1 Corinthians 10:31 — Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Days like Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day … all the cherished but not particularly Biblical special days … pose a special risk to me. A nasty little judgmental imp rears its head as I see people skipping church or rushing to get to brunch. So let’s get that out of the way. I am not God and it’s not my place to judge. But there is a question we need to ask ourselves — “am I living a Christian lifestyle, or am I just a lifestyle Christian?”
What’s the difference? 1 Corinthians 10:31 offers a great litmus test. Whatever you do, why do you do it? If it’s because, somehow, it’s “the thing to do… what’s expected…” there’s a risk that it’s lifestyle Christianity. If it is, with no question, for the glory of God, then it’s part of a Christian lifestyle.
Do you see the problem? It’s not what I do, but why I do it that matters. The very same activity can be part of a Christ-following and gospel-sharing lifestyle — taking the Word to the world — or part of a worldly lifestyle of the world as well as in the world. How do we actively shape what we do to give glory to God?
I think “one another” is a key phrase in Paul’s letters. In Roman’s we see, amongst may other examples, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;” (12:10), “Be of the same mind one toward another ” (12:16), “love one another” (13:8). That’s just a few references in one letter. Time and time again that “one another” phrase sounds like a heartbeat. Lifestyle Christians are “outside in” people, caring about how others see them and what others can do for them. A Christian lifestyle is “inside out”, with followers caring what they can do for others and with no interest in how they look — unless their looks take away from the message.
Earlier in chapter 10 of his first letter to the Corinthians Paul makes the point about the “inside out” point-of-view in another way:
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
It’s not what you do — it’s why you do it. Let it be for the good of others, and the glory of God.