Can a Christian smoke, drink and watch R rated movies? | Crosstraining 12.8.14

Philippians 1:15-18 “You have to pick your battles.” We’ve all heard that phrase, and we all have probably said it a time or two as well. Whether it is a parent giving in to a child’s incessant demands, a spouse relenting to avoid an argument, or an employee biting their tongue to avoid getting in trouble with their boss, sometimes it’s smarter to agree to disagree than to start an all out war. I’m pretty sure the first time I ever heard the phrase was at a restaurant as a child. The restaurant completely botched my dad’s order. Instead of sending it back, he said “sometimes you have to pick your battles” when I was confused as to why he didn’t send it back. He then explained to me how restaurant workers tend to spit in food when you send something back. We agreed that it was probably a good battle not to fight. According to the Bible, one of the most important traits Jesus wants from His followers is unity. He wants us to be united under our common ground, which is believing that He was crucified and raised again. However, Christians aren’t very good at the unity thing. Instead, we struggle to get along. We fight over petty things, and churches split over the most inconsequential of disagreements. Even more so, there are numerous different types of churches because we refuse to agree on minor areas of belief. Sure, we all believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, but many prefer to quibble over other less important matters as opposed to unifying under the banner of Jesus. There are times when we need to pick our battles when it comes to our beliefs. This means that we must come to terms with the fact that there are essential beliefs and then there are non essential beliefs. Essential beliefs are those we would die for. They are non negotiable. This includes Jesus being God and man, that God created the world, the virgin birth, and much more. Then, there are the non-essential beliefs. These are those things we believe, but we are willing to look passed for the sake of unity. These are the areas that the Bible usually leaves in a gray area. Do you completely write others off because they believe slightly different than you on non essential beliefs?]]>