Romans 14:20-23 “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin”. (NASB)
Ok – I have to confess I blew it last night. I have been at a company meeting here in Minneapolis all stinking week and we had a big dinner with about 180 managers. It was a big deal. When it all finally broke up some of us from our unit thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere alone. We did. Around the block was a place we had actually found the night before, “Ike’s”. And, like the night before we each ordered a drink. ONE! “Last call” the waiter said and out we went back to the hotel. There we found the group that had left the restaurant had reassembled in the lobby lounge adjacent to the elevators and there was no escaping the gravity. So, we joined back in the social revelry of the company banter over another beverage. “Last call” there was indicated when the lights went up and we all scattered back to our rooms.
So what’s wrong Dale?
Here’s what is wrong. After my reminding all to “Shoot Straight or Don’t Shoot” very recently I managed to come back to the room and give the glamorous FaceBook rendition of the evening. “Closed two pubs tonight, haven’t done that in awhile”, I wrote.
Yep! I blew it with that post because it violated the Scripture shown above. I had not behaved in violation of my conscience and understanding of Biblical standards of conduct for myself for the evening. But, I may have led others to believe that I had with that post. And, I have to confess I thought it was kind of cool that a just turned 53 year old guy that barely can stay up past 10 could actually stay up late enough to close not one but two establishments. Of course “Pub” was a stretch too in reference to the hotel lobby lounge. So, I was off the reservation with my comments.
No excuses, I blew it and someone may have read that and wondered, “What the heck” I thought this Dale Nicol was the guy that wrote all this stuff about the Bible and here he is out getting drunk and closing down pubs all over Minneapolis. Although that isn't what happened someone might have thought so, and then taken liberty they believed wrong but since Dale did it ... That's causing, "Your brother to stumble".
Ok – I have to confess I blew it last night. I have been at a company meeting here in Minneapolis all stinking week and we had a big dinner with about 180 managers. It was a big deal. When it all finally broke up some of us from our unit thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere alone. We did. Around the block was a place we had actually found the night before, “Ike’s”. And, like the night before we each ordered a drink. ONE! “Last call” the waiter said and out we went back to the hotel. There we found the group that had left the restaurant had reassembled in the lobby lounge adjacent to the elevators and there was no escaping the gravity. So, we joined back in the social revelry of the company banter over another beverage. “Last call” there was indicated when the lights went up and we all scattered back to our rooms.
So what’s wrong Dale?
Here’s what is wrong. After my reminding all to “Shoot Straight or Don’t Shoot” very recently I managed to come back to the room and give the glamorous FaceBook rendition of the evening. “Closed two pubs tonight, haven’t done that in awhile”, I wrote.
Yep! I blew it with that post because it violated the Scripture shown above. I had not behaved in violation of my conscience and understanding of Biblical standards of conduct for myself for the evening. But, I may have led others to believe that I had with that post. And, I have to confess I thought it was kind of cool that a just turned 53 year old guy that barely can stay up past 10 could actually stay up late enough to close not one but two establishments. Of course “Pub” was a stretch too in reference to the hotel lobby lounge. So, I was off the reservation with my comments.
No excuses, I blew it and someone may have read that and wondered, “What the heck” I thought this Dale Nicol was the guy that wrote all this stuff about the Bible and here he is out getting drunk and closing down pubs all over Minneapolis. Although that isn't what happened someone might have thought so, and then taken liberty they believed wrong but since Dale did it ... That's causing, "Your brother to stumble".
The key violation was not my behavior but allowing it to be viewed or misconstrued or even twisted by my own hand into something it was not that could have tripped someone up.
“Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God”.
“Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God”.
Well, here’s maybe the biggest lesson. We all blow it, and I did. You will too. If so, suck it up and admit it. It's not so easy but here's my confession in black and white. And ... don’t do what I did. It's easier to avoid the problem than have to explain and confess it! AMEN!
No comments:
Post a Comment