How I like my bananas

I like my bananas ripe and speckled, but not so ripe that there are bad places in them.  Diane likes her bananas with a lot of green edges on the peel and very firm. It’s the same with green beans.  I like mine cooked all day so they are very soft and she likes her green beans grilled and crunchy.  I can not eat crunchy green beans or bananas and she can’t eat soft green beans or bananas! Neither of us is right or wrong, it is just personal preference, and that is OK.

There are many areas in the church where God would seem to allow for personal preference… in music, Bible translations, worship styles, suits or t-shirts, carpet colors, live or artificial flowers, homeschooling or public schools, oil or wax candles (or candles at all), individual communion cups or a common cup, the type of bread for communion, and so on.  Anyone who would argue that there is a right or wrong in any of those areas probably borders on legalism.  Sometimes God allows us to choose between two or more things.

However, a problem arises when our personal preference, or our feelings, contradict His Word.  It is one thing to misunderstand something, and it is an entirely different situation when we say, “I know what the Bible says, but I disagree.”  That is so much worse than when people simply misunderstand the Bible.  The truth is that it does not matter how we feel about something if the Bible is clear on the issue.  The whole world could agree on something, and if it contradicts what God tells us in His Word, then the whole world is wrong.  It does not matter if you and I agree with each other.  It only matters that you and/or I agree with God.

In the cases where God allows for personal preference, you and I need to show grace for personal views and preferences.  Yet in the areas where God is clear about right and wrong, we need to put personal preference aside, understanding that throughout history, humanity has preferred sin and rebellion.

Reaching the end of today’s blog, it just occurred to me that I do not believe today’s writing will convince anyone of their need to put their preferences aside and obey God’s Word.  I guess I wrote this as a reminder to myself that I need to stay in God’s Word so that I know what it says and so I am not swayed by the world as our society continues to drift from Him.

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