Christian culture is all oiled up in “ought” and encrusted with “should.” Should you do something or shouldn’t you? The earnest Christian-culturist can ask down to the tiniest little things, and it’s endless. Best case scenario, you can relinquish some guilt and start asking how valid the advice is. Worst case scenario, it will put you on the horns of a dilemma and keep you there.

Christian culture has a lot to say about what you should do in any number of scenarios. People never stop asking their spiritual authority figures what they should and shouldn’t do.

Jesus got this a lot from the Pharisees. “What should I do in this situation? How many times should I forgive? Should I pay taxes? What should I do to enter the kingdom of heaven?” but he never gave them a pat answer. He told them “wrong question” and gave them something new to think about. It hacked them off.

Christ promised freedom but should-ing yourself to death doesn’t feel much like freedom. The black-and-white is easy. Not having a pat answer is frustrating. How should we then live? It’s a dilemma for Christian culture, all right.