Are Christians Allowed to … ?
I often see blog posts, articles, Facebook links, etc. asking if Christians are allowed to blank. You fill in the blank. Are Christians allowed to drink? Are Christians allowed to buy a lottery ticket? Are Christians allowed to give less than a tithe? Are Christians allowed to watch this or that television show?
It is true that there are a number of sin lists in the New Testament (usually by Paul). At the same time, Paul does not expect the Christian life to be about following a set of rules. Paul expects that we will walk according to the Spirit. Christianity is a life of the Spirit and not one of laws. The sin lists are there to help us to measure our life in the Spirit. We should be concerned if we find ourselves embracing the behaviours in these sin lists.
But that is not exactly what I want to talk about here. What we should notice is that Paul usually pairs a sin list with a righteous list. Here are two examples:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:19–23 ESV)
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.” (2 Timothy 2:22–23 ESV)
The temptation for Christians is to look at the bad things and put all our energy into avoiding them. I agree that we should avoid them. But what about the good things? Is Christianity really just about avoiding the bad things? Can we just gloss over the good things and hope that God will be happy that we did not do the bad things?
From my experience, it is impossible to take away the bad without replacing it with something good. There is a reason why Paul puts these things together. It is not enough to just not be angry. We must be gentle. It is not enough to just avoid bad thoughts. We must dwell on what is godly.
Some mourn that churches don’t preach about sin anymore. There is truth in that. But godly living is much more than just avoiding sin.
