Crazy Presbyterians

I just finished singing in a wedding for a friend of mine in Biloxi, MS. I am a reformed baptist, but will probably always be a baptist in theology (i.e. don't hold to infant baptism). I love this guy dearly and his wife was super too. They are probably two of the most similar people in the world, a barrell of laughs and hearts as big as any I know.

Yet I found myself questioning as our time went on just how far we can take our christian liberty without compromising the glory of God. Our glorifying God seems in some ways to be linked to our actions, although it is never based on our merit. I believe that one can honestly say, "That particular action is not God-glorifying". But maybe it depends on how you are using the word. In some ways, God is glorified through all our actions because He is exalted in all His attributes. So if we should sin, and He should discipline us for that sin, then His righteous anger would be glorified. But in another sense (to say that glorifying God is to make Him lovely through our being set apart), our actions can bring or take away glory to God. If we do nothing to distinguish ourselves from the world, then are we not in a sense robbing God of His glory? Because He has clearly saved us to become conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus. Therefore, to glorify Jesus is to do things that imitate Jesus. The question is how far do we take the liberty given us in Christ to enjoy life, and to what extent do we withhold from ourselves certain pleasures simply because they may cause stumbling or offense in weaker brothers.

I just came away from this wedding feeling worldly in the way I used my time, thoughts, and mouth. Although I can honestly say that most of our time was not out and out sin, it was not spent wisely either and with much emphasis on what is carnal rather than spiritual.

But I still love you crazy Presbyterians. I'm closer to your heart than you probably realize.