Freedom

There's a flipside to freedom, which is responsibility. Freedom means choice, and we're accountable for the outcomes of our choices. So actually our choices are limited by how outcomes effect others. Lawyers say that my freedom to swing my fist ends at the tip of the other guy's nose.
Paul warns of a possible bad outcome in 1 Cor 8:9: "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak." He's still talking about meat sacrificed to idols, adding to his point that God really doesn't care. We're free to eat or not eat, as we choose. But, Paul warns, if we use our freedom in a way that makes obedience harder for a weaker brother, we sin, against him and Christ.

That makes me wonder how often I've sinned just by exercising my freedoms. When I pass on evening worship, has that encouraged someone to think that church is unimportant? When I drink a beer, have I tempted someone who struggles with alcohol abuse? When I express my opinion, have I encouraged someone to gossip? Maybe I've done all these things. Maybe such sins only number in two digits, but maybe it's more.

It goes back to that old problem of self-centeredness, of seeing my choices only in light of my needs and wants. Selflessness, that ability that some have to always see the impact on the other guy, is a struggle for me. It takes some thought to understand one person's situation, much less everyone in my day. Dawn has an instinct for this; I don't.

Paul does. He was willing to go vegetarian if that helped keep one person from wavering. I'd have to know first who the person was; meat, after all, includes bacon.

I wonder if I can develop such an instinct. How many days of asking "What would help this person the most?" would it tke before I just naturally thought like that? I'm not really all that interested in the experiment, but I need to figure something out if I'm to be obedient.