Accepting One Another in Christian Freedom
Romans: Unashamed - Building the Church through the Gospel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Attention -
BEFORE YOU JUDGE
Steven Covey recalls riding on the New York subway one Sunday morning. It was a quiet time with many simply reading the paper, resting, or thinking quietly to themselves.
But the quiet was shatter when a man and his children entered the car Covey was sitting in. The man sat down and appeared impervious to the noisy and rambunctious children who began to disturb the other passengers.
After a few moments Covey could take it no longer. He turned to the man and said, "Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn't control them a little more?"
It brought the man back to consciousness of the situation, Covey goes on to say, which caused the father to say, "Oh, you're right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital an hour ago where their mother died. I don't know what to think, and I guess they don't know how to handle it either." Covey goes onto say that he saw and experienced the situation from an entirely different perspective after that and sought to help the man.
Need - We, in the church can be guilty of judging one another as well. Paul, in Romans 14 has strong warnings against such behavior. Why? Because judging one another causes division and puts the individual judging in the place of God. None of us are in the place of God - we are servants of God and that’s all. Servants who were saved by God’s amazing grace!
“They who are conscious of their own sins have no eyes for the sins of their neighbors.” - Abbot Moses, "1001 Quotations that Connect," Larson/Lowery, Zondervan
Main Idea: Judging the Weak Has No Place in Christ’s Church
Accept and respect fellow believers who hold different convictions, for it is to their own master that they stand or fall.
Interrogative: How can I do this?
Transition: two ways from the text of Romans 14:1-4
Welcome the Weak Instead of Judging Them (vs. 1-3)
Sometimes Christians are pretty good at shooting their own. We look at someone and see how they are living and look down on them in disgust.
In the church at Rome there are two people groups that make up the church. The Gentiles and the Jews.
Both of these groups carried baggage into their new found faith.
But it was the Jews that really struggled with this as you might imagine. For so many years the Jews were under the Law, and now they have been freed from the Law by the power of Christ’s gospel. The Law does not, would not, nor could not save them. Yet they lived under it nonetheless.
As you might think, being raise under the Law and now being freed from it would take some getting used to. And conflating the law with one’s position with God would be rather easy to do.
Welcome, don’t argue with the weak in faith -
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
“Weak” - Figuratively, of the mind: to be feebleminded, faint-hearted, timid (2 Cor 11:21). By Hebraism, implying a want of firmness and decision of mind: to be weak-minded, to hesitate, to vacillate, spoken of those whose minds are easily disturbed (Ro 14:2, 21; 1 Cor 8:9, 11, 12). Also to be weak, not settled in the faith (Ro 4:19), or in opinion (Ro 14:1).
“The weak were Jewish believers who felt that eating meat offered to a false god was an act of idolatry, so they ate vegetables only.” TMBC
“Faith” - This word has several different connotations. For example, the Faith is what we place our trust in. We are people of the Faith.
But the world, faith has to do with a trust in what God has said in His word, is true. Faith is belief.
We can assume from this verse that some people are strong in the faith and some people are weak in the faith.
Paul recognizes those that are weak in the faith and how those who are strong are to deal with them.
The strong in the faith are those that are not easily shaken by superfluous issues. They are able to discern between primary, secondary and tertiary issues.
They don’t make small biblical issues big ones.
That’s what Paul means when he says to those who are strong in the faith.
Those who are strong in the faith are to “welcome the weak and not quarrel over opinions.”
Another word for “opinions” is disputable matters
1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
How do you know if you are strong in the faith? You will welcome those who are weak in the faith. You will love them, encourage them, and help them grow in the knowledge of God! You will be patient with them and certainly not quarrel with them.
“Quarrel” - “literally meaning not for scrutinizing of thoughts, i.e., not with searching out and pronouncing judgment on their opinions (cf. Rom. 14:5, 13).” - Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
So are you strong in the faith?
What does it mean to be “weak?”
Paul works through as specific example of what a weak Christian looks like...
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
The strong in the faith isn’t bothered by the fact that certain meat was offered to idols.
“Food was offered in honor of the gods, and surplus fare was sold to the markets to provide income for the priests and maintain the temples. Gentile believers had the conviction (faith) that is was permissible to eat this meat. Paul directed the stronger Gentile believers to fellowship with Jewish believers, but not to coerce them to adopt the stronger brother’s position.” TMBC
However, it is the weak person that hangs onto the vestiges of the old life which was devoid of the freedom found only in Christ.
Believers are not called to be austere nor stoic in their approach to this life. Instead we are to be joy filled and thankful to God for everything He has graciously given us!
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
And we can be filled with joy and hope...
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
In fact God is clear in His word that those who teach to not enjoy God’s gifts are demonic.
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
These verses are the very definition of the weak believer. Don’t be weak!
If you are weak, it’s time to grow stronger. If you are strong, bear with the weak. And both of you...
Stop judging one another!
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
“Pass judgment” - To judge in one’s own mind as to what is right, proper, expedient; to deem, decide, determine.
You are not the authority over another. You are their brother or sister in Christ. You are not omniscient, you don’t know how or why your brother or sister chooses to do what they do, so stop looking down on them because they have made choices you have not made.
To be clear, I’m not talking about sin here. It is about preferences.
C.S. Lewis wrote about this in Mere Christianity. He said, "One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons—marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning."
You are not the authority over another, but Paul says God is! God knows their story. God is their Father in Heaven and quite capable of sanctifying them.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
God finishes the work in you and in your brother or sister in Christ. You can trust Him with His process.
What is clear from this text is that you and I do not have the right to condemn one another, but instead we are to welcome one another into our lives for the purpose of growth in Christlikeness.
Is this how you view your relationships with fellow Christians?
Wouldn’t it be amazing to stand before the Lord and hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. You loved people for who they were, met them where they were at and helped them to know me and grow to be like me.”
Illustration - A Pastor in Disguise
A few years ago at a Methodist Church in North Wales, as worshippers arrived at the church, they were distressed to see a dirty, drunk, smelly homeless man on the front steps. They didn't realize this bum was actually their pastor, Derek Rigby, who had disguised himself as a homeless man. To prepare for that morning, Derek hadn't shaved that week. He caked dirt on his hands and face and drew on tattoos. He went to a thrift shop and bought old clothes and ripped them, rubbed them in dirt and soaked them in beer. To complete his disguise he donned a scraggly wig and put on thick broken glasses and hung a half-smoked cigarette from his mouth. Then he sat on the church steps clutching a can of beer. On that morning not one of the members of his congregation spoke to him or offered to help. You can imagine their shock when it came time for the sermon and this homeless man walked on staged and took off the wig. Then he told them they were a stingy lot. He talked about how Jesus said that when we help one of the "least of these" we are helping Jesus. It was a disturbing experience.
(From a sermon by David Dykes, Has Jesus Touched Your Eyes?, 8/20/2012)
Argumentation - Man, Christians can be a judgmental bunch! Now this illustration was about someone from outside the church, but we can be just a judgmental with those inside the church.
“The woman at the well had been divorced 5 times and Jesus still used her. Don’t let people count you out because you have a complicated past. Jesus preserved your future.” - Women Made for His Glory (Pastor Marin)
If anyone had the right to be judgmental, it was Jesus, yet his mission wasn’t to judge, but to save.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
If the Lord Jesus didn’t come to judge rather save, then we shouldn’t either.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Jesus will judge in the future, but that is not what this passage is about...
Application -
Respecting Differing Beliefs: In a church setting, congregants may have different interpretations of scripture or varying religious practices. It's important to respect these differences and not to judge or belittle someone for their views. For instance, some may choose to fast or abstain from certain foods due to religious convictions, while others may not.
Fostering a Spirit of Acceptance: A church community should be a place of acceptance, regardless of individual interpretations of scripture or personal religious practices. By creating a welcoming environment that respects differences, you foster a stronger, more unified community.
Avoiding Divisive Disputes: Debates over doctrine and practice can often lead to divisions within the church. These verses remind us to avoid quarrelling over such matters. Instead of allowing differences to create strife, use them as opportunities for constructive discussion and mutual growth in faith.
Review - Judging the Weak Has No Place in Christ’s Church
Welcome the Weak Instead of Judging Them
2. Stand With The Weak As They Stand With The Lord (vs. 4)
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Explanation - Paul asks the Christian who is tempted to judge another a very powerful question containing a poignant reminder.
“Who do you think you are judging the servant of another. Mind your own business.”
Why does Paul ask this question? Because he wants to remind Christians of who is really in charge.
That fellow christian has a superior officer and that officer is of the HIGHEST rank. That superior officer is none other than the King of kings and Lord of lord - God Himself.
So then, how does the idea of encouraging, exhorting, and admonishing come into play with fellow Christians. Don’t we have a responsibility to call people out to help them walk in holiness?
Yes it does and it calls for discernment - First of all, Paul says we are not to argue about disputable matters or matters of opinion. But when it come to primary issues where there is no dispute, we are to lovingly hold one another’s feet to the fire.
“The Christian is not free to do what the Bible forbids. Christian freedom does not entail the right to fornicate or to steal or to lie or to persist in an unforgiving attitude or to do anything else the Scriptures explicitly prohibit. And a person who lovingly points this out to you is not a legalist for having done so!” - Sam Storms
So if the issue is clear in bible to be a sin or a non negotiable from God then we must speak the truth in love. If it is a disputable matter, then we are to have grace upon grace with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ultimately I do not answer to you and you do not, in the end, answer to me.
We answer to our creator, the God of the Bible.
So, the better response to those Christians who see things differently than you do is to stand with them instead of against them.
Why?
They are not your servant. You did not purchase them with your blood. They stand before God.
Secondly, stand with them and love them in Christ.
Thirdly, you teach them to be more mature in the faith. How? Following Paul’s advice to Timothy...
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
By the way, for those that are weak in the faith, don’t stay there.
How can you tell if you are weak in the faith?
You constantly judge others
You are perpetually offended by the choices others make.
I think the point Paul is making is we already have three significant forces warring against us, we don’t need to add to the list.
What is warring against us?
The World - The creation that rejects God.
The Flesh - our own proclivities and desires agains God.
The Devil - our enemy and the implacable enemy of God.
It’s hard enough with these forces against us, we don’t need fellow believers warring against us as well.
Instead of judging your brother or sister, stand with them. Help them grow by loving them and investing in them. By stepping into their lives. By the way, this is called discipleship!
Listen to what the bible has to say about this...
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
Argumentation - Have you noticed that this world is getting more and more blatantly sinful? Have you noticed that the Evil One is gaining more and more traction in our country? Can you tell that more and more believers are falling from grace and giving into the desires of their flesh?
Judging one another over disputable matters doesn’t matter too much when we are losing the culture around us.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
We need each other as we face a looming evil that seeks to destroy us - the church. And I will tell you, the Evil One will tempt us greatly to judge one another within the Body of Christ so that the cancer of division will spread within and kill this church from the inside out!
We must be careful to stand with one another, not against each other!
If someone in this Body confesses Christ as their Savior, then it is your responsibility to establish a relationship with them.
Application - Get to know them by...
Serving with them.
Engaging them in conversation.
Have them over or go out to dinner.
Build a relationship with them that can bear the weight of truth - In other words, love them so well that they will hear you when you speak truth into their lives.
Review - Judging the Weak Has No Place in Christ’s Church
Welcome the Weak Instead of Judging Them
Stand With The Weak As They Stand With The Lord
Conclusion
Visualization - In a word, we as a church body should have a tremendous amount of Grace for one another. We should seek to understand each other before we destroy each other through our petty, self-righteous, judgment.
Remember, we are to love each other by getting involved in one another’s lives. In this we earn the right to speak into one another's lives thus helping each other grow in Christlikeness.
Don’t judge the weak in faith, help them grow in faith.
Who are you helping to grow?
Connection Group Reflection Questions
Who are you praying for daily?
Who are you engaging with weekly?
Who are you sharing the gospel with monthly?