Have you ever had someone tell you that you were sinning by doing something with which you found nothing wrong?
Ever shocked anyone by saying or doing something that you normally do on a daily basis and then wondered what you had done to offend them?
Once I was talking to a friend and said the word “sucks,” and I gathered from her reaction that it was like I had made some derogatory reference to her mother.
The apostle Paul addressed this type of issue is his epistle to the Romans, Chapter 14 to be exact.
He uses the example of eating meat. At this time, people would leave offerings of food, usually meat, to the various deities in the various temples and people would collect these offerings and either sell them or eat them.
Some of the new Christians were offended by this practice and some thought it was a sin. Paul says that for those who thought it was a sin to eat meat offered to idols, it was a sin. And that for those who felt it was OK, for them it was OK.
For those topics on which the Bible is silent, God gives instruction to each person as to what is sin and what is not. Whereas I had no pang of conscience in saying “sucks,”my friend did.
If I had encouraged her to follow my example then I would have been tempting her to sin and, in doing so, I would have been sinning. So in her presence, I should refrain from saying, “sucks” as it offends her and anesthetizes her to it. If she began to think that maybe it was not so bad after all then she might begin to do something that, for her, was a sin and I would be responsible for compelling her to sin.
We must be careful not to condemn other people for doing what would be wrong for us.
I have actually had people tell me that wearing shorts was indecent.
And I guess the most classic case is that of alcohol. The Bible does not forbid consuming alcohol. It might be wrong for you to drink, but if God has not told me that it is wrong, then for me it is not wrong.
However, if I were to drink in front of you and tempt you to have a drink with me if you were convicted not to drink, I would be sinning.
So, if you are doing something that for me is a sin I have no right to condemn you. We all answer to God individually, but the word of God is the final authority of what is right and wrong.
If you believe that something has the remote possibility of being wrong and you do it anyway, then you have sinned because you did not act on your faith.
So do not condemn anyone for doing something that for that person is OK.
Do not do anything that will cause someone else to be tempted. And do not do anything that has the slightest chance of being sin.

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