You are misusing the term "conscience." A matter of conscience is not a sin, but rather something that we are convinced that disobeys the spirit of the law. Taking the Lord's name in vain is a sin, period. If it offends a Christian, this is not a matter of conscience. What is more important is that they understand why taking the Lord's name in vain is so offensive. Not because we don't do it. It's because of who God is. It's because of God's holiness. Realizing God's holiness will make every one of us - Christian or not - fall on our faces and say woe is me, for I am undone. I am unraveled. Completely shattered. For every time I didn't take the Lord's name in vain but judged my brother or sister or circumstance in my heart, I am standing as a judge of God's Royal Law, which is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Your video is not bad, it is just oversimplified, misuses the the idea of a matter of conscience and misses the mark about the Holiness of God and our own depravity.
Hey Anonymous, thanks for the feedback. I think you might be misunderstanding the context of the question. The question is not whether or not taking the name of the Lord in vain is a sin...this is clear in Scripture (although what we believe to be taking the Lord's name in vain and what is actually meant in Scripture may be two different things). The question is what should be the response of a Christian when someone at work or some other place is using the Lord's name in vain. My response is that this person's law breaking is an opportunity to preach the Gospel. This is an opportunity to share with them the good news of Jesus and the offender's desperate need of saving.
Many Christians today tend to and with addressing the sin rather than the depravity of their fellow man and the remedy for that depravity. Think about it...so what if we can convince somebody to quit breaking this one commandment in our presence? As you alluded to--what about ALL the other sins they commit? What good is that to them? What if they actually listen? Just filthy rags! However, what if we are able to use the same opportunity to shed light on our and their sinful condition and ultimately point them to the very one that they use as an expletive?
As to a matter of conscience I think that we are far too free in our use of "freedom" in Christ. It was not my intention to go in that direction. What I am challenging the Christian to do is to get past their own holiness (which is nothing without Christ's finished work) and introduce the world to Christ's holiness. What I meant by a matter of conscience is that we might have to wait for an appropriate time to address something at work that is offensive to us. Hope this is a little clearer.
As for the simplicity of the video--it is only a few minutes long! We could write papers on this subject!
2 comments:
You are misusing the term "conscience."
A matter of conscience is not a sin, but rather something that we are convinced that disobeys the spirit of the law. Taking the Lord's name in vain is a sin, period. If it offends a Christian, this is not a matter of conscience.
What is more important is that they understand why taking the Lord's name in vain is so offensive. Not because we don't do it. It's because of who God is. It's because of God's holiness. Realizing God's holiness will make every one of us - Christian or not - fall on our faces and say woe is me, for I am undone. I am unraveled. Completely shattered. For every time I didn't take the Lord's name in vain but judged my brother or sister or circumstance in my heart, I am standing as a judge of God's Royal Law, which is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Your video is not bad, it is just oversimplified, misuses the the idea of a matter of conscience and misses the mark about the Holiness of God and our own depravity.
Hey Anonymous, thanks for the feedback. I think you might be misunderstanding the context of the question. The question is not whether or not taking the name of the Lord in vain is a sin...this is clear in Scripture (although what we believe to be taking the Lord's name in vain and what is actually meant in Scripture may be two different things). The question is what should be the response of a Christian when someone at work or some other place is using the Lord's name in vain. My response is that this person's law breaking is an opportunity to preach the Gospel. This is an opportunity to share with them the good news of Jesus and the offender's desperate need of saving.
Many Christians today tend to and with addressing the sin rather than the depravity of their fellow man and the remedy for that depravity. Think about it...so what if we can convince somebody to quit breaking this one commandment in our presence? As you alluded to--what about ALL the other sins they commit? What good is that to them? What if they actually listen? Just filthy rags! However, what if we are able to use the same opportunity to shed light on our and their sinful condition and ultimately point them to the very one that they use as an expletive?
As to a matter of conscience I think that we are far too free in our use of "freedom" in Christ. It was not my intention to go in that direction. What I am challenging the Christian to do is to get past their own holiness (which is nothing without Christ's finished work) and introduce the world to Christ's holiness. What I meant by a matter of conscience is that we might have to wait for an appropriate time to address something at work that is offensive to us. Hope this is a little clearer.
As for the simplicity of the video--it is only a few minutes long! We could write papers on this subject!
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