Should Christians eat meat? Should we hold church services at 9 a.m. on a Sunday?

And should Christians subscribe to simply put? I'm obviously tempted to be dogmatic about that last one,

but these kinds of choices would be what some theologians would call adiaphora,

things which are neither commanded nor forbidden in scripture. Adiaphora is the plural of the Greek word adiapheron, which refers to a thing that exists outside of moral categories, something that in and of itself is neither approved nor condemned. Adiapha literally means indifferent things. Other examples would be the colour of the

carpet you decide to put in your living room, your choice of podcast app, or your preference of Coke,

Pepsi or Mountain Dew. There would be nothing wrong in making particular choices in these areas.

There's freedom to do as you please.

Try as we might to argue that there really ought to be specific Levitical laws against the

consumption of Mountain Dew. No such laws actually exist in Scripture, which means that God has

granted us freedom to decide whether or not to drink it. In that sense, drinking Mountain Dew is spiritually

neutral, even though it may be dieterally questionable. Another example of Adiafra is the precise way

in which we choose to apply God's law. For example, as Christians, we're obliged to love others.

But what loving others will look like in practice,

given your particular set of circumstances and opportunities, falls into the category of

Adiafra. You have freedom to love others in whichever ways will bring glory to God,

and God will be glorified by whichever way you choose to love others,

as long as it doesn't conflict with God's moral law. We shouldn't try to bind the consciences of other

believers on matters to do with Adiafra, where God himself has permitted freedom. For example,

if the conscience of a particular believer says he shouldn't

ever drink alcohol under any circumstances, other believers should not encourage that person

to go against their conscience. But at the same time, the teetotaler shouldn't condemn believers

who enjoy the occasional glass of wine.

...