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. 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. Some
differences truly matter. The place of the Bible in giving the church guidance
today does matter. The place of the basic affirmations of faith in the
formation of belief today does matter. Division over real matters of
theological conviction can make sense in some cases. Such is not the issue
before Paul. The matter before Paul is that some people are using an
indifferent matter to divide the church.
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
expresses this concern for the church at Corinth as well.
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.
Here is the indifferent matter to which Paul points. Paul points to the
example of some people who believe in eating anything, who are the strong in
faith, while the weak it only vegetables. The specific issue of eating meat
offered to idols may be a general comment, since he had been dealing with it at
Corinth. However, some scholars think it likely he knew of these differing
factions within the churches at Rome.
Food issues are not just for ancient times. We have food issues remain
today.
"I would suggest that, in our day and age, we need more -- not less
-- judgment. Modern Americans suffer from a fear of judging. Passing judgment
on the behavior of fellow human beings is considered an act of medieval,
undemocratic intolerance." Biblical traditions may challenge our own food
production and consumption. Respect for the animal's life led to the elaborate
kosher system, including the most humane ways to slaughter (cf. Muslim halal).
Today, very few people have killed the animal that they eat, any more than they
have grown the wheat in their bread, and the way in which animals are raised
and slaughtered in our culture often is far from humane or respectful. An
egregious example is the delicacy foie gras, produced by thrusting a tube down
the throat of a duck and force-feeding it for weeks before slaughtering it and
removing the liver. Is faith compatible with foie gras?[1]
However, the point Paul is making is that the strong must not despise
those who abstain, while those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who
eat, for God has welcomed both. Paul faced a similar issue in the church at
Corinth.
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.
Here is the principle. One is not to judge a brother or sister, for God
is the judge. One is not free to do whatever one wants, and the strong must assume
responsibility for peace and harmony in the church. As Syngman Rhee put it, “We
must stand not on the judgment seat, but in the witness stand, where we witness
to the saving love and work of Jesus Christ.”
In verse 6, in saying that the church should let each one be fully
convinced in their own mind, what should guide Christian behavior is broad
principles and the Spirit, using the intellectual faculties one has. Yet, in
verse 7, no one is isolated and responsible only to themselves. Each is
responsible to Christ in verse 8. Through God, they will stand or fall. He
stresses that if they are doing something worthy the Lord is able to make them
stand.
Paul then refers to another example, that some people observe one day
better than another day, while others judge all days alike. He urges that
people have a right to full commitment in their minds, suggesting Christians
need to be led by broad principles and the Spirit, rather than demanding
everyone think and act in agreement. Both groups honor the Lord.
Further, returning to the presenting issue, those who eat and those who
abstain honor the Lord. They give thanks to God, advice also given in Ephesians
5:20, where 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. Paul will puzzle over these matters in Galatians s
well.
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.
Some matters of concern are “indifferent” as it relates to the
eschatological tension that God has introduced into individual and communal
life of the people of God. As Barth puts it, all reformers are Pharisees,
whipping up moral indignation.[2] Paul makes
light of their seriousness. Simply put, some things should not disrupt
fellowship. Paul then stresses that people
do not live only to themselves. Rather, all people are accountable to God. We
live and die to the Lord, so we belong to the Lord. In fact, Christ died and God
raised him from the dead so that Christ would be Lord of both the dead and the
living. Pannenberg says that the antithesis of earthly life and dying is
relativized by belonging to Jesus Christ. One could appeal to such a passage
for the positive view of death that Paul might have had as liberation from this
mortal life, which is distant from the risen Lord.[3]
He also stresses that the resurrection of Jesus did not happen for Jesus alone,
but in his capacity as Mediator and Redeemer of humanity. Participation in the
reality of the new life that broke in him is even now possible for those who
are linked to Christ by baptism and faith. Nor is this participation, which is
part of the divine mystery of salvation in Christ and thus sacramental,
destroyed through the death of believers. Hence, in their death as well as
their life believers belong to Christ. Yet, in verse 10, even these persons
will appear before the judgment seat of Christ in verse 10.[4]
In I Corinthians
4:1-5 Paul stresses that they ought not to pronounce judgment before the Lord
comes, for the Lord will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness. The
Lord will disclose the purposes of the heart. Every individual receive
commendation from God.
Therefore, Paul
continues, why do they pass judgment on or despise their fellow Christians?
Paul sees no place for uncharitable judgments. Everyone will stand before the
judgment seat of God. He quotes Isaiah 45:23 to the effect that every knee
shall bow to the Lord and every tongue shall give praise to God. Therefore,
each of us will be accountable to God. Pannenberg will say that Paul, convinced
that those who are related to Jesus Christ by faith and baptism already have
assurance of participation in the new life that has broken in with the resurrection
of Christ, still expected that we must appear before the judgment seat of
Christ in order to receive what is due for things done in this life, whether
good or bad.[5] These are the basic principles.
Now, verse 13 does
not mean that the weak tyrannize the strong. Paul is simply approaching the
issue from the other side, that of charity or love. In verse 13, Paul may refer
to some type of compulsion in eating, such as the Eucharist or the Agape meal.
However, the larger point is that Paul envisions a situation in which the
strong are eating in the presence of the weak, likely at a social setting for
the members of their house church. The basic principle is in verse 17, that the
kingdom of God does not concern itself with food and drink, but righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. One who serves Christ is acceptable to God
and has human approval. They are to pursue peace and edification. Paul is
appealing in verse 20 to the need for tolerance and charity, for without it,
the “work of God,” that is, the church, will be destroyed. In verse 22,
opinions about meats and Sabbaths are private matters between the believer and
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.
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, but to accommodate all into the household of faith on
equal ground. As in so many other areas
of Paul's "practical theology," Paul prefers to avoid taking sides
when he can; he tries to find a middle way, to bring about as much harmony as
possible within the community (v. 7), so people will not get distracted from
matters of greater importance (v. 17) in honoring God and loving people.
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. However, of note is that "weak"
refers to those who appear to have the strongest commitment to a disciplined
lifestyle. Yet, Paul is not concerned
with proving one group is right. God has
welcomed all kind of believers into the household, so those within the
household must learn to accept one another.
All are servants in the household.
Servants answer to the master, not to other servants. In terms of days, some took to traditional
fasting days, while others believed one could use any day for a fast day. Again, he does not take sides. He argues for conviction that what one does
honors God. Note the Christ-centeredness
of what Paul says here. He may even
quote from Isaiah 45:23, interpreting it in a Christ-centered way. As long as Christians are Christ-centered,
Paul allows for all manner of diversity to remain within the Christian fold.
Although this
section refers to the debt of love or charity of the previous chapter, the tone
is different. It refers to the weak in
the community. It deals with the problem
of scrupulous versus the enlightened conscience. Paul seems to have heard something about a
problematic group in the church. He
deals with it only in general terms, however.
Paul continues to
amplify what it means to be a living sacrifice, as Paul stated in 12:1-2. Here, he refers to one’s convictions, his
primary emphasis being that it is to God that one is accountable, not people. One lives to the Lord and one dies to the
Lord. One’s convictions, then, are the
outworking of one’s faith and relationship with God. Those who are strong and realize more the
implications of this faith are cautioned 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. These have not fully realized what it means
to be in Christ. The point is, there is
room in the Church for both groups, for each one is responsible to God, not
each other.
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