THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT AREN’T NECESSARILY RIGHT OR WRONG.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Romans 14:1-4.
Verse of the Day: “I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and everyone else” (Acts 24:16).
“Everything is black and white to you, isn’t it?” Blair asked, as he sat beside Tina on the dock. Their fishing poles dangled in the water beneath the dock. “What do you mean?” Tina asked. “Well, you’re always talking about right and wrong.” ”Well, OK,” said Tina, “but there are lots of things that aren’t right or wrong.”
“Like what?” “OK, like some people like strawberry ice cream. Some think vanilla ice cream tastes better. Neither one is wrong; it’s just that they have different tastes.”
“Uh-huh,” Blair said. “Or, suppose your parents won’t let you stay out past midnight, and mine say I have to be home by eleven o’clock. Your parents aren’t wrong, and mine aren’t either. They’re trying to choose what’s best for their kids.”
“So how do you tell the difference?” Blair asked. “The difference?” “Yeah, between things that are right or wrong and things that are just, you know, different tastes, or stuff like that.”
Tina thought for a moment. “Well,” she said, “if the Bible says it’s wrong, then it’s wrong. If the Bible says it’s right, then it’s right.” “What if the Bible doesn’t say anything about it?” Blair’s eyes lit up.
“Like, the Bible never says, ‘Thou shalt not pull Tina’s hair.’” He grabbed a handful of Tina’s hair and yanked. “Ouch!” Tina said, gripping Blair’s wrist and holding it while he continued to hold her hair. “You’re right,” she said, speaking very fast, “but we also know something is right if it’s like God, and something is wrong if it’s not like God. And God is love, the Bible says, and ‘love does no harm to its neighbor,’ and you’re hurting me, so let go!”
Blair let go of Tina’s hair. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
Tina rubbed her head. “Smart enough to know one thing,” she said.
“What’s that?” Blair asked. “You’re all wet!” she said, as she pushed him into the water.
TO DISCUSS: an you name something that’s a matter of taste rather than a matter of right and wrong? Can you name something that’s a choice between a wise and an unwise action that’s not necessarily a matter of right and wrong? Can you name some¬thing that’s a choice between good, better, or best, that’s not necessarily a matter of right and wrong? How can we tell the difference between those things and matters of right and wrong?
TO PRAY: “Lord, help us not to confuse taste with truth. Help us to recognize truth when we see it and to follow it.”
