As we navigate the complexities of life, it’s essential to develop a nuanced understanding of what is truly harmful and shameful, and what is not. Unfortunately, many people are plagued by false guilt, shame, and social stigma surrounding activities that are actually normal and beneficial. This can lead to unnecessary damage and harm, as individuals struggle to reconcile their own consciences with the expectations of others.

To begin, it’s crucial to recognize that some activities are indeed harmful and shameful. These actions can cause damage to ourselves and others, regardless of whether we personally dislike them or not. The key question to ask is: Is this activity going to damage me and/or others? If the answer is yes, then it’s likely that the activity is indeed harmful and shameful.

On the other hand, there are activities that are good or neutral, causing no harm to ourselves or others. A helpful spiritual principle to apply in these situations is to ask whether the activity violates the commands to love God and neighbor, or if it contradicts the fruits of the Spirit. If the answer is no, then it’s likely that the activity is either beneficial or neutral.

However, unnecessary damage is done to people when we take the guilt, shame, and proper revulsion that is correctly tied to harmful activities and attach it to things that are actually good or neutral. This can lead to a form of spiritualized legalism, where we stretch scripture or add to it to prooftext our personal scruples onto others. The threatened harm or shame becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and people end up struggling to fight something that is actually good for them.

As we navigate these complex issues, it’s essential to ask ourselves: Am I trying to prove a preconception I received from people I trust, or am I trying to see what the Bible actually says? This is especially important when medical science says that something is beneficial for physical or emotional wellbeing. Are we allowing our personal biases and scruples to cloud our judgment, or are we seeking to understand the truth of the matter?

Summary Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s essential to develop a nuanced understanding of what is truly harmful and shameful, and what is not. By asking the right questions and seeking to understand the truth of the matter, we can avoid unnecessary damage and harm. Let us be careful not to take the guilt, shame, and proper revulsion that is tied to harmful activities and attach it to things that are actually good or neutral. Instead, let us seek to understand the Bible’s teachings and apply them in a way that is loving, compassionate, and wise. By doing so, we can create a more supportive and inclusive environment, where people are free to flourish and grow without unnecessary guilt, shame, and social stigma.

What is a paradigm? Is it a geometric shape? Is it 20 cents? No, none of those are correct. What makes a paradigm important is that, whether you know it or not, everyone has one. Websites Dictionary defines a paradigm this way:
“: a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated; broadly : a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind”
In basic terms, our paradigm is the framework our minds use to interpret what we see and how we think about a subject.

All religious organizations, including churches have a shared paradigm among their members. In fact, many Christian churches began as a group of people who held to a common paradigm that differed from the groups they were formerly members of. When Martin Luther introduced the concepts of sola fide and sola scriptura (faith alone for salvation and scripture alone for authority) it was such a huge paradigm shift that it birthed the Reformation!

One paradigm that became prominent in the early 19th Century during the Restoration Movement was the view that we should “speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” That is a very worthy and useful paradigm to have. What it eventually grew into was a view that we should view as divine commandments the things that the New Testament commands (good so far). But it also grew to say that all New Testament examples were reflective of the only way something was to be done (getting legalistic here) and that the silence of the New Testament was no longer a place for silence, but of commands given by omission (hazardous). No longer were we to be silent about things not mentioned, as if examples would be found for every single thing the believers were to do, but whole books would be written about things being sinful if not Divinely authorized. This was a misunderstanding of what it meant to “do all things in the name of The Lord” in Colossians 3:17. By superimposing the word “authority” for “name” the argument is made that only those things specifically authorized may be done. The problem with this is that there is a Greek word for authority, and it is not the word Paul was inspired to use in this verse! To change it to authority is to alter the scriptures, and you don’t want to go there! What is meant by “in the name” in this verse is explained by the verse itself (ah, context).

And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17 NET)

In its proper context, the verse is saying that when we do good and righteous works, we are to give thanks and praise to God the Father through Jesus Christ. That is what is meant by doing it “in His name”!

The “authorized” interpretation is not in context, but is a pretext. Such a view presupposes that God replaced a fully detailed code of law with another fully detailed code of law. Such is not the case. (Inaccurate paradigm) The New Covenant was one that has overarching principles in it, and that would be written upon our hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3) The principle here is that the way we live out the New Covenant individually and corporately is that all doctrine is derived from Scripture, and is practiced in love in any way we can do so without violating those doctrines, as the culture and situation warrant.

The concept of binding, exclusive examples also unwittingly makes us followers of the First Century Christians instead of followers of Christ. Never does the New Testament say that everything the Apostles and the First Century Church did was recorded for us. They were, in all likelihood, practicing the Apostle’s doctrine in ways appropriate to their time and situation that we will never know about. In fact, according to John, we don’t know every single thing that Jesus did! (John 21:25) But we DO know that whatever He did was never in violation to what He had taught!

We are living a double standard when we call sinners to come to the freedom we have in Christ and then subject them to a lifetime of combing through the New Testament to make sure every single thing they do is specifically authorized by a New Testament prooftext. Jesus didn’t come down and die so that He could subject us again to a new legal code and turn us into lawyers. On the contrary, our walk should be one that sets us free to follow ever more intimately that One who is the Truth, Jesus Christ.

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:2-6 NKJV)

So let us follow the Spirit of the law, instead of placing a restriction that God has not placed upon us. Practice our faith in love, and in whatever way is necessary that does not violate the doctrines of Christ and the apostles he taught, giving thanks to God the Father through Him!