WHEN CHRISTIANS DISAGREE. ROMANS 14. Romans 12 showed us what our personal lives should look like once we have offered up our lives as living sacrifices to God (12:1). Romans 13 showed us how our interaction with the world should change as a result of living under the Lordship of Christ. Romans 14 teaches us how our interactions with other Christians, on issues of practical/lifestyle disagreement, will be impacted by our commitment to live for Jesus. The issues Paul deals with here clean versus unclean foods, holy versus ordinary days are sometimes called grey issues. In other words, they are not black and white, right and wrong issues. These are practices/lifestyle choices where Jesus have given us liberty, or, freedom from the Law... and yet, for some Christians, the conscience still feels guilt when it comes to participation in these areas. Though free from the Law, some feel as if they are still under the Law. Therefore, participating in these activities brings a degree of shame and guilt that can hinder a person s relationship with Christ. Let s look at the examples Paul gives from the cultural context of early Christianity, and then we will try to apply the principles to some grey issues in our own day. CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOODS. ROMANS 14:1-4. Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don t. And those who don t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord s help, they will stand and receive his approval. Jewish Christians had come from a background filled with religious laws, duties and regulations. Certain foods were unholy while other foods were clean. Gentile Christians did not have this same rulebook orientation in their backgrounds. So, when they became Christians, they typically felt much more freedom in their hearts to enjoy all kinds of foods, with no hint of guilt because of past associations with holy and unholy foods. Imagine a 1 st century Jewish believer sitting down for lunch with a Gentile believer. The Gentile believer orders a giant hot dog with all the toppings! (No, they didn t have hot dogs back then; but I m just getting at the pork-meat issue, which was unclean meat for the Jew.) The Jewish believer orders a bowl of vegetable soup. The food arrives at their table, but the waiter mistakenly puts the hot dog lunch down in front of the Jewish Christian, and the vegetable soup in front of the Gentile. Awkward moment! They quickly switch meals, but the difference remains. The Gentile is eating unclean food in the mind of the Jewish Christian. And in the mind of the Gentile believer, the Jewish person is depriving himself of some real great food, all because of some rules that no longer apply in the Christian context. In certain situations, the avoidance of meat for religious reasons had to do with the common practice in that day where meat was used as part of a religious ceremony involving a pagan idol. A pagan priest may have used the meat as part of an idol-worship ceremony, at the end of which the meat became food for the guests. Or, the same meat might end up going for sale in the local market, and end up on the dinner table in a Gentile s home. A visiting Christian might have suspected (or feared) that he or she was partaking of meat 128
devoted to an idol. Paul addresses this specific issue in 1Corinthians. In this passage, you can sense how real and how difficult these practical matters were. So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life. However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. It s true that we can t win God s approval by what we eat. We don t lose anything if we don t eat it, and we don t gain anything if we do. But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you with your superior knowledge eating in the temple of an idol, won t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live for I don t want to cause another believer to stumble (1Corinthians 8:4-13). Paul s argument is pretty simple. 1) The idols are not real gods. 2) The meat sacrificed to idols is, therefore, not really tainted. 3) A Christian can, theoretically, eat that meat without any guilt. The problem was that for some Christians, their conscience was still weak, not being strengthened by the knowledge of the truth (i.e., idols are not real gods). Therefore, for that weaker Christian, the idol meat still posed a stumbling block to their spiritual progress. If they ate it, they would feel guilty, and would, thus, feel blocked in their walk with God. They would feel as if they had sinned (although in God s eyes, no sin was committed). This was a sin against one s own conscience so to speak. So, Paul says, the principle of FREEDOM says that we can eat the meat. But, the principle of LOVE says that we should NOT do something that causes another brother or sister to stumble (by following our example, against their own conscience). Paul encourages us to be very careful in the exercise of our Christian liberties so as not to hinder the spiritual progress of a fellow believer. Back in Romans 14... he returns to this issue, but moves from the question of holy/unholy foods to holy/unholy days so called religious holy days. SPECIAL AND REGULAR DAYS. ROMANS 14:5-6. In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want 129
to please the Lord and give thanks to God. Again, this was a big issue for those with a Jewish background. For a Jew, the Sabbath was holy, as were the many special religious feast days on the Jewish calendar. A Jewish Christian often felt obligated to continue to observe those Jewish holy days and to restrict behavior on those days. The Gentile Christians, on the other hand, had very little background in special religious days. The most common issue would have been the weekly Jewish Sabbath day (our Saturday). The Christian community radically shifted things when they moved the day of worship to Sunday, in honor of Jesus resurrection from the dead on Sunday morning. This left the Jewish believers in a dilemma since, for centuries, the Sabbath day had been the prime example of their devotion to the Lord. On the Sabbath, a devout Jew would drastically alter his/her behavior so as to obey the commandment to do no work on the Sabbath day, but to keep that day holy (Exodus 20). Becoming a Christian did not, for a Jew, instantly erase this feeling of obligation to restrict behavior on Saturdays. Thus, a Gentile Christian might be found out on the town on Saturday, doing business as usual, having fun, etc. A Jewish Christian, on the other hand, might be found at home restricting behavior in accordance with the old rules. These two worlds were often in tension, as both parties gradually moved toward a common understanding of their new position and freedom in Christ. A key to understanding how Christians are to live in harmony on such grey issues is the idea that we are all, ultimately, going to stand before GOD and answer for our lifestyle choices. We do not need to judge one another in such matters, since judging is God s role. LET GOD BE THE OTHER PERSON S JUDGE. ROMANS 14:7-13. For we don t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, As surely as I live, says the LORD, every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God. Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let s stop condemning each other. We should, ideally, be willing to allow each person the freedom to live out their faith before God, knowing that HE will be their ultimate Judge, so I don t need to be that judge (of another s behavior/choices). Does this do away with the principle of accountability, where we hold one another accountable to live for Christ? No. On matters of doctrine (soundness of Christian teaching) and matters of sin (clear disobedience to Jesus teachings), we should continue to hold one another accountable and call one another upward in our walks with the Lord. Areas of moral sin and doctrinal error are black and white issues (right and wrong), not grey issues where Christians can agree to disagree. The teaching of Romans 14 applies specifically to those areas of freedom in which Jesus has given us liberty to participate in certain things, without fear of condemnation from Him. In these areas of freedom (which are a liberty for some, but still a law for others), we should allow GOD to be the one that holds us accountable. We should allow a believer to live out his/her individual faith with a view to the final day when our real Master will evaluate our motives and our actions. In other words: Don t impose your personal convictions on the other guy! 130
Ideally, this would play out like this: The strong Christian (the one who had the sense of freedom to eat the meat) would be able to eat the meat and not feel judged by the weaker Christian (the one who still felt guilty about the meat). At the same time, the weaker one would be able to refrain, without feeling condemned by the stronger one for abstaining. Each would give the other the freedom to live out his/her own convictions before God, rather than trying to get the other to conform to my way. They would simply agree to disagree on this lifestyle matter. It was not really a sin issue, but a preference issue. The real world, however, rarely operates in an ideal manner! The reality was that the actions of the stronger one very often caused the weaker one to follow suit and, subsequently, to fall into a state of self-condemnation. So, Paul continues... LET LOVE GUIDE AND GUARD YOUR LIBERTY. ROMANS 14:14-23. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. 20 Don t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. 22 You may believe there s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. If I feel a sense of liberty to participate in a certain activity, and yet I know that my participation will cause another brother or sister to stumble (to be hindered in their own spiritual progress because they follow my example and end up feeling condemned in their own mind), then I should be guided by THE LAW OF LOVE rather than THE LAW OF LIBERTY. My freedom in this case is the freedom to love my brother, rather than the freedom to enjoy my freedom! My freedom is the freedom to be unselfish (even though I know in my own heart and mind that my participation is not wrong in God s eyes). By allowing my LIBERTY to be governed by LOVE for my brother/sister, I am honoring Jesus by honoring His work in another person s life. I am helping that other person refrain from sinning against his/her own conscience. At the same time, we should encourage all believers to enjoy their liberty in Christ to the fullest level possible. I cannot possibly allow my lifestyle to be dictated by the sum total of everyone else s weak consciences. If I did that, I wouldn t have much of a life! Jazz music is off limits for one person. So, no more jazz for me? 131
Movies are off limits for another person. So, no more movie nights for me? Meat is off limits for my vegetarian friend. So, out goes meat for me? Dancing is a no-no for another of my friends. So, out goes dancing for me? You get my point. If I were to take the sum total of everyone else s weak-conscience issues, and then try to define my life that way, I probably wouldn t have much of a life left! My life would be one long list of everyone else s no-nos. Certainly that is not the way God intends for the Christian life to be lived out. Yet, I DO have to be careful that I do not intentionally use my liberty in such a way as to trample on the growing faith of another brother or sister in Christ. That seems to be the message of Romans 14. Let LOVE for my fellow believer guard and guide the way I live my life and especially the way I practice my freedom in Christ. We conclude by suggesting a list of modern-day examples of lifestyle issues where Christians often disagree. Some have strong scruples on certain issues, often growing out of their family of origin, or past religious experiences/traditions. We bring these past parts of us into present relationships in a Christian community, like Oak Pointe Church. We then live alongside others who perhaps have a different perspective on these issues. Modern day examples of GREY issues where Christians tend to differ: Clothing choices Music preferences Hair styles Drinking Attending movies/theatrical events Wearing jewelry Vocabulary Card games Tattoos and piercings School choices Spending habits Finally, I would like to pose some practical questions so that you can evaluate how you are doing with regard to the teachings of Romans 14. For the person who is bound by numerous areas of conscience: Are you growing in your grasp of your true liberty in Christ, rather than remaining bound to old legalistic standards imposed upon you in the past? Are you trying to directly, or indirectly, impose your preferences upon another believer(s) who seems to enjoy more liberty on such issues? Are you regularly judging or condemning others because of their preferences, regarding them as less spiritual or less mature because their lives do not conform to your choices? Those who don t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them (Romans 14:3b). For the person who feels much freedom in Christ: Are you aware of the more sensitive conscience(s) of those close to you? Are you thinking about how your actions/choices might 132
impact their walk with Christ? Are your choices causing someone else to sin against their own conscience as they follow your example and end up feeling guilty? Is your use of Christian LIBERTY being guided and guarded by true LOVE for others? Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don t (Romans 14:3a). Someone once put it like this: In ESSENTIALS, unity. In NON-ESSENTIALS, liberty. In ALL-THINGS, charity. That is, in fact, a pretty good summary of the message of Romans chapter 14. 133