The Weaker Brother

I must say that Romans stands as a very rich text full of great spiritual treasures. We studied Romans the other day and went into the passage about causing others to stumble. What really stuck me was Christ’s call to complete and utter selflessness. I think that many times I too often consider my sin against God while neglecting my sin against other people. God really convicted me that the Christian life does not center on my needs. In fact, Christianity centers on Christ and the notion of servitude. So many times, the decisions I make are based on what I want, my needs, and my desires. And many times, I distort and manipulate the will of God into my own selfishness and call such a thing “following God’s will”. On the other hand, sometimes I judge others in their exercise of a liberty that they most certainly have under the cross of Christ. Especially being raised in the church and having my conservative slant, sometimes I judge other Christians for certain liberties they take. For example, the issue of drinking stands as something that fuels contention in the Christian body and in my life. Here’s my slant on drinking (I might sound hypocritical and judgmental):

A clear distinction that should be made is that drinking has different cultural connotations. A stigma surrounding alcohol in Europe may be completely different than one in the United States. I am sharing my stance from my cultural perspective and my own convictions. (Wow, there are a lot of my words in that statement). Anyways, I confess that many times I look down on Christians who engage in drinking. I also confess that I have tasted alcohol before. I use taste, because I have never drunk anything more than to get a taste. One of the reasons I have such negative feeling for alcohol stems from the testimonies of my high school football coaches. My sophomore football coach’s brother was killed by a drunk driver. Every prom, my coach would go around the local high schools telling his story of tragic loss. From his story, one could see the heartbreak that my coach had and still has from the affects of alcohol. My varsity coach has also experienced the scars from alcoholism. His grandfather basically died from his addiction and bondage to alcohol. As a result of his witness to his grandfather’s tragedy, my coach has made a vow of never drinking alcohol for the rest of his life. I sometimes get frustrated when I see Christians drink simply because they have the liberty to do so, and I acknowledge that having that kind of attitude of condescension is a sin. I can definitely say that in this situation, I am the weaker brother. However, the reason of “just because I can” makes for an extremely week argument. And if their reasoning is to make me stronger, maybe they should read the Romans passage. Okay, I’m getting judgmental and angry now… whew, sorry. On that note, I must say that I admire the strength and courage of our brothers and sisters in the Greek system. I think that the Greek system is a completely different cultural environment where drinking is almost a norm. To have the courage to be a light in an atmosphere of darkness truly exemplifies the character of Christ. I truly think the Greek Chapter really model’s Jesus’ example of reaching out to a segment of society that has a pretty bad connotation in the Christian community. Who knows the future? Maybe when I become of legal age, I might decide to occasionally drink alcohol. I simply cannot say. I realize that my attitude of complete abstinence to alcohol is a stance that is weak, flawed, and hypocritical. Hopefully, God will slowly take away my legalism and judgmental condensation.

Another issue that I had to deal with was the liberty of watching certain television shows. I think that not having a television this year was a real blessing for my spiritual life. I did not have the opportunity to waste too much time on television and I did not have as much opportunity to fill my heart with lust, perversion, and selfishness. I really thank God for teaching me the value of giving up some that I enjoyed because it was challenging my relationship with God. Actually, one issue that I had to deal with pertained to the show, Family Guy. Now, I know that many people like to watch the show and find the comedy pretty humorous. I also find the show extremely humorous as well and I think that Family Guy is a pretty well produced cartoon. Many people may think: what a square, but this was something that I was dealing with and still am. I mean I really enjoyed the show, but I also realized that a lot of the humor had underlying tones of sexuality in addition to other things. I remember this one memory where my non-Christian friends made a casual jibe at the fact that I occasionally saw Family Guy. This really questioned my witness to people around me. I also found myself laughing at sometimes very off-color jokes which stirred in my conscious. I battled and struggled with giving up something that I really enjoyed. God finally had to completely remove the television from my room so that I did not have the temptation to view something that stirred up my conscious. Honesty, if I had a television this year, I definitely would have viewed many questionable shows on television.

I also think that viewing risqué images in movies during a “Christian” hang-out stands on unstable ground as well. What many people do not like to acknowledge, male and female, is that Christian males struggle with issue of lust all the time. Images and sounds trigger thoughts and open up much vulnerability into the mind. Maybe some people are mature enough to guard their hearts against sexually suggestive images, I certainly am not. For that reason, I do not really enjoy watching movies in groups of people. A lot of times I wish that I could say that I am mature enough to view an attractive female on screen with utmost purity. However, I honestly admit that I cannot the majority of the time. A lot of times I just have to look away, because I know that in a private setting, I would most definitely be extremely tempted to fall into sin (and many times, I will). I’m always fearful whenever questionable content flashes on the screen, especially in a group of Christian friends. Do I look away and have people think I am an immature square who shrieks at the sight of any exposure of flesh? Or do I put up an air of “maturity” and fill my heart with all sorts of lustful desire? Do I admit my sinful vulnerabilities to lustful thought and miss out on a social gathering of friends? Or do I “tough it out” and pretend that images do not affect that way I think? Watching movies certainly is not a sin. Many times movies are a powerful medium which stirs up debate. Many times I should not divert my eyes away from the sinfulness of the world and of my very own soul. I certainly cannot ignore images just because they stir up uneasiness. I am the weaker brother in so many things. Sometimes I wish I did not look down on others that drink; sometimes I wish I did not enjoy crass jokes; sometimes I wish I did not have such vulnerabilities to lust; sometimes I wonder why I am such a hypocrite. I am the weaker brother.