ArchivedDoes society define Christian standards?Thanks, everyone, for your responses.
I think one note of clarification that I do need to make here is this: I'm not really asking this question for myself. In other words, I'm not asking this because I struggle with standards in my life. I know what I believe, and I stand firm to the convictions that the Spirit lays on my heart. The real reason I ask this question is that I struggle with how to defend the position of some of my standards when they are not expressly spoken to in the Bible. My only defense against accusations that I essentially let society define my standards is that I have to use the principles that I learn in the Bible to define a standard for me, and the main principle that seems to loom over all of my standards is separation. Consider the following dialogue:
- Skeptic: Why don't you drink?
Me: Well, I don't drink because the Bible says not to be drunk with wine.
Skeptic: OK, but that says "don't get drunk", not "don't drink". Don't you read your Bible? Even Jesus drank wine. There's no verses that say "don't drink".
Me: Right, but the Bible also says that everything I do must be to the glory of God. I believe that drinking takes the focus off of God and puts it onto me, therefore it does not glorify God, so I should not do it.
Skeptic: But how do you know it doesn't glorify God? If Jesus, who you think is God, did it, what makes you think it's not OK with Him?
Me: Well, when Jesus did it, there was not the stigma attached to drinking that there is today.
Skeptic: So you're saying that since society doesn't regard drinking the same way now as it did then, then Christians also shouldn't regard it the same way? Seems to me that you let society's standards define your own Christian standards.
Me: But that's not the point. The point is that since I love Jesus for what He did for me on the cross, I try my best to do only the things that please Him.
Skeptic: But I just got done telling you that Jesus apparently thought it was OK to do. Who are you to say any different? You try to get me to believe the Bible and Christianity, but your own book can't even make a set of rules that doesn't change based on society. Why should I trust the Bible, when it seems that even the Bible is subject to society?
See my problem. I don't know how to make this argument. I know that the Bible preaches separation. But separation from a world that is constantly changing makes it seem that Christianity is constantly changing its standards. And this makes unbelievers question why they would believe a religion whose standards are constantly changing. How do I defend my position to a skeptic like the one above?
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