I went to a men's retreat last night. Basically the evening was for college men to embrace their masculinity, our God given masculinity. I think this idea is amazing, especially in a society that seems to want to emasculate men from a young age. But that is a completely different discussion. I have only one problem with the night and I'll keep the criticism on myself. I personally am about five feet, ten inches and around 165 pounds. Friday night I consumed 4.4 pounds of ribs, fries, and root-beer. That seems to me to be a stark contrast even for the average American. What I'm getting at is that not only did I feel physically ill (yippee for pepto) but I felt bad. Bad, being that I believe what I did was wrong. I believe eating like that is glutinous...what I did was sinned. What's worse is that I had thought about this beforehand. The thing is, is that when Jesus talks about following Him no middle ground can be found, you either follow Him or you don't. Now, I'm not saying we can be perfect and don't make mistakes...because as you read above, and other posts, I'm by no means perfect and I've made plenty of mistakes and continue to do so. The problem comes when I willfully choose to do what I know to be contrary to God's will. I don't get to choose what is right and wrong, I get to choose whether or not to do right and wrong (or even recognize right and wrong or lie to myself). So the answer to the question "How far do I have to follow?"....WRONG QUESTION...It is whether or not I will follow.
Another question everyone should ask:
God loves me...Do I love God?
Jordan
4.4 pounds... what a wuss.
ReplyDeleteThe key here is that you felt guilty once you realized what happened. Then realizing you thought about it beforehand makes one feel guilt for that as well. It's happened to me a lot, knowing beforehand about a certain temptation or something like that and then blowing it. Usually it's because I get distracted by trying to please/impress someone else instead of constantly putting God first.
I think in this day and age we're very distracted which is why we need to focus more on studying God's Word.
Ok, so I have some arguments against this...or maybe I'll say questions about this blog. I will try and form them into complete sentences.
ReplyDeleteSo the question come up first- Is overeating for one night really a sin that you or us(as Christians) should worry about?
Yes, I agree that gluttony is wrong. But, I don't know if I see one night of overeating as being glutinous.
And yes, I agree that there is no middle ground or halfway following Christ.
But, if I'm to take this to a larger scale- I run into problems. So, if overeating for one night is a sin in my life, I should feel guilty and repent of it afterward. Then speeding would also be a sin in my life. And drinking pop too much, or various other little things throughout my day. I just wonder if I would be living a life of legalism. That if I follow every single rule every single day-then I'm ok with God.
So, after writing that I'll point out that I'm not a very eloquent at arguing a point. But perhaps you can begin to see my ....issues or questions that arise.
Please feel free to argue against, or set me straight.
Julie
Ok, so I have some arguments against this...or maybe I'll say questions about this blog. I will try and form them into complete sentences.
ReplyDeleteSo the question come up first- Is overeating for one night really a sin that you or us(as Christians) should worry about?
Yes, I agree that gluttony is wrong. But, I don't know if I see one night of overeating as being glutinous.
And yes, I agree that there is no middle ground or halfway following Christ.
But, if I'm to take this to a larger scale- I run into problems. So, if overeating for one night is a sin in my life, I should feel guilty and repent of it afterward. Then speeding would also be a sin in my life. And drinking pop too much, or various other little things throughout my day. I just wonder if I would be living a life of legalism. That if I follow every single rule every single day-then I'm ok with God.
So, after writing that I'll point out that I'm not a very eloquent at arguing a point. But perhaps you can begin to see my ....issues or questions that arise.
Please feel free to argue against, or set me straight.
Julie
I see your point Julie and it's a good one.
ReplyDeleteHow many times do you have to lie to be a liar? Or murder to be a murderer? How often do you need to overeat to be a glutton? A week, a year, 5 years?
If you speed on the interstate once you've broken the law, even if you've done it unintentionally. You may not have noticed you've been speeding but as soon as you see the flashing lights of the law in your mirror you'll check your speed and know.
We're not saved by legalism (keeping the Law/ doing good works) as you hinted, but by grace through faith. Romans 7:4 says, "So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God." As a true Christian we will desire to please and glorify God and do good works(bear good fruit), not in order to stay in His favor but because we are a new creature.
Romans 3:31
"Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
Romans 7:16
"And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good."
Romans 7:22
"For in my inner being I delight in God's law;"
There's nothing wrong with enjoying the gifts God gives us, including eating extra at Thanksgiving time, as long as it doesn't keep you from keeping the commandments to put God first and to love your neighbor as yourself. We do have a responsibility to take care of our body, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"1Cor6:19 and I think that falls under the "You shall have no other gods before me." category.
As for all the little things... "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive." 1 Cor 10:23 NIV
There are greater things to worry about than drinking a soda, like a friend that's headed for hell, but that doesn't mean drink 23 sodas a day so you can study late into the night. Or is your diet offensive to an unbeliever? "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." 1Cor9:20
Does that make sense? Sorry if I'm just covering stuff you already know.
gluttony is defined as "excess in eating or drinking" or "greedy or excessive indulgence."
ReplyDeletein that case, i would say that we definitely did that at manathon.
keeping the law doesn't imply a legalistic outlook. it just means that we're doing our best to keep the commandments God requires of us. we know we're not saved by keeping that law, but that does not mean we shouldn't do our best to do it.
like paul says, "we died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
Well written Mike... I hope I get to meet you some time. Are you going on the CCC trip to AU with Jordan?
ReplyDeletelikewise.
ReplyDeleteand unfortunately, no. i'm moving to nebraska this summer to start graduate school in the fall, which i guess isn't all that unfortunate, but i am a little jealous that i'm not doing something radical and awesome like they are.
that's funny, I told Jordan the other day he shouldn't think of going to Australia as any different than driving to Nebraska to visit family. There are plenty of lost souls in Nebraska you can reach out to, and you won't get jet lag.
ReplyDeleteDear Oscar
ReplyDeleteHey , just wanted to say thanks for listening to me ramble about art. Its good for me to discuss ideas with others to flush them out and see if they're actually good ideas or not. I enjoyed our discussion.
I was thinking about two things from the discussion.
1. That I still want there to be a standard for art- good or bad no matter whose opinion it is. However, that's complicated because who decides? But I think partly that desire comes from being an artist. I don't want to be able to make anything and have it be called good art. I want to have to fit into that standard too. I guess I want to be working toward something.
2. I had never thought a lot about art being bad art if its not appropriate or depicts something impure. Obviously porn is bad but the line between porn and art is sometimes very thin.
Shoot- I just rambled some more. That's really not all I think/talk about.
Oh, and I read the first book and am moving onto the second. I'm excited to give the first one away.
Julie
p.s. I meant to post this a long time ago- but I can’t get it to be posted