Does everything either come from faith or is a sin, or is there a neutral zone?

I struggle with two verses that seems related, which are Romans 14:23 and 1 Corinthians 10:31. When I read those, it seems that every single thing in this world is one of those:
- Come from faith (for the glory of God)
- Is a sin (not for the glory of God)

How do we have to interpret and apply those verses?
Is there a "neutral/grey zone"?

It seems to me that there are a lot of things I do that would fall in the grey zone. By this, I mean that some things I do are not done with the goal of glorifying God, but surely aren't meant to be against Him!

Quick example (and I'd have a thousand more): when I play chess with my friend, I do it for me: not to glorify God, but obviously not against him!

Is this a sin, since my decision to play chess (in this example) does not come from faith at all, and is not meant to glorify God?

I know that my example looks a little trivial, but this helps me bring up the question: to which extent do we have to interpret and apply those verses?

Thank you!

Romans 14:23

DARBY - ²³ Mais celui qui hésite, s'il mange, est condamné, parce qu' il n'agit pas sur un principe de foi. Or tout ce qui n'est pas sur le principe de la foi est péché.

Clarify • Share • Report • Asked September 17 2013 • Samuel Bourassa