Follow Along with the Message

Ask the Right Questions - Part 3

Pastor Tom Lundeen

We're continuing our series about how all of us have to navigate important  in our lives where we aren't sure what we should do...these are Now What? moments, and depending on what we do or don't do, these times will have significant impact in our lives and futures.

We've already looked at the questions,

1. Will this choice/action be helpful?

And we unpacked 2 tests the Apostle Paul offers to us to guide our decisions:

A. Will This Decision/Action Make Me a Better Person?

B. Does This Decision/Action  Me, or Do I Control It?

The second important question to ask ourselves is:

2. Does This Decision/Action Bother My ? 

The third question to ask ourselves is:

3. Does This Decision/Action  Someone? 

Today let's look at an issue that for us in 2024 seems strange, but it was such a big deal in the early Church that the Apostle Paul had to write multiple chapters about it to 2 major New Testament churches ( and ). 

The issue?  (note 1 Corinthians 8:1a; Romans 14:2).

What should a Jesus follower do if they were invited to someone's home and as a part of the meal they serve  sacrificial food? 

Or should a Jesus follower buy from the  market meat..sacrificed to idols? 

Follower of Jesus didn't . 

Strong and weak wasn't about . 

Instead it refers to  and conscience. 

Paul considered himself a  Jesus follower (note Romans 14:14a; 1 Timothy 4:3-4).

He understood idols are  (note 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

But he also realized not every Jesus follower had this kind of  (note 1 Corinthians 8:7-8). 

There have been and always will be  matters among Jesus followers (note Romans 14:1).

Disagreements over non-essentials don't make other people  and ourselves (or your favorite YouTube pundit)  of the faith.

Personal  about disputable matters...

...need to be mutually respected by Jesus followers who hold various opinions and not made the basis for conflict or an  to not accept the other (note Romans 14:3; 15:7).

The problem for both the strong and the weak is the most common human sin =  (note Romans 14:1-3). 

Pride and a lack of  were the real issues (note 1 Corinthians 8:1c). 

So now what?

• We live in a very , argumentative, and judgmental (i.e., cancel culture) world, and these things are heightened/magnified by social media.
• ...as Jesus followers, it's so easy to be drawn into the  morass of this thinking and attitude and adopt it in how we categorize other Jesus followers and either not care or be aware of how much this can hurt others. 
• God's will is (note Ephesians 4:29; Romans 15:2). 
• Note 1 Corinthians 8:9
• This is not an excuse for . 
• A stumbling block is any action or word that will cause another Jesus follower to fall back into former lifestyle and influence them to . 
• Note Romans 15:7

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