1 Corinthians 10:23-24 “I have the right to do anything,” you say — but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” — but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
The trumpeting of individual rights and freedoms is not a new rallying cry of the modern liberal movement. The Free Dictionary defines liberal as “a. Favoring reform, open to new ideas, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; not bound by traditional thinking; broad-minded.” But this is the exact opposite of how liberalism is playing out in our society. Tolerance does not exist in contemporary liberalism. All opposing views are silenced.
Freedom to choose our behavior, and our moral value system, is part and parcel of standard liberalism. What has changed is their insistence that they can redefine established established norms, changing the meanings of marriage, sex, gender, racism, equality. And these redefinitions must be accepted by all, regardless of differing belief systems.
The church in Corinth had listened to the message of the Gospel, and had heard of the freedom that comes as a result, and they had forgotten that with freedom comes a responsibility, both to the LORD and to each other. Our lives are not our own, because the LORD now owns us. We are not the master, we are the slave.
Now this language will be offensive to our modern Western ears. We have come through a history of human slavery and we have rejected it has reprehensible. So to read that we are responsible to, not just ourselves, but to the rest of the Body, curb our freedom for the sake of others, we scream in the loudest possible terms.
Paul gives us two reasons for putting limits on freedom. His reasons are not the modern reason, “I’m not hurting anyone.” Paul has a higher standard. His standard starts with something being beneficial.
“Value Added” is a term with which we are familiar. BOGO, “free with a purchase of …”, “your benefits package”, “government benefit”. Each of these is something in addition to the inherent value of the object, service or activity. There is something extra.
Sexual intimacy in marriage brings benefits, such as it being an expression of the closeness that the LORD has with Himself and with His family of Believers. Guilt-free pleasure. A connection that happens ideally with only one other person in this life.
What we do should be beneficial to us and to the world at large, but especially to the Body. It should be additive to life. There should be more after the act than simply the value of the act itself. When the Spirit is directing, what we do adds up to more than one hundred percent.
We hear this in Paul’s second reason for putting curbs on our freedom. Paul adds that what we do should be constructive. I am currently building a workshop in my back yard. I am being constructive. When I am finished, there will be more than when I started. Where once there was only grass, there will be a large workshop standing.
The value added things that we do must move in a constructive direction. That is because value can be negative value. We can become a people who suck the life out of every room or conversation. Instead of being a positive influence and building on the work of others, we can become someone who consistently stops the flow of ideas and stifles the growth of others, if we don’t get the credit or attention we think we deserve.
Our lives should be about benefiting and building up others. The focus should not be on ourselves, but on others’ growth and maturity. Freedom is in one sense, freedom to not be self-centered. We don’t have be to consumed with me and mine. We are now free, because the LORD has promised to be with us and provide for us, to look outward toward meeting the needs of others.
This places constraints on our freedom, constraints that we joyfully embrace. We no longer have the brutal slave master that we used to have. We now serve One who will provide, and therefore, we are free to serve others. Our freedom blossoms and grows as we seek the good of others.
The Arnold Journey 