Do Decisions Matter?

How many of us struggle with making decisions? I know I do. I really want to be able to pull a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) magic wand out of my hat sometimes because I struggle with what is the “right” thing to do in many of my life decisions.

A recent conundrum was what is the right thing for Christians to do on Halloween? Is it ok for us to decorate our homes, attend a costume party in a frightening outfit, and maybe even take in a scary movie or two?

For that matter, is it ever ok for Christians to smoke or drink or go to an R-rated movie or hang out with a less than perfect crowd?

WHICH WAY DO I TURN?

Ok, another scary topic. Who do I vote for? Is there a right or wrong candidate? What would be the right decision? Is voting one way or the other the wrong decision? I know many of you think so!

What about making a job decision? Is one job better than another? In which job will I honor God more?

I guess what I’m asking is, is one of my choices more righteous than the other? I mean that’s really what I’m asking, isn’t it? How can I discern what I should do? Which decision pleases God more?

MY CONFESSION

On the one hand I know that there is no righteousness in our decisions. Whether we vote Republican, Democrat or Independent we are sinning because we are choosing one candidate over another candidate. Isn't that thought provoking? I know I am sinning by attending a party hosted by one neighbor instead of the other neighbor because I am choosing to love one over the other. Yikes! This is tricky!

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW

I know - that I can never discern God’s Will for a certain decision because I do not have a supernatural Gnostic knowledge of His will. No one does, which is why we pray for “Thy will be done.” He is God and I am not.

I know - that I can do my best to not break the 10 Commandments, but I will break the 10 Commandments.

I know - that my outward actions are not what pleases God, but it is my faith which I have obtained by Grace not by what I have done or not done.

I know - that there is nothing I can do to save myself from sin because it has all been done through the cross by Jesus Christ.

But outside of blatant sin, there is still a small part of me that wants to believe that there are some decisions that must have a higher ranking in the “Do this and not that” category and I just want to know, which way should I turn?

Here’s what I have found by studying Luther’s Freedom of a Christian.

• We have nothing to fear from pagan holidays like Halloween.

• We have nothing to fear from scary costumes, scary movies, ghosts, goblins or unchurched people or making a wrong turn or making the wrong decision.

When it comes down to it, what are we really afraid of?

For me, it’s what will people think of me? What will my neighbor think if I am seen in a certain situation? They know I am in ministry and therefore I think they will think I should be above doing certain things.

As if my righteousness was in my deeds…

THE ENEMY IS A LIAR

The Devil tries to take away the good news of Jesus that we are saved because of Him. The Enemy wants us to think that our salvation is at stake if we say the wrong thing, make the wrong decision, watch the wrong movie, hang out with the wrong crowd, or celebrate the wrong holiday.

THE TRUTH

The truth is, our salvation is not because of choices we make one way or another! We give movies and pagan holidays and bad habits way too much credit if we think that they can ruin what Jesus has done for us! Do not give them that power. We as Christians have the freedom to literally laugh at our foibles. When we mess up, fess up and move on.

Our fear needs to be for the Lord, not for our daily decisions.

Go and love God and sin boldly.