6-8-10

Something I've noticed in my ten years living for the Lord and my 3 and half years at The Regeneration, more and more the line between sin and well..  Not sin is becoming blurred.  Obviously the biggies like killing somebody, stealing, and worshiping other God are pretty open, but what about the things not necessarily black, white, or red in the Bible?

It seems like the biggest subject that has come into view currently is drinking.  "Jesus turned water into wine", "Jesus drank wine", "All things in moderation", and "The Bible says not to be drunk, but doesn't say anything about drinking" are a few of the arguments I've heard in favor for Christian drinking.  Following that, gambling seems to be an issue that's mentioned nowadays; smoking cigarettes, or doing drugs in general, since they're not mentioned in the Bible; using profanities, since they're just words; and I'm sure there are more, but I'll just stick with these for now.

Ronnie Hoover, Chi Alpha campus pastor at the University of Arkansas, introduced a principle to me once.  It's called the 6-8-10 Principal.
6, 8, and 10 are numbers that all come from Scripture, particularly 1 Corinthians.  It challenges activities by asking questions.  If we're honest with it, it can change how we're doing something or even cause us to stop doing something all together.  Here is the model:

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.. - 1 Corinthians 6:12a 

So with the first question we have to ask ourselves is, "Can I hurt myself doing this?"

All things are lawful for me, but I will not be under the power of any. - 1 Corinthians 6:12b

The second question we have to ask ourselves is, "Is what I'm doing habit forming?"

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. - 1 Corinthians 8:9

The third question we have to ask ourselves is, "Can what I'm doing cause someone to stumble?"

Therefore, wherefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31

The last and final question we have to ask ourselves is,  "Is what I'm doing God glorifying?"

So, whether it's with drinking, smoking, doing drugs, gambling, using profanities, watching movies, listening to music, etc., ask yourself these questions.  If you stay true to them, you'll grow in leaps and bounds more than you'll ever know!

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin. - James 4:17