The key here is this: Don’t do anything that goes against your conscience, or that tempts you into going against what you know is right.

If you can go to a bar or nightclub guilt-free, and not participate in the nasty stuff, then where’s the sin?
The reason people will say, “Don’t go to clubs! They are full of sin and sinners!” is because most Christians have more faith in sin than they do in Jesus. They have more faith that darkness is contagious to them than they do that the light in them is contagious to others.

Jesus didn’t die because he was overrun by darkness, he died because the darkness was overrun by his light and the world responded with violent resistance. (John 1)

Hiding Your Light

Jesus said, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” But where do Christians spend most of their time? Hiding in their clubhouse on weekends talking about how dark and scary the world is outside.

Duh! Think about it.

If I gathered up all the light bulbs in my house and put them all in one room, that room would be BRIGHT. Right? But what would the rest of my house look like? If guests came over, what would happen? Would they stumble and trip? Would they walk into things? Would they get injured? Probably. Because I took everything that would have let them see and I kept it all to myself in one little room.

Christians should probably be in the darkest rooms more than the brightest, considering Jesus said, “You are the light of the world!” But we must also grow up to a point where we can be in the darkness without behaving like the darkness.

What Does Your Conscience Say?

The #1 measure of whether or not you should hang out in those places is scripture. It will give you an absolute yes or no on some issues. But it doesn’t give an absolute answer about everything. There are some things that it doesn’t specify clearly, and that is where conscience comes in.

Paul talks about this conscience thing in 1 Cor. 8–10.

Personally, I am able to go to bars and enjoy a couple shots of whiskey with a clear conscience. Maybe you aren’t. Maybe you are tempted by alcohol, and drinking it would throw you into a spiral of guilt and shame. So it’s my responsibility to make sure I don’t drink around you or tempt you to drink. Even though I can do so with no guilt, I consider your well-being as more valuable than a good drink. So as long as I am around you, I avoid the drink.

But that doesn’t mean I’m forbidden to drink at all when you aren’t around. And should you, because of your conscience, try to shame me and mine, I will most definitely avoid you, because I’m not obligated to settle for guilt from anyone.

“For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience?” (1 Cor. 10:29)

I can point to scripture after scripture where Jesus partied with drunks, prostitutes and sinners, rather than going to church and hanging out with those dry, boring preachers that couldn’t enjoy themselves. But even still, even though he did those things, if your conscience says “no” to booze, bars and booty-shaking, listen to it. Don’t sit around and try to think of loopholes. Don’t do it anyway and try to justify it later.

Don’t Seer Your Conscience

That’s what it means to “sear your conscience.” It might feel like you’re suddenly able to do something that you weren’t before, but much of the time it’s just us suppressing our conscience to a point that we can’t even hear it anymore. Learn too value its advice, even when you don’t know why it’s saying no.

God and conscience don’t say “no” to ruin the fun, but to save us from destroying ourselves.

Otherwise enjoy yourself! And stay aware of God with you, so he can pull you back if you start to get carried away.