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Should I take on debt?

Should I marry this person -- or take this job -- or move out of town?

Should I incorporate some gentle parenting tactics -- be "old-school" with discipline -- or some combination of both?

Should I buy Diet Cola, decaf coffee, or just drink some tap water?

We face so many choices each day - and the harder ones facinate our minds. When that happens, we turn to God's Word for answers. The Bible doesn't always directly answer the "What should I do" question. 

Yet in some cases, it does. 

How do we apply the commands and wisdom of the Scriptures in our daily lives? This article in Southern Equip explores four ways we can see and incorporate God's Word into our daily actions. Click --> here <-- to access the full article.  Below is a summary, analysis, and application:

(I) Is it an issue of command?

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 Jn 3:4)

Moral sin against God is fairly easy to discern in the Bible. Liberal influencers have unsuccessfully tried to cut moral commands out of God's Word. What they have produced is a body of current theological analysis that strengthens the biblical case for what we call common, orthodox, and historical views of sin.

"If an action is not expressly prohibited in Scripture or does not transgress the law of God, it may belong to a different moral category."

(II) Is it an issue of wisdom?

    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Prov 9:10)

The right application of wisdom is opposed to "folly." Folly and foolishness, the spurning of biblical wisdom (i.e. avoid temptation), will often lead to moral sin in the first category above. Israel's king Solomon had an abundance of divine wisdom. Yet he chose to ignore it and, instead, courted disaster to both him and his kingdom. 

Not all wisdom transgressions are morally wrong. For instance, those on a good diet will often have a time of the week when they can "cheat" and enjoy a cupcake or piece of pie. In one respect, wisdom would have that person never eat sugar. After all, this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit! On the other hand, it is the measured indulgence that causes no real physiological harm and rewards the week-long diet, making it more sustainable. 

(III) Is it an issue of conscience?

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. (1 Cor 8:7)

"Issues of conscience pose a significant threat to church unity because differences are inevitable."  There are different ways to raise kids, feed babies, eat healthy, and consume entertainment. Each can be flash points for well-meaning Christians to disagree -- and disagree sharply. Those of us in the church should check our sin-radar against the explicit commands of the Word of God before we sound alarm bells in the lives of others. 

Don't get me wrong, true sin should be identified and addressed. If God has convicted you about a certain course of action, then Scripture demands that you avoid it. However, those same personal convictions that may be a matter of Christian conscience, and not an explicit violation of the moral commands in Scripture, should not be a matter for division.

Likewise, a follower of Christ should not knowingly flaunt personal conscience-behaviors that he knows that other fellow Christian are convictionally opposed to. He should not cause them to stumble in their faith. 

IV. Is it an issue of preference

Some choices are just matters of our preference.

Let's apply these categories to a scenario where you must choose a new job:

Lv. 1 - God can use you in any job that you work, be it at the factory, at the Sonic Drive In, or in the school. It would be sin to work at the adult book store, robbing banks, cheating insurance companies out of money, or selling marijuana at the seedy store along the avenue.

Lv. 2 - At some level, the place you choose to work requires the application of wisdom (avoiding folly). What does the job bring you in contact with? Is your employment a direct and public endorsement of sinful behaviors? Does it require you to be in the production or distribution line of items that explicitly dishonor God?

Lv. 3 - At another level, the job may be offensive to some Christians because of their conscience. Does your store sell cigarettes, cigars, or alcohol? Does it promote merchandise that some feel violates God's commands, as they understand it? Does it do business with, give benefit to, or in partnership alongside another business that holds theologically heretical views? If so, how closely are the two organizations interdependent?

Lv. 4 - Where do you want to work? What fits your schedule, educational goals, and income needs? God gave you skills and a mind to apply them -- so how do you want to do that?

Triaging applicational issues is not always simple. But as the Holy Spirit guides according to the Word, proper classification is an important step toward determining the next steps.