A PB (no J) analogy
I had dinner last night with my fusion group, and in one conversation we got to talking about this "taste test" game that we all played in fusion last Sunday. Basically, we had to taste a particular product and then "guess" which brand it was.
I'm not going to lie... once I picked the ice cream dead on I was the go-to guy for our team ("Seperate Checks" - which won :) ). I picked 4 of the 5 items on our list, of which the only I missed was the cookies that everyone missed (I'm also not a big "Chips-Ahoy" guy). The item that got us ahead in this competition was the peanut butter, which was either JIF, Peter Pan, or Kroger own brand. I'm not brand loyal in peanut butter except that I don't like store brand stuff, so when I tasted the peanut butter and it wasn't sweet enough I knew it was generic, and we were the only team to pick the Kroger. My status as a taste-ringer was secured at that moment.
I got to thinking this morning about being attuned to discern tastes in different foods is (okay - here's the really bad analogy coming) is like being able to navigate grey areas in life. For those of us that follow Christ, there are areas where the "sin line" isn't really drawn and instead we are asked to use wisdom to navigate in these areas. Most of us know what I'm talking about... drinking alcohol, "how far is too far?", etc. Those of course are the big 2 that most Christian singles worry about. There may be more but it's early :-).
Now here comes the really bad analogy....
Let's assume that different brands of peanut butter represent the shades of gray that we face. Let's say that JIF is being within the boundaries of God's standard, Peter Pan is an occasional blurring of the lines, and store brand is the sin point.
So - when we go to the grocery store we have some options, same as in life when we deal with grey areas:
1.) We can avoid the peanut butter aisle and just take PB out of our diet. That's a perfectly acceptable option. If you don't even deal with the issue, there's no way you can stumble in this area.
2.) You can go into the PB aisle and not think about what you're doing, spend 20 seconds scanning products and pick up the one that's most conveinent. This is the way that most consumers shop, and by doing this approach you're probably going to get the Kroger from time to time. It can be random if you're not paying attention to what you're picking up.
3.) You can go into the aisle deciding in advance that you're going to get JIF, and what standards you have for your JIF. You're discerning when you enter the peanut butter aisle, you read labels, and you make a wise "choosy moms choose" JIF decision. Heck, you may even go with reduced fat. Cheers to you faithful shopper!
The same goes in our life with grey areas, we can avoid (avoid that thing altogether), deny (the need to discern because it is grey), or discern (understand that grey is here and desiring to honor God in your decisions in this area).
If you are going to be a discerner (which I would hope that all of us who date would be esp. in this area), then you have to decide in advance where your standards are, ensure that they align with God's boundaries, and then faithfully stick with them. In this, I believe that God blesses those who act wisely and seek to honor Him where He hasn't given us a clear dividing line between "right" and "wrong."
And if you're going to be a avoider, that's perfectly legit as well. The only advice that scripture gives to you is that if you choose to avoid something that's grey altogether that you do not look down upon your brothers and sisters in Christ that do choose to shop in the peanut butter aisle. In the case that they're picking too much Kroger too often, then there's a way and a time to lovingly address the issue... but most of the time someone else that's picking JIF may be able to have that conversation with them. The truth is in this case is that the goal of the body of Christ is oneness, and judging rashly on grey areas brings division and not oneness. And if this is the goal, the peanut butter aisle will probably take care of itself :-)
So there's for my very bad analogy.
I'm not going to lie... once I picked the ice cream dead on I was the go-to guy for our team ("Seperate Checks" - which won :) ). I picked 4 of the 5 items on our list, of which the only I missed was the cookies that everyone missed (I'm also not a big "Chips-Ahoy" guy). The item that got us ahead in this competition was the peanut butter, which was either JIF, Peter Pan, or Kroger own brand. I'm not brand loyal in peanut butter except that I don't like store brand stuff, so when I tasted the peanut butter and it wasn't sweet enough I knew it was generic, and we were the only team to pick the Kroger. My status as a taste-ringer was secured at that moment.
I got to thinking this morning about being attuned to discern tastes in different foods is (okay - here's the really bad analogy coming) is like being able to navigate grey areas in life. For those of us that follow Christ, there are areas where the "sin line" isn't really drawn and instead we are asked to use wisdom to navigate in these areas. Most of us know what I'm talking about... drinking alcohol, "how far is too far?", etc. Those of course are the big 2 that most Christian singles worry about. There may be more but it's early :-).
Now here comes the really bad analogy....
Let's assume that different brands of peanut butter represent the shades of gray that we face. Let's say that JIF is being within the boundaries of God's standard, Peter Pan is an occasional blurring of the lines, and store brand is the sin point.
So - when we go to the grocery store we have some options, same as in life when we deal with grey areas:
1.) We can avoid the peanut butter aisle and just take PB out of our diet. That's a perfectly acceptable option. If you don't even deal with the issue, there's no way you can stumble in this area.
2.) You can go into the PB aisle and not think about what you're doing, spend 20 seconds scanning products and pick up the one that's most conveinent. This is the way that most consumers shop, and by doing this approach you're probably going to get the Kroger from time to time. It can be random if you're not paying attention to what you're picking up.
3.) You can go into the aisle deciding in advance that you're going to get JIF, and what standards you have for your JIF. You're discerning when you enter the peanut butter aisle, you read labels, and you make a wise "choosy moms choose" JIF decision. Heck, you may even go with reduced fat. Cheers to you faithful shopper!
The same goes in our life with grey areas, we can avoid (avoid that thing altogether), deny (the need to discern because it is grey), or discern (understand that grey is here and desiring to honor God in your decisions in this area).
If you are going to be a discerner (which I would hope that all of us who date would be esp. in this area), then you have to decide in advance where your standards are, ensure that they align with God's boundaries, and then faithfully stick with them. In this, I believe that God blesses those who act wisely and seek to honor Him where He hasn't given us a clear dividing line between "right" and "wrong."
And if you're going to be a avoider, that's perfectly legit as well. The only advice that scripture gives to you is that if you choose to avoid something that's grey altogether that you do not look down upon your brothers and sisters in Christ that do choose to shop in the peanut butter aisle. In the case that they're picking too much Kroger too often, then there's a way and a time to lovingly address the issue... but most of the time someone else that's picking JIF may be able to have that conversation with them. The truth is in this case is that the goal of the body of Christ is oneness, and judging rashly on grey areas brings division and not oneness. And if this is the goal, the peanut butter aisle will probably take care of itself :-)
So there's for my very bad analogy.
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