14
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over
opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only
vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and
those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed
them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is
before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the
Lord is able to make them stand.
5 Some judge one day
to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be
fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day,
observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord,
since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the
Lord and give thanks to God.
7 We do not live to
ourselves, and web do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to
the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or
whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and
lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why do you pass
judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or
sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For
it is written,
“As I
live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every
tongue shall give praise to God.” [Isaiah 45:23]
12 So then, each of us will be accountable to
God.
In
Romans 14:1-23, Paul urges the people of God to show love and respect for
differences in conscience, even if some are “weak” in this area. He engages
this matter after he has discussed what he views as the heart of the good news
for humanity that God has delivered in Jesus Christ. He has shown that in the
event of Jesus Christ, God has offered humanity salvation. Obviously, this
means humanity is in need of saving, whether it knew it or not. Humanity is
under the power of sin, but God the love of God for us becomes of Jesus Christ,
who gives the opportunity to have peace with God. The people of God now live in
the power or influence of the Spirit. The people of God have a new center in
Jesus Christ that has opened to Jew and Gentile alike the privilege of being
children of God. Everything Paul has said works out from the event of
revelation in Jesus Christ. Now, however, he wants to engage some particular
issues that endanger the unity of the Body of Christ. In a sense, after
discussing the imperatives involved in identifying the Christian family, Paul
is ready to remind his readers that some matters ought to remain a matter of
indifference. We may treat certain opinions with seriousness, but they are not
of the status that ought to bring division or even unhealthiness into the Body
of Christ. In the first part of the letter, Paul has discussed matters he
things are worth the fight. Now, he wants to discuss that ought to encourage us
to listen to how a brother or sister in Christ wrestles with certain matters
and respect them for their position. Such respect does not mean less respect
for oneself, who may hold a differing position. Such respect does not mean
looking down upon the other from the standpoint of your superiority. It simply
means mutuality of respect so that each of you finds honor and respect in the
presence of the other.
In
the case of this passage, people quarrel over differing opinions regarding what
foods to eat and what days to honor. In many ways, the topic of this passage is
timely. We do have battles over food today. In the past, the battles involved
smoking, drinking, cards, dance, television, and radio. When I was part of the
Wesleyan Church, one branch broke off in the early part of the 20th
century over television. Today, the Christian community draws a battle-line in
politics so quickly. Political agendas have become the idol of our time. Christ
baptizes either the Right or the Left. If we are Christians, many Christians
seem to think, we will honor conservative governing principles or we will honor
liberal ones, or we will honor only progressive or socialist principles. In the
midst of such quarrelling over opinions, the voice of Paul is timely. Vegan.
Carnivore. Red State. Blue State. Pro-gun. Anti-gun. Whether we vote Democrat
or Republican, conservative or progressive, capitalist or socialist, we are not
our own, we are the Lord's. We can all admit that as much as we need each
other, we can get on the nerves of each other as well, precisely because we
hold passionately to our opinions. According to forest folklore, two porcupines
huddled together one cold Canadian night to get warm. The closer they got, however, the more their
quills kept pricking one another. Eventually,
they abandoned the idea and moved apart.
Separated and exposed, both began shivering, so they quickly decided to
sidle up close again. When they did,
each jabbed and irritated the other as before, causing them to part for a
second time. They went on repeatedly,
with always the same result. They needed
each other, but they kept needling each other![1] This may well be a parable of American
society and a parable of the church.
The whole of 14:1-15:13 is paranetic. Whether the contrast between weak and strong
is Paul ’s or Rome ’s is
unclear. It deals with the problem of scrupulous versus the enlightened
conscience. The passage deals with
Christian solidarity, its extent and its limits. Paul
continues to amplify what it means to be a living sacrifice. Here, he refers to one’s convictions. One’s
convictions, then, are the outworking of one’s faith and relationship with
God. To those who are strong and realize
more the implications of this faith, Paul cautions them not to have pride in
looking at this weaker brother or sister.
The strong have realized that scrupulousness over externals has nothing
to do with what it means to be “in Christ .” The weak, however, have scrupulous
convictions and look down on those who do not.
Yet, in either case, quarrelling over opinions is the issue. In I
Corinthians 11:17-22, Paul expresses the concern that when they get
together, they are not making matters better. They are making it worse. When
they gather, it gives opportunity for factions and divisions to appear. The
divisions appear in the way they partake of the Lord’s Supper. I have long puzzled why
those who have strong convictions morally are the “weak in faith.” Could it be
that such persons have lifted their opinion about Christ? Has their opinion
become their idol? Clearly, they have not fully realized what it means to be in
Christ . Pastors today will often hear members of their parishes say that they
wish their church could be more like the early church. The situation is that,
while the content of the quarrels may differ, we are much like the early
churches in terms of having people who squabble over what kind of things honor
and dishonor God. In this case, Paul advises that they are not to “welcome”
people simply for quarreling over opinions. They are to do all to the
glory of God. Paul makes it clear that matters of food and drink and rigorously
maintained schedules of discipline are actually matters of adiaphora, that is,
"things indifferent" to the status of one's salvation. They are indifferent because they are
externals. When
we think of the discussion in this manner, some matters are of great
importance. Paul has discussed those in Chapters 1-11. Some matters are “indifferent”
only in the sense that they ought not to disrupt the unity and health of the
Body of Christ. If they do, it becomes a sign that we are immature and weak in
faith. Apparently, the weak are those who adhere to Jewish dietary
restrictions. They did not eat non-kosher meat. The Jewish Thereapeutai of
Egypt abstained from both meat and wine.
Non-Jewish groups also abstained as signs of their commitment of
asceticism and a life of nonviolence.
Some groups of Jews and Christians did not eat meat because pagans may
have previously offered it to idols. Such issues may have risen to the surface
because of a recent influx of Jews into Rome. In 49AD, the emperor Claudius
banished Jews from Rome. The reason was an issue over “Chrestus,” whom many
scholars think refers to the battle within the Jewish community regarding Jesus
Christ. By 51 AD, the government invited Jews back to Rome. This invitation may
have challenged the unity of the house churches in Rome. However, of note here
is that the weak are those of strongest conviction, even if that conviction has
to do with the extent to which Jewish dietary rules continue within the
churches. Paul discusses a similar issue in I Corinthians 10:23-11:1. He wants
them to seek the good of the neighbor. He thinks that some Christians would eat
whatever people sell in the meat market without raising any question on the
ground of conscience. The rationale is that the earth belongs to the Lord. If a
neighbor in invites them to dinner and you want to go, eat what is set before
them without raising a question relating to conscience. If one partakes with
thankfulness, one should not receive judgment when motivated by that
thankfulness. As another example of quarrelling over opinions, Paul points to
observing traditional fasting days. In
Galatians 4:8-11, Paul puzzles how they can return to the weak and beggarly
elemental spirits, observing days, months, seasons, and years. Colossians 2:16-17
urges that no one pass judgment on them in questions of food and drink, or even
regarding festival, new moon, or Sabbath. These are a shadow of what was to
come, with the substance belong to Christ. Paul is not so much concerned
with the rightness of the group as in each group recognizing that Christ is
greater than either group. Paul even urges thoughtful reflection and passionate
embracing such broad principles by which one chooses to live. Yet, when we
think eschatologically of such matters, we may loosen the hold of opinion in
terms of relations with others. We do not want our passionately held opinion to
disrupt the Body of Christ. We have no desire to be the Pharisee who whips up
moral indignation to the point where we seek the imposition of our convictions
upon others.[2] I would hope we could agree
that the church should not be the religious arm of any particular political
agenda! Paul is making light of the seriousness with which each group holds to
its opinions. Yet, they are to live to by their convictions in a way that
honors Christ and in a way that offers thanks to God. In Ephesians 5:20, Christians are to give thanks in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ for everything. Colossians 3:17 says that everything they do is to
be in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him. Rather, Christians need to
practice the attitude of acceptance and compassion for other members of their
faith community. The purpose of
Christian community is not to achieve homogeneity in its moral, spiritual, or
political agenda, but to accommodate all into the household of faith on equal
ground. They are on equal ground because they are servants in the same
household. Those Paul considers strong in the faith have no basis for looking
down upon those he views as weak. In fact, we are not isolated in these
matters. We are responsible for how we treat others. Neither group has any
right to elevate itself to the seat of judgment upon the other group. The reason
Paul can write this way is because of the Christ-centered approach he has to
the matters causing quarrelling among them. Only Christ is in the role of
judge, and therefore, we are accountable to Christ. Not even death frees us
from the obligation we have to Christ. The point Paul makes is that Christ has
welcomed both groups. In fact, it may well be that part of the basis for
judgment is that God will judge each group based on its set of standards for
itself. We are witnesses to the saving work of God in Christ rather than judges
of the opinions of others. In fact, all humanity is under the authority and
judgment of Christ, consistent with the view of Isaiah 45:23, which Paul
interprets in a Christ-centered way. In that case, we must give no room for
uncharitable judgments of others. People stand or fall based upon their
openness to the will of God in their lives.
The overarching
narrative of the Bible is a story of ever-increasing inclusiveness, beginning
with the marriage of Boaz of Bethlehem to a Moabite woman named Ruth -- a
foreigner who ends up being the great-grandmother of King David (Ruth 1-4). It
continues with God's call for cultural barriers to fall and for people of all
nationalities to be part of "a house of prayer for all peoples," as
we read in Isaiah 56. This movement only accelerates when Jesus begins his
loving and gracious ministry to tax collectors and sinners, and when Paul takes
the gospel to the Gentiles. In the end, our goal is to build a community that
fits the vision of the book of Revelation, in which there is
"a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all
tribes and people and languages, standing before the Lamb, robed in white, with
palm branches in their hands" (Revelation 7:9).
All tribes. All people. All
languages. When we stand before that Lamb, we will not be thinking about
whether or not we eat lamb chops. We will simply be thankful that we belong to
Jesus, the Lamb of God.
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