn't, in and of itself, sinful.  So, yes, you may have the right and ability to do some things and you may even know from the word that you're not sinning. But again, your rights aren't the issue, your abilities aren't the issue. We have more to be concerned about. And we are told what that is in the word:

9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. ~ 1 Corinthians 8:9-13

So the real issue is not us but rather our brothers (and sisters). When asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?", we should not hesitate to say yes! Once we are saved and become part of the body of believers, we are set free from the penalty of our sins. This is a freedom gained only in and through Christ. But at the same time we lose the "right" to say and do as we please without concern for our fellow man. That dress may look amazing and you may have the figure for it, but are you aiding your brother in his purity or causing him to lust? 

We are called to be set apart from the world, but instead we see the the church itself and its individual members seeking to blend in with and imitate it. We look like the world, talk like the world, speak like the world and even think like the world does. So much so that they can no longer tell us apart. This of course gives rise to the idea that all Christians are hypocrites, since we seemingly pick and choose which sins are serious based upon our own comfort and convenience. We damage our own testimony by this and hinder our ability to properly (and believably) carry the gospel to the lost. We preach a gospel that is not only supposed to save but also claims to make us new creatures, all things becoming new. Yet we refuse to let go of the old lives and habits we were saved out of.

So, how free are we? Only as free as the slaves of Christ can be. Our lives are no longer our own and we owe it to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to those that have yet to know him to be mindful of how we carry and conduct ourselves, not causing them to stumble but helping them to stand...