DEALING WITH OUR DIFFERENCES

Transcription

1 Dealing with our differences It may not surprise you to know that you and I are different. We have different personalities, different upbringings, different styles, different tastes, different convictions, different experiences and expressions of our faith. DEALING WITH OUR DIFFERENCES Romans To illustrate this, I have handed out a sheet of paper with sixteen sets of statements on it. I d like you to read this list and decide which of each pair of numbered statements is closest to the way you think. Now I would like you to walk around the church and find all the people who hold exactly the same opinions and convictions as you! Morning Service St Stephens, Belrose Just joking! There is no one just like you! Some of these statements are differences of opinion. Others, however, are deeply held faith convictions and we hold very firmly to them. The question is, how do we deal with our differences, especially when our differences matter so much to us?

2 Do we look down on each other? Avoid each other? Criticize each other? Tease each other? Sometimes churches divide over these issues. What should we do? Please turn to Romans 14 and 15. Paul is writing to a mixed group: Jewish Christians and Gentile (or non Jewish) Christians. Paul s concern is to make sure that such a diverse group can learn to live as God s family under the Lord Jesus Christ, despite their differences Not just co-exist, but really love each other. 1. There were three main issues of contention: a) The first is in ch 14 vs 2: 2 One person s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. Notice that this is not just a matter of opinion, it is a matter of conviction: For one person, it is their faith that leads them to eat vegetables, and for the other, it is their faith that allows them to eat anything. Paul talks about weak faith and strong faith here. The person with weaker faith perhaps hasn t thought through the issues to the same extent. There s a level of immaturity in their thinking. At the same time they hold their views as a matter of conscience. Why would they be vegetarians? I m not sure. But there are a couple of possibilities: Old Testament law required that meat was to have no blood in it. I don t know if you saw the ABC documentary on Halal foods recently (foods suitable for Moslems). The segment also looked at Kosher butchery (meat suitable for Jewish people). Kosher is even stricter than Halal.

3 Like Halal, the animal has to be slaughtered in a certain way. Is the Sabbath day of rest a Saturday? Unlike Halal, Kosher butcher have to ensure there is no possibility blood remaining in the meat. They do this by removing certain key arteries and veins. What was the issue in Rome when Paul wrote? Does the Sabbath law still apply to Christians today? There is still dispute about this today. I first joined a Beach Mission Team in the 1960s, at Lake Budgewoi. A shortage of Kosher meat for Jewish Christians? That s one possibility. Another possibility: There were strict rules about what we could and couldn t do on Sundays. The main one was that we weren t allowed to buy anything at the shops. Much of the meat you could buy in the market had been slaughtered in pagan sacrificial ceremonies, to appease Rome s many gods. Some Christians refused to eat meat in case it had been slaughtered in this way because they believed it was tainted. Mind you, it was not a rest day for the Beach Mission team. We had to build a huge sand platform on the beach to make ourselves a stage for the afternoon programme. It was exhausting. Whatever the case, what you can and can t eat was one contentious issue for the church. b) Another was the issue of holy days: 5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Quite inconsistent with the idea that Sunday was a day of rest! The OT Sabbath command is the only one of the 10 commandments which is not repeated in the New Testament. There are differences of opinion about this in our own church. Food, holy days and

4 c) Drink. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 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. That s the main reason we provide grape juice for communion. Those were the three issues Paul was concerned about: Food, holy days and drink. 2. How do we deal with our differences? Some Christians drink and others don t. Years ago I belonged to the Ministers Association at Chatswood/Willoughby. The Mayor of Willoughby invited us for a special, council function. When we arrived, they served us drinks and nibblies, and we stood around chatting to our ministry colleagues, four of whom were Anglican, all holding glasses of wine. The Salvation Army minister approached us and said, I don t know about you Anglicans. Why do you drink that stuff? Salvos don t drink anything with alcohol in it, at least, not in public. a) First of all, with loving acceptance: 14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters. The word accept here means to receive someone with a strong personal interest. Whom else would you receive with a strong personal interest? A close friend, perhaps Or a much loved family member. In other words, Paul says, these issues are disputable not grounds for breaking fellowship. Don t just put up with them. They deal with so many people whose lives have been touched and damaged by alcoholism. Warmly receive them, with loving acceptance.

5 b) Secondly, don t be judgemental: 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? They are serving the Lord Jesus. They are not there to do our bidding! They have a conscience about these matters Faith-based convictions: Paul continues: 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 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God s judgment seat. 11 It is written: As surely as I live, says the Lord, Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God. 12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Have you ever been judged unfairly by another Christian? A long time ago I worked in the Parish of Cambridge Park, in Sydney s far west. I preached one Sunday night. On of long standing members of the church came to me and said, That was a cracker of a sermon Spirit-filled And I m praying that God is going to fill you with his Spirit too. It is not pleasant to be judged as being unspiritual. I think it was because I didn t speak in tongues. There is a Christian leader I know of in Tasmania who still blames his wife for dying of cancer. She didn t have enough faith, he says. Her disobedience led to her death.

6 I hope nothing like that has ever been said here. You ve been around long enough to know that, this side of heaven, people die, despite our prayers of faith. OK, show warm acceptance Don t judge c) And thirdly, don t be a destructive stumbling block: What s a stumbling block? When I was in primary school there was a nasty trick people played sometimes. Someone would crouch down behind a friend or enemy. A third person standing in front would push the student backwards. And they would immediately trip over the person crouched down behind them. Paul says, 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 17 the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit 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. For us it may be just a juicy steak and nice glass of red It is a wonder there weren t more broken arms and brain injuries. That s a stumbling block. Something to trip over and get hurt by.

7 But for the person watching us, it may be a temptation to disobedience and sin: 23 But whoever has doubts (about what they are eating or drinking) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Show warm acceptance Don t be judgemental Don t be the cause of someone else falling into sin.. d) And lastly, build each other up: 15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself. Despite our difficult personalities, strange upbringings, obnoxious styles and tastes, misguided convictions and expressions of our faith, Jesus came to serve to lay down his life for us, I order to lift us up and build us up as members of God s family: One family under the Lord Jesus So Paul prays: 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Conclusion: Look at the list you started with: Which of those statements are simply opinions? And which are deeply held faith based convictions? You can be sure that for each of your deeply held faith-based convictions there will be fellow believers in this church who hold the opposite point of view. As you think of these people who are so different, just hold one of them in mind. Are you prepared to show them warm acceptance?

8 Will you determine not to stand over them in judgement? Will you determine to do nothing to drag them down and everything you can to help build them up, and contribute to the unity that is so important to the Lord.