[Disclaimer: This entry is about my take and interpretation on Christian living. If you are the type who think that Christians who don't live by your standards (or more accurately, your take on Christian living), please stop reading any further; otherwise, you might end up burning in anger, and think that I’m the black sheep among Christians. You have been warned!]

If you have skipped the disclaimer, please, please do me a favor by reading that carefully again before proceeding.

I’m not being judgmental or critical¹, and definitely not trying to appear morally upright or holy. For a record, I'm definitely not a very morally upright or holy person; I readily accept that I’m flawed.

First, answer the following 3 questions:

1. Can Christians gamble?
2. Can Christians drink (as in alcohol)?
3. Can Christians lie?

I believe most would have answers similar to the following:

1. No.
2. Yes, but in moderation.
3. No, it is stated in the Ten Commandments.

Well, I beg to differ. (Please read the disclaimer again if you are starting to flame.)

On the question of gambling, why is it that most people (non-Christians included) think that Christians cannot gamble? Where in the Bible is it stated? Yes, gambling can lead to addiction, but that would only happen when excessive gambling is involved. Similar to drinking, I think that gambling in moderation is permissible and as long as it’s done in the context of having some small fun with family and friends. Of course, for those who think that they cannot moderate their gambling, please, please, by all means, stay away from gambling.

As for the issue on lying², my take is: it’s not very right for a Christian to lie, but there are times lying is condoned.

Suppose we are in the situation that we could maintain peace by telling a white lie (e.g. telling a white lie to prevent a family from breaking apart), are Christians permissible to lie? Yes, I know some times telling the truth would be better, but what if the chaos can only be calmed by a lie? Remembering that half-truths are lies too, I would choose to lie to maintain the peace. Am I having a double standard in handling things? Nope, I don’t think so, ‘cos I think Christians are sinners, too, and there are times that we have to choose between the lesser of two evils to make this world a better place to live in.

No doubt the Ten Commandments are given by God, but I believe that God would understand that we would frequently³ break the "Laws". The "Laws" do not give life; grace does. We shouldn’t interpret the "Laws" based on the face values; the essences of the "Laws", as distilled by Jesus, are:

1. To love God with our hearts, and
2. To love our neighbors as ourselves.

¹ I will blog on that some other day.
² Not telling the whole truth (i.e. half-truths) are considered as lying too. For example, a child could tell his mother that he is going to school. But he leaves out the part that he's going there to meet his friends to play basketball. The mother would have happily assumed that her son is going to school to study.
³ In my opinion, whoever says that he/she rarely sins is a liar.