"William The Baptist"
Puritan Board Freshman
(insert activity that falls within Christian liberty here).
Just curious, but how do you define "Christian Liberty"?
Sure. It's the freedom that we have in Christ to make judgment calls regarding what we do or do not partake in, if it's not clearly delineated in Scripture as sinful. I look see this in Romans 14, among other places. I personally have a difficult time saying (or deducing from Scripture) that watching a show that contains some off-color humor as sinful.
That's certainly not to say that everyone should partake (just as some should not partake in, say, alcohol), but I can't tell EVERY Christian that they're sinning for doing so (just like with alcohol).
It seems that such liberty focuses on man, what man wants, what man deems acceptable... all about man. Isn't liberty freedom from the curse of the law?-not liberty from the law. We are submitting either to God, or that which opposes God. That which we partake in is not neutral. It seems to me many Christians (not aiming this at you, more for discussion purposes) use such liberty to do what they wish... which subjugating ourselves to such worldliness and blatant wickedness is only desensitizing us-we are no longer shocked by sin. I know it has been true in my own life in years past, but only because of The Lord's grace and overwhelming conviction on my life have I become painfully aware of that which I used to be "numb" to! We are slaves, bondservants, to Christ, we are not our own, we were bought with a price; so we are either slaves to sin or slaves to Christ. We either have liberty to continue in sin, or liberty FROM sin (not TO sin).
I see your parallel to alcohol, but I am cautious of such an approach. Alcohol is not sin. Drunkenness is clearly sin. Therefore you could never tell any Christian that is drinking alcohol that he/she is sinning, that is absurdity. If they stumble and it is a weakness, of course it is wise to abstain from it. However, there are boundaries such as, I am not yet 21 (only a couple of weeks!) and in the states it is not legal for me to drink (unless under parental supervision on private property), so it WOULD be a sin for me to drink-as I would be breaking the law. God has ordained such a legal system to be over me, albeit a very corrupt unbiblical one, but I still submit to its authority in as far as it does not go against scripture. I digress.
As for "watching" sin and not partaking in it, I would question why, as Christians, we would ever care to take our pleasure, enjoyment, and leisure time to bask in an medium that promotes and endorses such vulgarity and mocks God's law and truth for our amusement. Amuse, by the way, can be broken down to a - muse (against thinking/thought!); I wonder why we would wish to be amused by blatant sinful behaviors?
If presented in a biblically sound manner, where sin is wicked and abhorred, then I do not see how it could be wrong to incorporate that a book or movie (given it is not inappropriate). But, hollywood and most movies glorify sin, not abhor it.
Ultimately in light of the redemption at Calvary and all that God has done for us, (this is normally when I tell my friends in person, if the Almighty God of heaven knew me before the foundations of the world, chose me as His own, showed such incomprehensible kindness as to love me, but made a way for my to love Him by His atoning sacrifice and redemption work... not only did He know me, choose me, love me, redeem me, but He didn't leave me there but allowed lifelong sanctification!- with such unfathomable grace bestowed upon my life, how could I ever breathe or live steeped in selfishness?- in light of His grace, I am surrendered to such grace, by such grace!) I just don't see the point in debating Christian Liberty in a sense of how close can I get to sin without it actually being sin. I have a huge issue with that, maybe because it was so prevalent in my younger years in youth groups and the like.
No one is perfect. Myself probably more than I can bear to admit! I skimmed the posts and I did agree with a lot of the things you had to say.
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