Stumbling on Slippery Spray

My youngest daughter, Addi, loves to help mom and dad with chores around the house, whether it’s dishes, laundry, or cleaning the wood floors with the dust spray mom gave her to use. Speaking of that last chore, our carpeted stairway has narrow sections between the steps, made of the same wood as the floors. This means my daughter cleaned those wood sections as well. Later that day, I walked down the stairs, slipped almost violently on the aforementioned wood areas, and very nearly fell down the stairs. After this near-miss, my wife asked Addi how much dust spray she put on the cloth, only to discover that enough spray was used to saturate the cloth completely. A dripping wet dust-cloth leads to icy-slick stairs, which leads to quite the stumbling block for an unsuspecting, sock-wearing dad.

This experience brought to mind the good things we do in life that can actually harm others in the form of stumbling blocks. My daughter had the best intentions in helping out her mom, and yet those efforts led to a near-downfall for me. 1 Corinthians 8:9 discusses this concept when it comes to our Christian liberties and “rights,” which in and of themselves are good things. Paul writes,
“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling blockto the weak.” The mature Christian life allows some freedoms that might seem contrary to an obedient, disciplined faith. The Corinthians were concerned about eating meat sacrificed to idols. Modern issues may include dancing or drinking alcohol in moderation. But our liberty is not worth another person’s walk with God. If something that God allows would lead another person to sin, we must avoid it. We have great freedom as Christians, but the greatest is the freedom to consider the welfare of others ahead of our own.
 
Troy Burns