New believers often arrive with a list of prohibitions collected from other people, and are surprised to find that the list differs by country, by denomination and by generation. Sorting it out is not evasion; it is what the New Testament itself does at length.

Three categories, not one

Commanded or forbidden. These are not open for negotiation and are consistent everywhere the church exists: honesty, faithfulness in marriage, care for the poor, forgiveness, no idolatry, no exploitation of others.

Disputed among faithful Christians. Alcohol, tattoos, dress, entertainment, Sabbath practice, politics. Serious believers reach different conclusions here, and both sides can quote Scripture.

Cultural, though often taught as if it were the first category. Musical styles, clothing norms, hair, what is respectable. Much of what people believe Christianity forbids belongs here, and it changes with the century and the country.

Most conflict comes from treating the third as the first.

The principle for disputed matters

Paul spends whole chapters on this, and his answer is not a longer list. It is roughly this: everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial; do not let what you eat destroy someone else; and whoever has doubts is condemned if they proceed, because it is not from faith.

Three tests follow. Does it master you? A freedom you cannot give up has stopped being freedom. Does it damage someone weaker? Your liberty is not worth someone else stumbling. Can you do it in good conscience? If you cannot, then for you it is wrong, even if it is permitted for another.

Where churches will differ

Expect this and do not treat it as hypocrisy. A congregation in a place where alcohol has devastated families may abstain entirely; another may serve wine at communion. Both may be acting wisely for their situation.

If you join a congregation, respect its practice while you are among them, even where you would decide differently alone. That is not compromise; it is the courtesy the New Testament asks of the person with more freedom.

A warning about lists

Groups that keep expanding the list of prohibitions and attach standing to keeping it have moved from freedom into control. Watch for rules that cannot be questioned and have no basis anyone can show you — that pattern is covered in our article on recognising false teaching.

Ask about specific questions in our questions section, and ask them out loud in a congregation you trust — the directory is where to find one.