Now There's A Challenge For Us!

          You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15)

          We’re free to do as we wish! But we’re not. In our culture, I often hear “I can do whatever I want,” or “I should be able to do whatever I want.” The provisos are often added, “…as long as nobody gets hurt,” and “…consenting adults.” It all sounds good, but there are unstated provisos to the provisos. As long as nobody gets hurt as they define “hurt,” and consenting adults as they define adults in the specific situation.” And often, a key is intent. They didn’t mean for their casual sex partner to get an STD, but he/she did, and if it happens to be AIDS, that’s a long death sentence. They didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt, so it’s not their fault.

          Another thing about “as long as nobody gets hurt” is the fact that “not hurting” does not equal “helping.” They can use someone else for their purposes. The someone else gains no benefit, but because he/she isn’t hurt, well, it’s OK. Add to that the problem of “as long as no one else gets hurt” means that it doesn’t matter to them if they hurt themselves.

          Paul’s standard is a little different. You can do whatever you want but don’t indulge the flesh. Don’t hurt yourself. You can do whatever you want, but serve one another humbly in love, meaning that you should treat your neighbor as you treat yourself. Treat them as you want to be treated by them, as Jesus said. That sounds like the goal is for the other person to not only not be harmed, but to benefit from the encounter. Now there’s a challenge for us!