Romans 14:1-4

The Christians duty to create & maintain unity in the church

Part 1

Welcome!

Would you open your Bibles to...

Eph 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

Eph 4:2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,

Eph 4:3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Pray

Intro

√ A melting pot

Since the Gospel left Jerusalem the Church has been an eclectic group of peoples representing every...

Culture

Ethnic distinction

Social level

Religious background

...etc.. We call it a “melting pot”.

Ex. A place where lots of different ingredients get thrown together, with enough water, time, and heat,you end up with a stew that tastes a whole lot better than any of the ingredients tasted by themselves!

God is a Master cook! He’s taking men and women of all different backgrounds and putting them together in His Melting Pot - the local church and with enough...

Water

Time

Heat

He will make a great stew that will be irresistible to a hungry world!

Ex. No where was that more true in Paul’s day than in the ancient capital of the Roman Empire - Rome itself!

But, that’s where our nice little analogy breaks down.

Beef, carrots, peas, salt and pepper don’t really have anything to say about the stew that they’re a part of.

People, well that’s a different story!

Where there’s more than one person there’s room for trouble!

√ In this section of Romans Paul now turns his attention to...

The Christians duty to create & maintain unity in the church

We’ll look at it in a few parts.

Ap. Very important because so many of the problems that separate believers and cause trouble in the local church relate to how we deal with one another regarding our personal convictions about how we please God in our life.

Ex. Always such trivial things that get blown way out of proportion!

This is an area that the Devil really loves to work because it’s so economical in his the use of his resources!

He uses Christians to...

Make the Body of Christ weak

Destroy the faith of other Christians

Give the Name of Christ a black eye among the unsaved.

...we simply must not allow ourselves to be used for the Devil’s work!

Rather, we must commit ourselves to working hard for the unity of the Body of Christ - right here at Calvary Chapel!

Scruples (vs. 1)

Rom 14:1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.

√ Receive the weak

First, note that Paul begins his instructions to mature Christians.

“Receive one who is weak in the faith”

We’ll define what constitutes a strong faith (mature) in a moment, right now let’s focus on the instruction:

“Receive one who is weak in the faith”

We’re immediately reminded, or perhaps made aware for the first time, that in any gathering of Christians there will always be many different levels of spiritual maturity.

Ex. When I first came to church I thought I was the only one who didn’t have a clue! The truth is that in a growing church there will always be a fresh flow of immature Christians.

The point that Paul is making is that within such a diverse group of people who vary in....

Spiritual maturity

Cultural background - Jew & Gentile

Social status - citizen & slave

...the first lesson we need to learn toward building the unity of the church is that Christians must stop judging one another...

and, continue to receive into the fellowship of the church those who may be weak in their faith.

Ex. No different really than a family with more than one child. You could have a teen, a pre-teen, and an adolescent all in the same home!

But, we don’t reject the youngest from the family because they’re immature! Rather, we receive them and give them special attention and instruction to help them mature.

Ap. The same is true in the Church

We don’t reject the immature Christian, or the Christian who has a weak faith from the fellowship. Rather, we receive them with joy and give them the extra attention and instruction them need to help build their faith.

Ex. I still love to talk about salvation!

√ Reject the disputer

Note that Paul balances this instruction with the “other side of the coin” by saying...

“but not to disputes over doubtful things.”

He puts a limit on his instruction to open the door of fellowship to those with a weak faith by saying...

...don’t receive a person who simply wants to argue about his/her opinions regarding “doubtful things”.

Doubtful things = scruples

Personal convictions regarding how one lives out their faith.

Ex. My hero Eric Liddell held the conviction that he should not complete on Sunday.

Yet, there were other Christian athletes in his day that did not share his conviction. The beauty was that Eric didn’t make it a point of contention between believers.

Preached at a local church in Paris during the Olympic games, then went to the stadium to cheer for his team mates!

Ap. In our own lives we can have many convictions about how we express our faith...

Style of worship - hymns vs. chorus

Meeting place - cathedral vs. warehouse

Clothing - formal vs. informal

Athletics - involvement vs. noninvolvement

...and on-&-on it goes!

The common denominator in all of them is that no matter what a person thinks about these things in the end they are all non-essentials in God’s eyes!

The bottom line Paul says is that we should receive into fellowship a believer with weak faith (heavy convictions regarding nonessentials)...

...as long as they aren’t coming into the church to stir up trouble.

Ex. Choice of education (I’ve got no one in mind!!!)

Public, private, or home?

Christian parents are free to chose which is best for their children. After all, God has entrusted them with their own children and has given them the unique perspective to know what’s best for their kids.

Raising my kids - we’ve used all three! Dependant upon what was best for each child at each stage of their life.

It would be wrong however of me to impose my convictions for my children upon any other parent! It’s not my job, my responsibility, or my business!

Gal in Modesto who tried to lead a “home school” rebellion.

√ Paul now deals with two examples that were hot topics in the church in his day.

Still lots of application to this day!

Example #1 - diet (vs. 2-4)

Rom 14:2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

Rom 14:3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

√ Defining faith

Let’s begin by defining faith; what makes one’s faith either strong or weak?

Strong (mature) faith: those believers who ate meat.

Weak (immature) faith: those believers who did not eat meat, in fact, ate only vegetables.

!!! Not slamming vegetarians!

Rather, understand that the only meat available in Rome - as in all Gentile cities at that time - was meat which had first been offered to idols.

Note with me Paul’s parallel instructions to the believers in Corinth (problem in many churches)

1Co 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

1Co 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

1Co 8:6 yet for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

1Co 8:7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

1Co 8:8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. (key point!)

1Co 8:9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

1Co 8:10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?

1Co 8:11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

1Co 8:12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

1Co 8:13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Wowzers!

Get a mental picture of this. You’ve got a craving for a Big Mac - or a Big Medussa - so you head down to the local market to grab a burger.

To buy that meat you might actually have to walk into a pagan temple to purchase it!

Surrounded by idolaters who actually worship this false god - might even be in the process of offering your Big Mac to their false god!

The money you pay for the meat actually benefits this false religion!!!

Shocking!

Yet, Paul’s point is that for himself and those who have a strong faith they all recognize that this false god is nothing more than a rock!

A rock!

So, Paul understands that he’s simply buying meat. He’s not worshiping this false god, he’s not endorsing this false god....

...rather, it’s the only place in town you can buy meat.

And for Paul, it’s not a big deal.

Unless, a brother or sister in Christ who’s faith is weak sees him doing it and is stumbled by it.

Then, what was not sinful for Paul becomes sinful if he knowingly continues to eat meat causing the one weaker in faith to stumble.

We’ll have more to say on this in a latter study!

With all that in mind - understanding the background of the issue which Paul is addressing, let’s look at his instructions to those on both sides of this debate.

√ Instructions for peace in the church

Rom 14:3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

Instructions to those with strong faith:

Don’t despise the weaker brother/sister.

That is, don’t look down upon, think less of, or have contempt them for their weak faith.

Instructions to those with weak faith:

Don’t judge the stronger brother/sister.

That is, don’t condemn them for the liberty they have in Christ by thinking of yourself as more spiritual or pleasing to God because you don’t eat meat.

Why? Look at the end of vs. 3...

“for God has received him”

√ God accepts both on the basis of grace!

To eat meat offered to idols, or to not eat meat offered to idols, has no bearing upon a person’s acceptability to God!

That’s because as Paul has meticulously laid before us in the first 8 chapters of Romans...

...we are made acceptable to God not by works of the flesh, but by faith in the work of Christ on the Cross!

It’s a heart issue - not a stomach issue!

√ So, Paul instructs Christians to receive one another in Grace.

Respecting one anothers personal convictions, without forcing our convictions upon anyone else.

The result is harmony in the local church.

People are no longer arguing about the spiritual implications of buying and eating meat...

...rather, they are esteeming one another more highly than themselves and being ever so careful not to be an offence through the exercise of their personal convictions.

Now they can deal with real issues like...

How can we share the Gospel with the butcher at the temple?

How can we work together to have a greater impact for Christ upon our community?

How can we deal with the real sin issues that are working to destroy Christians and our church?

Ap. It’s hard to think of such a radical modern day example for us to compare the meat issue with.

What worldly organization has a product or service not offered by a Christian alternative?

And if there is such a thing, it can’t possibly be as ungodly as the pagan temples where Paul bought his Big Mac!

√ The point we need to take to heart is that regarding the issues Christians divide over today...

...we need to follow Paul’s instructions and not make such an issue out of non-essentials.

We need to recognize that each Christian has the freedom to exercise their faith according to their own conscience.

There are many areas of liberty in which we can have different opinions. The Christian who is pleasing to God is the one who respects God’s instruction to give people room to exercise that liberty.

• Note: not speaking of a license to sin!

Rather, regarding areas of liberty we need to work hard for unity.

Ex. Red ink and my brother from Liberia.

What was silly to me, was deadly serious to this brother. Therefore, I needed to respect that and not make it an issue.

Ap. Don’t use red ink!

√ Work hard for unity in the local church.

It’s so easy today to just blow people off that you disagree with and find a church of people who think just like you.

But, so often that’s not what God has for us. Rather, He’s planted each person in a local church because their gifts are a perfect match for the needs in that body.

When people start moving around rather than deal with their own heart...

...we end up with churches that are just “hands”, or “feet” that may be very strong in one area of ministry but totally lack in all others.