Romans 14 - Don't Do Anything That Could Cause Your Brother or Sister to Stumble

Click Here to Read or Listen to Romans 14

The Weak and the Strong

Paul turns to practical matters in the church in Rome that happen as we do life together. One of the issues that surfaced in the church was whether or not the new believers should eat meet or not. In the pagan temples, the blood of the meat was offered up to pagan deities and idols. Therefore, some Christians thought they were participating in these blood sacrifices if they ate the meat sold in the marketplace. 

Paul basically tells them to respect each other's consciences and not treat each other poorly over this matter. Some of the believers also chose a day of the week as special to the Lord and fasted on that day. In the Jewish faith, Saturday was a Sabbath, but some of the believers chose Sunday because that was the day Jesus rose from the dead. Paul again says that whether one considers every day as special, or just one day the bottom line is what is done is offered to the Lord. 

Most importantly the Roman believers were judging each other on these issues and this is what Paul was the most adamant about. Paul said to them they should not worry about God's judgment on others, they should only worry about their own lives. After all each person will be judged based on their own lives and decisions not on someone else's. 

Paul goes on the say that nothing is "unclean" in and of itself. All of the food laws of the Old Testament were replaced by the New Covenant. One cannot make themselves holier by what they eat or don't eat, or what they drink or don't drink. Paul sums up the whole discussion by saying, 

"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."

One final note Paul gives the believers is that in their actions they should always be considerate of their weaker or strong brother in Christ. If what they did caused someone else to stumble, in their freedom they should abstain. As always the law of love prevails to do something to someone else as you would want to done to you. 

This has many applications for us in the church. If something you do causes another brother or sister in Christ to stumble, consider abstaining for their good. This is what the Christian community is all about laying our lives down for one another for the sake of the common good!