Romans 14 - What To Do With Gray Areas in the Church?
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Chapter 14 is an important one, as Paul gives guidance as to how we treat each other in the church. Specifically, he speaks to the issue of the practical choices the Roman Christians were making such as whether to eat meat or not. Since the animals, from which the meat came from, were offered in the marketplace to idols, some of the Christians felt it was immoral to eat meat. Worse yet, some of the more "serious minded" believers judged others for eating the meat.
When Jesus fulfilled all of the righteous requirements of the law, he declared all foods as clean. I.e. there was nothing moral or immoral about eating meat. Here is how he addressed the issue with the Pharisees in Mark 7.
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
But even more important for Paul was how these believers were treating each other and the effect their choices had on each other. Though he taught that believers were free in Christ to eat and drink what they wanted, they should always take in consideration the effect it would have on their brother or sister in Christ. For instance, if a person has just started in recovery from alcohol addiction, it might be a very sensitive thing to do to not drink when you are with them.
Paul calls this, "Not causing your brother or sister to stumble."
The bottom line is that none of us should be so preoccupied with our own eating or drinking that we cannot refrain for the sake of our Christian friend. In time this person may be able to indulge without disobeying their conscience, but in the meantime their conscience, which Paul calls a "weak conscience" should take priority.
This brings up another principle Paul addresses. If there is something I am doing that I think is a sin, as convicted by the Holy Spirit, I shouldn't do it. This doesn't mean that there is no right and wrong, but the Jesus talked in the Sermon on the Mount about the Spirit vs. the letter of the Law. I.e. You have heard that one should not commit adultery. But I say to you, if anyone lusts after a woman in their hearts, they have committed adultery in their hearts.
So as you can see this is very subjective. Physically cheating on your spouse is wrong every time, as it clearly violates the Ten Commandments. But something that causes me to lust might not cause someone else to lust. Therefore, once again the "stronger" person should be careful not to put a "stumbling block" in the weaker person's path.
Are there areas in your life that are sin for you, that you continue to practice because it is not sin for someone else? As Paul says in verse 12,
"So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God."
I will not be accountable to God for your life, and you will not be accountable to God for my life!
This is why it is important to have other people in your life that you are accountable to. Each person might have a different area of their lives that God is calling them to obey them in. Being able to share it with others gives you encouragement, prayer coverage, and a place to be accountable for this issue. I have found in my life that it is a lot easier to disobey God when I am accountable to no one.
I.e. For one person it might "workaholism". For another it is how they are "treating their spouse".
While the Ten Commandments are clear on what is objectively right and wrong, many other spiritual issues in our lives are gray areas for each believer to figure out. We must live by the principle Paul gave us when he said in Galatians 2:20,
"I have been crucified with Christ and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to me."
The Holy Spirit is working in all of us to make us more like Christ. The fruit of the Spirit reflects how ouir character is changing from day to day. At the end of listing the fruit of the Spirit as,
"Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control", against these there is no law." Galatians 5:22
These could also be called the fruit of our character formation. These traits develop on the inside versus the outside of us As Jesus says that out of a clean heart comes clean things and visa versa.
Jesus thank you for dying on the cross so that we could be free from our sin. Help us to use our freedom not to indulge the sinful nature but to serve you and serve and encourage all those in our church, the family of God! Amen
Comments
Post a Comment