When All Else Fails Quote a Bible Verse.

I play video games. Not as much now as I did a few years ago, but I still like to play with my son occasionally. I played a lot of Halo. I mean a lot. Every Friday night for 2 years, some friends and I had a LAN party. That was until I got so good no one would play with me anymore. (I will hear about this) Now Halo is a first person shooter designed for a super human to destroy an attacking alien race. It has an M rating. It could be considered violent to those who have grown up in a wimpy environment. I caught some flack over the rating from a few people who said it was too violent. I said, ”Don’t worry I have watched Road Runner drop an anvil on Wile E Coyote’s head for 30 years and I haven’t wanted to do that so I think I will be ok.”

Other antagonist would give me a lesson on “redeeming the time.” To be honest I did it for the fellowship and competition. I was hanging out with my friends, enjoying their company, and enjoying the spanking I gave them every Friday night. Once the LAN parties ended, so did my Halo playing. It was a hobby just like any other hobby the “time conscious” use to relax.

When those against my video gaming realized they were getting nowhere with me they would ultimately reach into their bag of arguments and pull out the big dog. The argument to use when all others have failed. I could always see it coming. I would try to duck, but to no avail it would hit me like a poop from an overhead bird. You know the kind where it drops on your shoulder and you want to wipe it off, but you don’t have anything but your hand to wipe it with. This is what I would hear. “Well, you know not everyone can handle it like you can. You should consider the weaker brother.”

Oh man there it is. You had to have seen it coming. You have heard it all your life. You can’t do that, because of the weaker brother. Beware of the weaker brother. Don’t offend the weaker brother. WTCTWBTS-will this cause the weaker brother to stumble? The one thing I have noticed over the years is very few of these people actually knew a concrete example of the weaker brother. I mean they couldn’t be the weaker brother, because they had spiritual insight to see my flaw, right? They were pointing out to me that what I was doing was offending them.

Of course to them I say, “You are right. We do need to keep the weaker brother in mind.” I suggest we take a good hard look at the “weaker” brother, and the “stronger” brother. The “stronger” brother is the one whose knowledge of scriptures gives him freedom. He is the one who has studied the scripture and understands his Christian liberties. He is the one who understands who he is in Christ. I concede if a “stronger” brother is to be “stronger” then he must be willing to set aside some of those liberties for the sake of those who are weaker.

So how are we going to define the “weaker” brother? Well, I would say he is the one who doesn’t understand his Christian liberty. While drunkenness is wrong, drinking in moderation is not forbidden. When a legalistic saint asserts that a Christian should not even drink a glass of wine, he should also be ready to wear the label of “WEAKER” brother. When a person declares smoking to be a sin, he is proclaiming one of two things. One, he finds smoking offensive, which may be the case, but that does not make him the weaker brother it just makes him mad or two, he is tempted by my smoking to smoke himself even though it may violate his conscience. The later is a fixable issue, because the weaker brother can be strengthened through proper discipleship.

Someone full of legalism getting offended at me playing video games does not make them the weaker brother. I may make them angry, or it may hurt their feelings. If that is the case then I recommend them asking for forgiveness.