God leaves many decisions up to us. How shall we make God-pleasing choices?

The first part of this series demonstrated that God has given believers truly free will. In the second part we saw that believers use this not just to appreciate all the bad things Christ has freed us from, but also to see all the good things we are now free to do in joyful service of our God. One more issue remains. A study of Christian freedom cannot be complete without a discussion of adiaphora.

What is that? Adiaphora is a Greek word that translates as "indifferent things." Adiaphora are matters where God's Word doesn't prescribe a specific course of action. For example, God's Word doesn't tell you what you should eat for dinner tonight. The Bible doesn't specify that your congregation sings hymns to pipe organ, piano, or guitar. Scripture doesn't list every movie you may watch, song you may listen to, or book you may read. These are all "indifferent things," matters on which God doesn't directly speak. We are free to make choices.

However, the major mistake many people make when it comes to adiaphora is to assume that, since God's Word doesn't prescribe a specific course of action, God doesn't care what people do in these matters. That is dead wrong. Everything matters to God! Even in cases of adiaphora, God cares about the decisions we make.

"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13, emphasis added).

Love and others

Love. It's what God is. It's what God does. It's what God wants to see in his people above all else: love for God, love for the Scriptures, love for our fellow man, love for our soul. Every decision we make gives us the chance to demonstrate love. In that sense, there are no "indifferent things." Everything matters to God, because love matters to God.

For example, take what you wear to church. Scripture doesn't dictate a dress code. Yet, how I dress still matters, because it's a way to show love. As I choose what to wear on Sunday morning, I think about what would show love for God and my fellow man. We might come to different conclusions. You might think the way to show love for God is to dress to the hilt, like you would if you were visiting the White House. I might think the way to show love for God is to wear something more relaxed, so my attention is on the Word and not how uncomfortable I am in a tie. We came to different conclusions, which is fine. We have a choice. It's an adiaphoron. But at least we thought about it. Neither of us flippantly said, "It doesn't matter." Love means that everything matters to God.