Concerning The Nonessentials . . .

In order to understand the "nonessentials," what exactly are the "essentials"?

Essentials: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." That is the foundation of the essentials.

Get ready for an entry neither of us saw coming.

Yeah, I'm going to hit a debatable topic here today. I usually like to try to stay away from those, because frankly, I hate arguing with people. Maybe you could say that it's "just not my thing." I hate confrontation, and in all honesty, I dislike diagreeing. Yeah, it's a fact of life that I have to accept, but when possible, I choose to avoid it at all costs. But not today.

There are essential beliefs that I will not shy away from. There are things I know and believe to be true and will not admit differently to. My mind will not be swayed that there is another God besides the God of the Bible. I will not change my mind about the one true faith, that is, faith in Christ (faith not as in "believing," but faith that Christ is real, that He died on the cross, rose from the dead, and that He is returning one day). Those are the facts, and I'm proud of them.

Let me get to the crux of the message. What about the nonessentials? What about the gray areas that keep the different denominations fighting and splitting over?

The nonessentials make life not stricly black and white. The nonessentials allow us to draw lines that may not all be in the same places. I've struggled trying to grasp this concept of non-essentials for the longest time.

Let's define some nonessentials here: going to the movies, music standards, dress standards. Biblical times called for different "nonessentials," such as eating meat.

The beginning verses of Romans 14 in the ESV offers some explanation for my point:

"One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls."

Here are some points that my singles pastor drew from these verses:

1. Receive your Christian brother who is weak in the faith
A. Weak in the faith = Has a conscience that condemns him for things which God does not condemn him for.
B. Doubtful diputations = diputes of opinion
1. Eating meat vs. eating vegetables
2. Honoring certain days above others vs. honoring every day the same
2. The strong are not to despise the weak being immature and over-scrupulous
3. The weak are not to judge the strong for their liberty.

I could include more of the outline, but I'll spare all of you. My pastor brought up a very good point, though: how many times have you heard Romans 14 preached before? The group's response: rarely, if ever. That's interesting. Why? I think because it's incredibly debatable. People have a difference of opinions, and when their opinions are tried and preached against or differently, people take it personally and get offended. And no, I'm not rebuking the offended. I stand right there with them. When I hear something that offends me, I may not voice my opinion, but I do stay with how I feel about a matter in most cases.

Here's another great point of his: Let's get a little personal with some standards. (A very not me thing to do). How many times will someone visit Wrigley field, but banish himself from a movie theater? See a comparison? You can go to a baseball game, and there will be constant profanity, drinking, and music that may not meet up to your standards. As for the movie theater . . . from what I'v heard in about a million different messages, it's a testimony issue. I understand where people are coming from and I respect them for feeling the way they do. I understand that people don't know what I'm watching when I walk into the theater. I'm also willing to take that risk. I'm not downplaying those who feel like it is not a good place for them to attend, but I'm not going to raise or lower my standard because of others' feelings. Also, just to put out there, this is not something that I like to slap in other people's faces. This is my conviction, and mine alone. I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions on this matter.

Regardless, I think he made an excellent point. Rationalization. This is usually the argument people use when people, such as myself, "rationalize" different things in my mind in order to convince myself that they're okay. But isn't this a two-way street, people? Can you not rationalize something in your mind that it's - dare me say it - wrong?!

Here's a ridiculous, but a get-the-picture-across illustration, from the lips of Pastor Wilkinson, himself: A youth pastor preached that lipstick is wrong! So this girl would go home, and she would want to put lipstick on, and as she would move the stick to her mouth, a voice would pop into our mind: Lipstick is WRONG! Don't put it on! And in her mind, she believed that the voice of God Himself was warning her of making the grave mistake of applying lipstick! Thank God that He spoke to her before she almost committed such a sin! (No disrespect).

That may sound kinda crazy, but let's think about it. That girl wasn't hearing the voice of God in her mind. It was the voice of a man. There was not a Scriptural basis for not putting on lipstick. Sure, if you looked hard enough, you may be able to locate a verse in the Bible and twist its interpretation in order to fit with your finding, but the main emphasis is that something as petty as applying lipstick can become a petty, gray area that people don't like dealing with.

And if you look at it, you'll realize that you'll always have people who set their lines above yours and far below yours.

The girl in the lipstick illustration is a prime example of the weak in the Romans 14 passage. Yet the strong are warned to not undermine their thoughts. Yes, we (I'm not calling myself "strong" here either, persay) are not to belittle their thoughts and force them to do things that go against their conscience, even if they're as ridiculous as putting on lipstick! Now that is something very difficult for me to take in. I think I would slap someone if she tried telling me that putting on lipstick is wrong!

I think it's important to sometimes talk about things, even if it makes people a little bit uncomforable in their seats. I don't want to use Romans 14 as a crutch to do whatever I please that anyone may consider "not black and white," but I think that it is very applicable. It always gives me more confidence in my convictions on these areas that people feel very - here's a nice word - "differently" about.

I think I sound like I'm preaching. Want to debate about women preachers? That is black and white. No thank you. Haha.