Major in the Majors not the Minors! - Romans 14

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 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. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Paul turns his attention to matters that can cause division and conflict in the body of Christ, the church.  Paul tells them to accept the one whose faith is "weak".  It is interesting how he uses this phrase.  He is describing those who don't eat meat because they think it might be offered to idols in the marketplace.  Some also abstainted because they still subscribed to strict Jewish dietary laws.  It wasn't that their faith was weak per se, but they were viewing adherence to these imposed rules as a measure of piety. 

"Because some Christian saw nothing wrong in this meat and others saw much wrong in it, this was a burning issue among believers in Paul’s day. While the issue of not eating meat for spiritual reasons is no longer directly relevant to most Christians today, there are plenty of issues where some believers believe one way and others believe differently." (Guzik)

I like the phrase "major in the majors", meaning we should focus on issues critical to our Christian faith, life and mission.  Whether I eat meat or not, or whether I drink or not, is not critical to accomplishing the Great Commission.  But for the church in Rome these issues became divisive and people were judging others because of it.  Those who wouldn't eat meat judged those who did as sinners.  And those who ate meat, judged those who abstained as legalists who didn't truly understand the grace of God in Christ Jesus. 

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Another issue in the church was what day of the week should be devoted to public worship.  For the Jews, the Sabbath was the holy day and they wanted to keep it that way.  Other believers felt Sunday was the best day, because it was the day Jesus rose from the dead.  Again you can see this arguing is really over something that is non- essential.  You might even say looking back that it was really a silly argument.  I remember when churches started offering Saturday night services in the 80's.  Some in the church found this sacrilegious because the service was not held on Sunday.  Over time people accepted Saturday worship without a doubt. In the end it is not the day or hour you worship, but you do worship and honor God on a regular basis.  For some churches that is once a week.  For others it is twice a week. And still others everyday.  

The key thing Paul says is it is not what you eat or when you worship do, but why you do it.  What we offer to the Lord as our sacrifice of service should not be judged by anyone but the Lord.  God knows if what we are doing for him is truly FOR or not.  I.e. To get attention or be seen as "super spiritual". The key principle for Paul though was since we don't know what's in a person's heart, we have no right to judge them.  If you have ever been wrongly judged by someone, you know how painful it is and what it does to the relationship with that person.  The same thing was happening in the church at Rome and you can see why it was such a threat to the church's mission.  Who wants to come into a community with lots of in-fighting.  

Paul concludes in verses 17-18, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval."

What issues do see in the church today that are similar to the ones Paul dealt with in the church in his day? What's the difference between an issue the church should focus on and one that only causes division and distraction?  How much time do you spend judging others on their individual faith practices?  As you serve Christ, do you sense the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit?  If the answer is "no", do you think this is an indicator that some aspect of your service is off base?  I.e. Are you still serving for the right motives, or something else?  Let's serve the Lord together how ever he leads us individially and together celebrating that as we offer our lives up to Him, He can do great things to reach the lost people who don't know Him!