Can a Christian go clubbing? What about getting a tattoo? Is it wrong to watch certain movies? What about gambling, drinking alcohol or living with your boyfriend or girlfriend before you're married?

Some of those questions may already have an obvious answer to you. Others might not.

And that's where things can get complicated.

Because sometimes you'll search the Bible for a verse that says, “Don't do this,” and you won't find one. At least not in those exact words.

So what do you do then?

Do you assume it's okay because the Bible doesn't specifically forbid it? Or can something still be wrong even when you can't find a verse that explicitly talks about it?

The Bible may not give us a specific verse for every situation, but it gives us principles that can help us decide what to do.

Your phone isn't mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Neither are social media, casinos, nightclubs or Netflix. But that doesn't mean the Bible has nothing to say about the choices we make involving them.

For example, 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say, ‘but not everything is beneficial.’ ‘I have the right to do anything’ but I will not be mastered by anything.”

Maybe you're wondering whether it's wrong to go clubbing. You probably won't find a verse that says, “Thou shall not go to nightclubs.” But perhaps the question isn't only whether the Bible says you can go. It's also what the Bible says about the things that happen when you do.

Maybe you know that whenever you go clubbing, you usually end up drinking too much. Or perhaps being there puts you in a situation you've been trying hard to stay away from. You might not find a verse about going to a nightclub, but you will find plenty of verses about drunkenness, self-control, sexual immorality and temptation.

The same could be said about living together before marriage. You won't find a verse that specifically says an unmarried couple can't share a home. But that doesn't mean we ignore what the Bible says about sex outside marriage and sexual temptation.

Sometimes the Bible won't mention your exact situation. But it may have plenty to say about what comes with it.

Not everything has to be a sin before you decide to stay away from it.

Think about alcohol.

The Bible doesn't say that drinking alcohol itself is a sin, but it clearly warns against drunkenness. So someone might decide they can have a glass of wine with dinner.

But what if that person knows they struggle to stop at one glass?

Then the question isn't simply, “Am I allowed to drink?” It's also, “Knowing myself, is drinking a wise choice for me?”

The same can be true in other areas.

Maybe you love buying clothes, shoes or bags. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you know you're easily tempted to spend more than you can afford, you might need to put some limits around how much you spend.

Or maybe you enjoy gaming. Playing a game isn't wrong. But if you're regularly staying up until 3 a.m. playing, neglecting things you need to do or struggling to stop once you start, the problem may no longer be the game itself. It may be how much control you've allowed it to have over you.

That's the point Paul is making when he says, “I will not be mastered by anything.”

Sometimes wisdom means staying away from something completely. Other times, it means knowing where you need to set some boundaries.

But there's another side to this.

If you decide something isn't good for you, that doesn't automatically mean it's wrong for everyone else.

Paul writes about Christians disagreeing over things like what they could eat and whether certain days were more sacred than others in Romans 14. Romans 14:3 says, “The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.”

There are things the Bible clearly calls sin. Those aren't matters of personal conviction.

But there are also areas where Christians may make different choices. You might decide not to drink at all. Someone else might have a glass of wine with dinner. You might delete a social media app because you find yourself spending far too much time on it. Another Christian might keep the app but set a time limit or be more intentional about the content they consume.

Sometimes “I shouldn't do this” and “Nobody should do this” are two very different things.

So what do you do when you're still not sure?

Don't just ask, “Is there a verse that says I can't?” Look at what the Bible does say, and be honest about what you already know about yourself.

Could this become something that controls me? Does it regularly lead me toward something the Bible warns against? Do I need to put some boundaries around it?

And then ask yourself something a little more uncomfortable: Why do I want this to be okay?

Maybe the answer is simply that you don't see anything wrong with it. That's okay. But sometimes, if we're honest, we want something to be okay because we really don't want the answer to be no.

That's when we need to be honest about what we're looking for. Are we genuinely trying to understand what God wants, or are we searching through opinions until we find one that agrees with us?

Sometimes the most difficult answer to accept isn't the one we can't find. It's the one we don't want.

There will probably be plenty of situations where you wish the Bible simply said, “Yes, you can,” or “No, you can't.”

Sometimes it does. Other times, we have to take what Scripture says and use wisdom.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Maybe that's a better place to start than asking, “How close can I get before this becomes wrong?”

Because when that's the question, we're usually looking for the line.

But following God isn't only about knowing where the line is. Sometimes it's about being willing to walk away long before you reach it.

✝ Kingdom Mantra