So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor 10:31)The basic command is "Do all to the glory of God." Our tendency might be to think something like, "Anything spiritual I do needs to be to the glory of God" or something like it. "Anything really important." Something like that. But this command is "all." And to make the point, Paul specifies (because of the context) "whether you eat or drink" along with "whatever you do." That is, eating and drinking falls under the command to do all to the glory of God. Now, let me ask you, how do you eat or drink to the glory of God?
The whole notion is daunting, to tell the truth. I'm supposed to do my work to the glory of God. I'm supposed to love my wife to the glory of God. I'm supposed to get dressed to the glory of God. If I talk with friends, I'm supposed to do it to the glory of God. If I play a game, I'm supposed to do it to the glory of God. If I "sits and thinks," I'm supposed to do it to the glory of God. Whatever I do, I'm supposed to do it to the glory of God. Whatever. Do I? Not even close.
The sad thing, of course, is that not only do we fail to do this, but we fail to even think about it. Do we ask, "How will I glorify God when I stop at Starbucks for a cup of coffee"? Do we wonder, "Does my playing video games glorify God in any way?" Women might stereotypically ask, "Does this dress make me look fat?" but who asks, "Will this dress glorify God?" Like loving God with all that we are, we fall so far short of glorifying God in all we do. And, honestly, that's to be expected this side of eternity; we are people in process. Still, shouldn't it bother us? A little? Shouldn't we want to do better?
18 comments:
1. All of those sweeping statements cannot be interpreted to mean anything other than their plain meaning, to do so renders them meaningless.
2. I remember a story about Roger Staubach answering a question about how he reconciled playing football with his Christian faith. His response was something like, when he was on the field he played as hard as he could, within the rules, and played as if he was playing for God.
One key to the do everything for YHWH is that living like that requires a life where we don't do things against YHWH's will or commands. Where we are so grafted into the vine that our desires and actions align with His. Which we can't do without the work of Christ.
The clothing issue has become more highlighted in my thinking of late. I grew up in an age of "God doesn't care how I dress", and for the longest time I agreed. But I've come to see the folly of that thought. Does God care about how I dress? Probably not. But He does care about what what I wear says about my heart toward Him. I saw a person at church wearing a hoodie that had a skull with mushrooms growing out of it. I'm not saying that clothing is sinful, but what does it say about our attitude toward God when even when we come to a place of worship we can't dress with respect for Him and other believers?
I agree with you. Especially for those in positions of public leadership. As a random churchgoer on a random Sunday, I might wear nice shorts or nice jeans and a collared shirt. If I'm up front, I'll dress up more.
I do think that it's an area for grace and discernment though. If the guy you described was a longtime church member, I'd see it differently than if it was a nonbeliever who'd just walked in the door. I suspect you'd agree with that.
Personally, I understand 1 Cor. 10:31 best in its specific context--Paul’s instructions for resolving personal questions of conscience and liberty. As I understand it, the “eat or drink” there relates specifically to consuming food items offered to idols, and the “whatever you do” points back to the conditional “whether you eat or drink,” meaning, “whatever you decide to do concerning partaking or abstaining” in a questionable activity (in this case, enjoying food items offered to idols, which Paul made clear are “nothing” [1 Cor. 8:4]). As I see it, Paul’s guidelines are that one’s choices about these things should offend neither one’s own conscience or that of others, even while living a free life in Christ.
If I take 1 Cor. 10:31 as a “sweeping command,” I would understand it from its context as, “Let your choices for how you live be based on what you believe will bring glory to God while not causing unnecessary offense to others nor bondage to yourself.” Most clearly, while I enjoy great liberty in my Christian walk, I should live to please the Lord (and others) before myself, seeking to bring glory to God through my attitudes and actions. As you point out, that notion would seem to dictate every moment of my existence--but then God, my all in all, surely deserves that from me.
Of course I don't expect non-believers to have any respect for God, although there was a time in this country that even non-believers would pay some respect because it was culturally required.
As for the clothing you described, would you wear that same outfit to a job interview, wedding, or funeral? If not, why are we willing to pay more respect to humans than we are to God?
When I am tempted to judge the clothing choices of a fellow church attendee, I recall the clear rebuke in James 2:1-4 of showing partiality at one’s assembly to “a man with gold rings, in fine apparel” vs. “a poor man in filthy clothes.” (This disparity is even more striking than subjective judgments such as “casual” vs. “dressing up” or “nice” vs. “disrespectful,” etc., so James’ prohibition against such judgments on my part seems unequivocal.) Other Bible passages regarding one’s “dress” or appearance instruct me specifically as a woman regarding modesty and stressing inner beauty of character in Christ over outward adornment. (Beyond that, I only see gender cross-dressing forbidden.) As with all matters of Christian liberty and conscience, I strive to do what I feel is right, through God’s leading, and then I admonish myself to leave the judging and convicting of others to God. (This would even include the instances where personal choices might be deemed disruptive to an assembly--a matter I would leave to the church elders to handle.)
The rebuke of James is not about judgment, but preferential treatment. I'm not saying we should treat any church attendee differently based on their clothing. I'm saying that how we dress, especially for church, speaks to how we regard God. Do we dress to show respect to Him and our brethren? Or do we dress how comfortable we feel because that's more important than what we wear says about God? I only ask the question, not determine the judgment, but does it feel right to pay more respect to potential bosses, bride and groom, or dead people than we do to our Savior? We are commanded to stand out from the world, and one way we can do that is how we dress.
I'm sorry I'm being misunderstood. I'm not calling for a mandatory church dress code. I don't believe enforced humility and respect are useful. I'm not demanding anyone wear any specific clothing. I only lament that the Church has lost sight of any semblance of making itself distinct from the culture it is in. If that man in the hoodie was a visiting non-believer, then so be it, but he was merely an example of most of the types of clothing I see at any church I've been to in ten years. We have embraced the freedom of our culture without regard for how what we do, say, wear, or enjoy reflects on our Lord. We are commanded to be above reproach to the world. But in order to "attract" the world to the church, we have given up any distinction from the world. No, my church, nor any church I know of, does not have a dress code. I believe we should hold each other as Christians to a higher standard. Because we have failed to do so, we now have a watered down morality and ethics, and sometimes outright heretical churches. If Luther had had the same feeling you do, we never would have had the Reformation. Semper Referendum!
David, you wrote: “If Luther had had the same feeling you do, we never would have had the Reformation.” Assuming this was directed to me, what “feeling” do you believe I have? The viewpoints I expressed were these: (1) Each one should follow his/her own conscience in areas such as how to dress for church activities and then let God judge the hearts; and (2) One should not impose his/her personal convictions upon others and then judge them for their failure to comply. Both essentially say, “‘To each his own.’ Let’s not judge subjective and/or superficial things. Let’s not go beyond scripture in such areas.” (To me, this is part of the “higher standard” to which we should hold one another!) How do the viewpoints I expressed relate to Luther and the Reformation?
My goal and hope is for Christians to strive for more holiness in every part of their lives. How we dress is part of that. I see the clothing issue as endemic of a greater problem within the Church, just as Luther pushed back against indulgences. If he had said, "To each his own", we wouldn't have had a Reformation. We should be encouraging Christians to greater holiness, not to keep the status quo. The point isn't a dress code, but what your clothing says about what you think about God. The Church has lost a huge level of reverence for the holiness of God, and how we dress is one small indication of that.
David, I asked for clarification because I was completely baffled by your assertion; now I am even moreso. To connect my expression of “to each his own” regarding clothing choices (and other matters of Christian liberty) and the theological errors of the RCC addressed in the Protestant Reformation is such a stretch, in my mind, that I cannot follow your thinking on that. I don’t see the worrisome state of Christianity being grounded in our clothing choices for attending church services; I don’t believe that my outward appearance equals “holiness”; and I don’t think this focus on “how we dress” captures the essence of the “All to God’s Glory” theme of this post enough to continue this conversation. As they say on Shark Tank, “I’m sorry, but for these reasons, I’m out.”
Is getting dressed not something you do? Do all to the glory of God. The fact that you don't associate what you wear with glorifying God is my point. I agree that most people don't think about what they wear and how it speaks to our attitude, and I think that's a wrong way to think in light of "do all things to the glory of God." Let me ask, when you go to a wedding, a funeral, or a job interview, do you not consider what to wear, or do you just throw on any old thing? Let's say you're going to a fancy restaurant for your anniversary dinner. I'm talking $100-a-plate fancy. And your husband comes dressed in shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt. Are you feeling very appreciated at that point? Clothing speaks to our attitude to those around us. If we are willing to pay respect by our clothing to newly Weds, newly deads, and potential bosses, how much more respect does God deserve by our clothing?
To your complaint about my use of "holiness", I apologize. I was using the word in the biblical sense, not the common sense. Commonly, when we think of holiness, we think of goodness or moral uprightness. However, in the biblical sense, it also has a meaning of being separate. When God calls us His holy people, He's not just calling us moral, but separate. We are to be different from the world we live in. How we dress is part of how we separate ourselves from the world. If we wear exactly the same things as the world does, are we acting in a sanctified, ie separate, way? Are we making a distinction between ourselves and the world?
Finally, while there will be cultural differences in attire, we are all aware of different levels or meaning of clothing. Clothes are representative of ourselves. How we cover ourselves says things about ourselves. If you see a man walking down the street with pants sagging below his butt and an oversized shirt with some logo or other on it, you will have different thoughts about the man than if you had seen him in a suit and tie. We communicate in many ways, clothing is one that we don't often think about consciously, and I'm calling on the Church to be conscious about what we wear and what it says about us and our God. You may not want to be judging, but you can be sure the world is judging us.
David, I believe Lorna understands 1 Cor 10:31 to refer solely to "Whatever you do" in regards to Christian liberty, not in terms of everything, but I could be wrong.
David, I am fairly confident of my ability to “debate” your points in a long “back & forth.” However, my guiding Bible passage for commenting at this blog (or elsewhere) is 2 Tim. 2:24-26. “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.” I find that I can generally follow this here, but if and when I can’t, I feel I must drop out. I did properly consider your points, and hopefully you were able to take mine to heart as well. That’s about the extent of it, I believe.
Stan, just to clarify: I do understand the use of “whatever you do” of 1 Cor. 10:31 in its context of Christian liberty, but of course I believe my entire life should be pleasing to the Lord (but not based on that verse in that context). I did imply that more general principal (“sweeping command”) in the second paragraph of the comment of mine that appears just above yours here.
I should have typed "principle" above, rather than "principal," of course.
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