Everything is beneficial?

I hardly ever drank pop before I moved to Argonia nearly twelve years ago. I liked Pepsi pre-Argonia, but didn’t drink it all that often. I usually ordered it when eating out, but seldom had cans or bottles of it around the house. I bought a 24-can case once or twice or maybe thrice each year, mostly when company was coming to visit or for special occasions like the fourth of July or Memorial Day or a trip to a state park with friends. I enjoyed it when I had it. Seldom thought of it otherwise. My drinking was under control. I was the master. Pepsi was the servant.

That’s the way it ought to be, right? Appetites kept in check. Indulgence occasional and limited.

Recently, while thinking about and praying about a matter I thought completely unrelated, I realized in this area and in perhaps one or two others, things are no longer as they ought to be. I don’t really know how, but Pepsi and I switched places. The can became the master. I became the slave. Nothing was right if I didn’t have my caffeine and sugar fixes.

I confessed as much to my doctor – and subsequently to my wife – a few months back. My doctor didn’t bat an eye. “Sounds like you’re addicted,” she said. Addicted sounded like such a negative word. Woke me up. I talked with Susan about it. Told her I wanted to quit or at least cut back on my pop consumption. I was only going to drink Pepsi when it was offered to me by a friend or when we were out to eat. I wasn’t going to drink more than one a day. I knew drinking a bottle or two or three every day wasn’t good for my health and at $1.60 a pop it wasn’t very good for the family budget either. I was serious about making a change. I resolved to conquer this habit. I wanted to be free from my addiction. I quit cold turkey.

I don’t know for sure how many days I had the upper hand, but I wasn’t master for very long. I’m ashamed to say it, but I fell off the wagon. Almost immediately went back to my old habits. Four, five, six cans a day.

That’s the boat I was in when I was reminded just a few days ago that Christ’s death and resurrection bought more for me and you than just pie in the sky by and by. These pivotal events and the soon-after-them out pouring of the Holy Spirit gave believers power over sin. Gave mastery over fleshly appetites back to men who would submit themselves to God. Gave habitual sinners the power to say no to sin, to overcome their addictions.

I knew this and had, in fact, overcome other similar addictions in the past with God’s help. I’m kind of prone to addictive behaviors, you know. It’s a good thing I never tasted alcohol or took drugs.

One of my favorite Bible passages is Titus 2, starting at verese11. It is so full of hope for appetite-mastered, sin-enslaved folks.

“…the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14, NIV)

Isn’t that great news? God’s power within you is more than enough to help you win the battle over sin.

There’s another passage that came to mind as I was dealing with this issue. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says this: “‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but I will not be mastered by anything.” (NIV)

We do not have to be mastered by our bad habits. We can decide that something is not beneficial and stop doing that something. We can realize that we’re being mastered by the inclinations of our hearts. We can overcome the patterns that have enslaved us and break free.

Is drinking Pepsi sinful? It’s not against the law. No S.W.A.T. team is going to break down my door and confiscate the Pepsi in my hand. There are no specific biblical prohibitions against caffeine or high fructose corn syrup. Drinking Pepsi is not sinful.

Is drinking multiple gallons of Pepsi every week sinful? It certainly borders on gluttony. No. Let me admit it. It’s a little south of the border. Because I have let something that is permissible – drinking Pepsi – master me, it is sin for me. I have become a sinful glutton. I confess that before you. I have admitted it to God. I have repented of it.

Some of you, at this point, are thinking, “This is nuts! If drinking too much Pepsi can be called a sin, anything can be.”

You’ve got it right! That is exactly what Paul is saying here. Don’t miss the truth God is trying to convey to your heart. Any time you let anything master you, for you, that thing becomes sinful. God is to be our only master. If something takes his place of control in your life, it is an idol.

Just one example that’s very clear in the Bible. Greed is a sin, right? The Bible says it is idolatry.

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5, NIV)

If the desire for money masters you, if you become greedy, you are an idolater.

Has any permissible thing, because of overindulgence, become an idol for you?

Watching movies. Do you go to the movies or rent movies or buy movies incessantly? Does the time you spend with Leonardo DiCaprio exceed the amount you spend with God? Are you closer to Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp than to your family or your friends?

Take these same questions and reword them a bit and they can be asked of playing video games or listening to and buying the latest music.

Checking in on Facebook and Twitter and MySpace and…Social networking is great, to a point. But browsing through all the updates and games and simulations can become addictive. These sites are permissible, but they can master you.

Shopping for clothes. How you look. What you have. Wanting more. Clothes shopping can definitely be idolatrous.

What have I missed? Having to have all the latest electronic gadgets? Always “needing” to have a bigger and better something. Bowling every night. Ice cream stops every 15 miles. Texting incessantly. Scrapbooking all the time.

A little less comfortable than the usual talk of alcohol abuse. You can, if you don’t drink, shake your head at those drunkards and feel all self-righteous inside. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” But all this talk connecting everyday stuff with idolatry is a bit too close for comfort, isn’t it? It ought to. God’s word says you shall have no other gods before him.

If you have an idolatrous infatuation with anything – good or bad – you need to deal with it. You need to submit yourself to God and resist the temptations as they come at you. If you’ll do that, he’ll help you overcome. Trust me.

For three weeks now, I’ve done this and I’ve got my Pepsi drinking under control. I’ve not had a day where I’ve drunk more than one bottle of my favorite cola. I’ve not had a single can that wasn’t consumed with a meal.

What God has helped me do, he can help you do. Take those habits you can’t seem to break to him and see what he does.

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