It was 5:30 in the morning when my alarm went off. Janet (my wife) wondered why we would possibly be starting when it was still dark out. I got up and went to McDonalds for a bacon and egg mcmuffin and drove to my brother-in-laws house to help him shingle his roof. We got off to a great start, we sat around the table and drank coffee until the sun came up, it was about 6:30.

We got on the roof and my job was ripping the old shingles off, I made the mistake of saying that after so many years behind a desk, I enjoyed grunt work lol. The sun was on it's game that day, it hit 28 degrees outside and I was recently told that you could expect it to feel around 10 degrees hotter on a roof. The amount of water and gatorade we drank was likely record breaking. I found my body not cooperating with my mind as I was ripping shingles off. I was taking more and more breaks to avoid over heating, I went so far as to take ice from the cooler and rub it on my face, arms and neck. I was feeling guilty because I wasn't moving at the same fast pace I started off with. More so I was feeling guilty because my intention was to viciously attack that roof and get it ready to have the new shingles put on. My activity, however, didn't match up with my intention. It wasn't that I was doing anything wrong, they just didn't match.

It reminds me of a passage from Scripture that maybe others will remember as well.

1Corinthians 10:23
"You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial."

I love this passage because it speaks to our Christian freedoms. It comes as part of Paul's discussion on the eating of meat sacrificed to idols and the weaker brother stumbling. I love it because it suggests that we should not be limited to what others think. That God is big enough to accept our thanks for meat placed in front of us that was offered to idols. We can eat the meat is the point. We can do many things in our Christian walk, all is permissible. Unfortunately, some have taken this to mean that they can do whatever they want, whether it be getting drunk, using drugs, smoking, pornography and sexual relationships. We have often heard people say that they will not do something in order to make sure the weaker brother doesn't stumble and we use that as our standard of accountability. But there is a far larger accountability in a later passage that should be the standard.

1 Corinthians 10:31-32
"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God."

Here is where our intention and our activity need to come into line. We are accountable to God in that we are to glorify Him in everything we do. Further we are to make sure we don't step on toes unnecessarily. Our intention should always be to glorify God, but secondly should be to build up and encourage His Church. When we forget that we are people of community and part of the body, we damage relationships and testimony.

So my encouragement is this: You are free! But use use your freedom responsibly, how does it glorify God to bring disrespect to His Church? Our activity should always be measured by "how does this glorify God?" followed by a sensitivity to "how does this affect His Church?"

Rob