23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.
There are some things that just shouldn’t be done. Their consequences are such that if you do them, you will pay a great price. The two key concepts that can help you determine if you should be involved in a neutral activity, an activity that is not expressly or implicitly by principle forbidden, are beneficial and constructive. Beneficial deals with how that activity will draw the community together. If the whole community were involved, would the community be drawn together to experience Jesus in a greater way? Would our lives reflect His life and character in a fuller and richer way, in a way that others outside the believer-fellowship would want to join the group in following Jesus? Please notice that this is not an individual beneficial gain. Benefit deals with the effect on fellow believers and the community at large. Your desires fade behind the community. The second concept is constructive. How does this activity strengthen, build, and reinforce the Christian community? Again, if everyone were doing this, what would it look like? So often we want to isolate our activities from the community and only consider our own wants and desires. As a married man I must consider my wife’s life in my choices. I must consider my children and now a grandson in that equation. How do my actions affect them? I have to consider those who have benefited from my ministry in the past. If I were to succumb to sin, how would that affect their walk of faith? Would they turn from Jesus as a result? When we are thinking of self, we are missing others. We must see both self and others in their proper place. My choices must be beneficial and constructive to others and myself. How are your choices?
The Arnold Journey 