Whatever You Do

Last Sunday I wrote about "Christian Liberty" or, to be more accurate, the idea that we ought to always be acting on the basis of faith rather than on our own preferences and directions. I would like to briefly expand on that this week.

Paul wrote something that is quite stunning:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).

The passage here (similar to the Romans 14 passage) talks about not giving offense (1 Cor 10:32). Paul affirms "All things are lawful, but not all things edify" (1 Cor 10:23). His main point, of course, is that we shouldn't do things that offend the conscience of others (1 Cor 10:28). Yes, we all get that. And, to be quite honest, most of us transgress that. Still, to consider that the primary point of the passage is to miss the broadness of the statement.

Look again. "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." It is an amazingly wide statement. Working backward, it says, "Do all to the glory of God." Now, now, does Paul mean "all"? You know, there are many ways to read "all". It could be hyperbole -- exaggeration to make a point. It could mean "all of a particular kind or group". In this case, it seems as if Paul is using "all" to mean ... well ... all. "Whatever you do." We, of course, know better. There are things that we do that have no bearing on "the glory of God" ... right? I mean, when you choose to wear the black pants over the blue jeans, what does "the glory of God" have to do with it? If you choose Cheerios over Total, what does "the glory of God" have to do with it? If you pump gas or make widgets, what does "the glory of God" have to do with it?

It seems to me that Paul is contradicting us here. By specifying "whether you eat or drink" as a function of glorifying God, it seems to me that our every choice is predicated on "the glory of God". You can eat glorifying God or you can eat not glorifying God. You can work glorifying God or you can work not glorifying God. You can dress glorifying God or you can dress not glorifying God. Whatever you do ought to be predicated on glorifying God.

I remember seeing that at work when I was growing up. I know that for most Christians you go to church on Sunday morning, then you go home and eat lunch. (It was "dinner" for us -- the big meal of that day.) That is, there is church (for "the glory of God") and then there is eating lunch (unrelated to "the glory of God"). I remember, though, when my parents would see Sunday afternoon meals as an opportunity to invite someone from church over to eat and fellowship. They chose to eat and drink to "the glory of God".

That's a single example. We need to work on it around the clock. There is no "secular" versus "sacred" for the Christian. We are to be glorifying God in season and out of season. His glory is our Number One issue. (Lest you think I'm making too much of it, Paul repeats the concept elsewhere apart from "avoid offense". See, for instance, Col. 3:17.) Sure, we want to avoid offending people as much as we can, but if we stop at "avoiding offense" as our primary purpose, we've missed the point. The point is singular and broad: "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

I would think that this, the Lord's Day, would be a good time to start ...