I Don't Believe in the Church: Week 3

Good morning. We are in week 3 of our series “I Don’t Believe in the Church.” This series is all about looking at the behavior that can cause hurt in those around us. Many people who have been wounded by someone in the church become disillusioned. This series hits some tough topics, that’s for sure; to be clear, this group of sermons is not intended to bring condemnation of any sort. I learned long ago that when I’m listening to a sermon, if it feels as though the preacher is talking about things that I struggle with, it’s not because the preacher had you in mind when writing the sermon, it’s because God is trying to get your attention is the least confrontational way possible. In fact, and this is another thing I learned, to be grateful for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and prompting in my life. When my flesh gets a bit seared during a sermon, that means that I am still able to hear the Lord. It’s when we stop feeling those promptings, when we are able to sit through a sermon or teaching and not feel a thing-that is when we are in trouble. Let’s go ahead and pray, then we will get started.

PRAY

Today we are turning our attention to the book of Romans ch. 14. As most of you know, the book of Romans was written by Paul. One of Paul’s greatest desires was to visit Rome…yet he was never able to do it. In fact, in the beginning of the first chapter of Romans, Paul makes sure to express this desire quite strongly, he also mentions it throughout the book. So, Paul has great affection for the Church in Rome, that is for sure.

Romans 14 is 23 verses long, but we are only going to be focusing on the first 13 today. What we are talking about today is judgment and accountability. But before we turn to Romans and look at Paul’s instructions, I want to quickly look at what Jesus has to say about this area.

Matthew, in ch. 7, Jesus is wrapping up the Sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7).

Matthew 7: 1-5

““Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7: 1 is probably the most quoted verse by people outside of the church. Jesus instructs his listeners that we need to be careful when we pick out other’s faults and shortcomings, because the harshness with which we judge others, we too will be judged. These few passages are often very misunderstood and taken way out of context. How many of us know that sometimes we must make judgment calls? Sometimes we must judge a situation as harmful to ourselves or the body of Christ in general. The purpose of this warning is not to say we are not able to call out right from wrong. Think about the context in which the Sermon on the Mount was given…it was the early first century in a Jewish dominated area, where the Religious leaders were self-righteous and looked down upon those they deemed “lesser” than them. With context in mind, Jesus is warning people that they will incur the same amount of judgment that they rain down upon others. Later on, we will talk about the difference between unfair judgment and proper discernment. That said, we all should take heed…as the central idea here is that we should only judge in as much as we want to be judged back…none of us want to be unfairly judged…therefore we should not do so to others. Again, we will talk about this in a bit. For now though, let’s move on to our main text in Romans. 14

Admittedly, this is a tough subject to preach on these days…and not for the reasons you might think. I don’t find it difficult to preach on you and I being overly judgmental because I don’t want to offend anyone in the body. I find it difficult to preach on because of how our society has aligned itself against the word of God. Often, these verse in Romans are used by the world to “prove” that Christians are never in a position to judge right from wrong, holy vs evil. So, that in mind, one of the most important things to understand about Romans 14 is that Paul is addressing how believers relate to other believers. In no way, shape or form, is Paul suggesting that we not draw lines in the sand when it comes to ungodliness or sin. In this context, Paul is not talking about how the church relates to secular society. It is important to keep that in mind as we go through the first 12 verses of Romans 14.

Let’s get started.

Romans 14: 1-4

“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

OK, Romans 14 opens up with Paul addressing those in the church that are (either) new to the faith, or those who have never progressed (like they should have). In this section Paul uses the example of eating food considered unclean. We have two people, one person who’s faith says that they can only eat certain things, and another person who’s faith says they can eat anything. Obviously, Paul is referring to the O.T. law which forbade the people of Israel from eating certain types of meat.

Imagine in your mind a person who grew up in a Jewish culture that considered it a terrible sin to eat pork and bacon. This person gives their life to the Lord and now seeks to live for Christ, yet all they know is what they’ve been taught. On the other hand, let’s say another person grew up w/out any sort of dietary restrictions (Gentiles). They become believers and are living out their lives to please the Lord, according to how they have been taught.

Now, the way most of us think, and I include myself in this category is that we would want our new Christian brother to find freedom in Christ and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Where we go wrong is when we begin to look at that person as “less” of a Christian than we are. That our “freedom” in Christ makes us better, therefore we set out to change that person because we feel as though our freedom should be theirs. We go from simply praying for that person in private to trying to shape them into our image. Paul tells us that is wrong. He says: who are you to judge the servant of another…in other words, we each serve Christ, he is our boss and it is before Him that we will stand one day and give an account of our decisions. Perhaps, because of how that person was raised, they will never come to the decision that eating all things are OK. As long as that person holds that that conviction, we are not in a position to judge that or try and change that person to our liking.

Romans 14: 5-6

“One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.”

Paul now moves on to his second example for the people in Rome. Not only were there arguments about what a person can eat, but they were also in disagreement about what day should be set apart to honor the Lord. There were some who suggested the proper day to worship was on Saturday, the traditional Sabbath. Others said worship should take place on the first day of the week—Resurrection day, Sunday. This debate still rages today, as many Seventh Day Adventists who embrace the older traditions believe that those who worship on Sunday are in danger of losing their salvation…which brings up a conundrum for believers…what to do when we consider something doctrinally important, but another person views it as a matter of conscience. We will talk about that in a little it.

For now though, Paul continues to instruct the Romans…he says: “Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” In other words, we must adhere to our convictions in the right way before the Lord, without demanding that others follow what we think is right. This is tough for many of us, as naturally, when we truly believe that we are right in a matter, we think other people should feel the same way. One of the central ideas in Romans 14 tells us that is wrong.

Verses 7 through 12 wrap up Paul’s thoughts, regarding the previous 6 verses.

Romans 14: 7-12

“For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

If I could sum up for you all what I believe Paul is trying to convey here, this is what it may sound like...listen, all of you think differently on a variety of subjects…that is human nature…but each of us are accountable for our individual convictions to the Lord. As believers, we do not live for ourselves, we live for Christ and will answer to Him one day…that is why each of you must “be fully convinced in his own mind” that your convictions come from the Lord, and then you must live them out in respect to those around you, without judging and without trying to change people to your own image. That said, keep in mind that the Lord is the one who can peer into our hearts, and we will all be held to account on how we live out our life in Christ and how we treat others.

That is what I think Paul is trying to get across. If you think about it, Paul wants nothing more than for the body of Christ to live in unity together. We talked about this the last few Wednesday evenings. If you haven’t seen those, they are on our YouTube channel under Wednesday Evening: The Church as a Body. In fact, most of what Paul writes to the churches centers around doctrine and unity in the body. We must get both of those right, in order to be healthy.

When we look at what can cause harm to people, both inside and outside of the church walls, a judgmental spirit definitely ranks up there. The body of Christ has always struggled with this, going as far back as the disciples. A few weeks ago we talked about Jesus and the Cananite woman in Matthew 15. The disciples looked down on her for a number of reasons, as she was not a Jew…and she was a woman. That story is a great example of Jesus working within the culture to bring wholeness to this woman and her child.

For the last little bit here, I want to address the difference between judgment vs accountability. The first thing I want to note is that we can not take passages like the ones we covered today and apply them to our lives w/out the context of scripture as a whole. For example, in the beginning of the message I read to you Matthew 7: 1-5, where Jesus warns us about how we judge others. If we only read that, we would not get the entire point Jesus is trying to make. Just a few passages later, in the same chapter, Jesus then says this:

Matthew 7: 15-20

““Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

Wait a second, I thought we ought not judge…right? Wrong, we ought not judge harshly or unfairly.

The same goes for Romans 14. Paul warns against judging fellow believers, yet, we read this in the book of Hebrews

Hebrews 5: 12-14

“Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

In these passages, it’s clear that the author is making a judgment on the maturity of fellow Christians, telling them that they need to grow up and stop acting like a child.

If you remember last week, I read from the book of James, where it says: “Faith w/out works is dead,” but I also brought up the passage in Eph., where Paul says that our salvation is based upon our faith, not our works. We talked about that a bit…this week is similar to that. On one hand we are instructed not to judge, on the other hand, we must sometimes be fruit inspectors and use discernment when dealing with each other.

So, how do we balance these things out within the body of Christ? I think this delicate balance is the difference between being judgmental and offering accountability. There are some important distinctions between offering someone accountability, verses judging people for their actions.

Judgment

Here is what I’ve found is the case, most of the the time when it comes to harshly judging someone. Those who stand in the harshest judgment of others are people who are easily offended. See, before we start to judge someone, first we get offended by something a person has said or done. If we look at the example in Romans 14, a group of people were offended at another group for what they ate. As a result, they stand in judgment of those people. The same goes for preferring one day over another. If more than one person is around, chances are, you will eventually be offended at something. Once that happens, we have some options. We can either choose to stay offended and in turn stand in judgment of them, or (for most matters) learn to not be so easily offended.

Eccl 7: 21-22

“Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you. For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.”

This may be the first time that I’ve used a passage from Eccl. in a sermon. The point that the author is trying to make is similar to that of

Romans 3: 23

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

The more we are aware of our own tendency to offend others, the less chance we will have at being offended. Of course, offence will still happen…it is up to usn us to navigate that offense in a mature way…lest we find ourselves being guilty of what Paul is talking about in Romans 14.

Last point on this, in the book of James we read something similar to what Paul says in Romans:

James 4: 11-12

“Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?”

When we deal with others, the goal is to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, we often get offended and begin to judge over matters of likes or dislikes, over personality issues. However, sometimes more serious matters to arise. In these instances where we find a brother of sister struggling in their walk, we can either be offended and judge them from afar, or we can follow the principles of scripture and offer accountability.

2. Accountability

There are a few different types of accountability. There is us being willing to be held accountable, and then there is our willingness to help hold others accountable. Both of them are very important, as it related to the body of Christ and as an alternative to being easily offended and judgmental. The main difference between judging someone and offering accountability lies within our heart. Judgment is from afar and does not seek reconciliation, while accountability is about building up ourselves and the other person. Being accountable means that we are transparent in our thoughts, words and actions. We can not force someone to be accountable, it is completely up to them. We can make ourselves available to help, but that person must choose to submit themselves to the process.

Like the issue of overly harsh judgments, a lack of accountability has hurt countless people in and around the church. When a church lacks accountability, whether it is the leadership or not, people tend to do things that cause problems. All we have to do is look at the history of the church and see the damage that can happen when there is little to no accountability within the body of Christ. Just about every one of Paul’s letters is about keeping each other accountable for our actions.

1 Thes. 5: 14-18

“We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

This is a good picture of what accountability should look like…To admonish or correct the unruly, to encourage the fainthearted and to help the week. The NIV translates verses 14 and 15 this way:

14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

Notice what Paul says at the end of vs. 14…be patient with everyone, and goes on to say, strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

Think about the relationships in your life wherein accountability is key…a couple of examples are our families and our jobs (to name just a couple). If in our family we do not live openly and transparently, it will cause major issues. If you try to get away with things and be sneaky at your job, you will get fired. Accountability between kids and their parents is a constant source of tension in most families, especially as the child becomes for independent.

If being accountable is important in our families and our work, then the same goes for our relationship with the Lord…especially when it comes to how we deal with those around us. More than once I have tried to help people who claim to want accountability, but unless God does a work in their heart, it’s not long before they begin to lack transparency. As a result, trust is broken. Of course, God can heal this, but it normally take a while and both parties must work at it together to reestablish trust and transparency.

James 5:16

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Being accountable to one another means that we have each other’s interests in mind, whenever we face an issue together. This is the exact opposite of what happens when we are easily offended.

Imagine a body of believers where no one is easily offended, and where everyone takes responsibility for their own actions! Imagine what God could do with a group of people that could submit themselves to one another…to have patience with each other, and always look to the other person’s interests.

The simple fact is, we will never be able to control the actions of others. We will get along with certain people quite easily, but other people have the tendency to drive us nuts. Again, most of the time the issue centers around personality or preferences, not major doctrinal issues.

There are times, however, like I mentioned earlier, where the problem is viewed by one person as a major issues, but not viewed that way by the other person. I’m going to use an example that I saw growing up. In the church where I grew up, the secular holiday of Halloween was widely frowned upon by the church. Starting every October, Wednesday night church would consist of videos of the dangers of back masking, of satanic cults, and the evils of dungeons and dragon. As I got older, Harry Potter was thrown into the mix. We were warned about the dangers of trick or treating…that you are opening yourself up to the devil if you participate. Well, at the time, my dad was serving as the youth pastor and the “minister of music.” This was in the days before churches started offering “fall fesitivals” and such as a Halloween alternative. My dad, being who he was thought that Halloween night would make for an excellent opportunity for an outreach. So, dad planned a “fall festival” before anyone knew what a fall festival was. It was a huge success. Tons of kids showed up and had an opportunity to hear a short gospel presentation. Just as important, a lot of kids who had never experienced “church” had a great time interacting with “church people.”

Well, you might imagine how the church board reacted when they found out that ungodly costumes were on church property. These men held a very strong conviction that the Church should set an example in all areas of life and not try to “be like the world.” This is what these men had been taught and they could easily back it up with scripture. On the other hand, my dad looked at it from an evangelistic standpoint and could back up his side with scripture, but even so, dad did not view the issue as a major breach of Christianity. Both sides held legitimate convictions. Which side is right?

Through this and many other examples that I’ve seen, I’ve learned that the more legalistic and rigid a person is in their thinking, the more they will mistake non-essential things as essential. Of course, there are important doctrinal issues that must be discussed and debated in the right way, that goes w/out saying. My advice to a person who comes up against something like this is to evaluate how many times, say in a 6 month period that they really feel that a serious doctrinal line was crossed. If that person says more than one or two time, then I let them know they are in the wrong church. In other words, if the church you attend is constantly offending you, then its time to go…however, if you’ve only felt that way every once and a great while…then you are probably good. Take that for what it’s worth. This is one of those difficult areas that can be difficult to navigate.

Let’s quickly wrap up.

God’s word presents us with the truth, those things that are vital to our understanding of God’s character, the plan of salvation for Man, how to treat one another and how we are to attain Christlikeness. We are instructed to take great care when issuing judgments toward other people. Most of our overly harsh judgmental attitudes come from taking on personal offense. If you only take one thing away today, let it be this:

Those who are easily offended often do the most offending

Accountability is an absolute must in the body of Christ. Not only must we live accountable lives, but we must be willing to help others in the area of accountability. The book of Proverbs says:

Proverbs 27:17

“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

As with anything in life, sometimes we must use discernment in certain situations and apply the principles in God’s word to a situation that is not spelled out 100%. In instances where we are put into a position to judge, we must do so carefully. Additionally, when people are not able to see eye to eye on an issue, where one person views the issue more importantly, we must do our best to follow the guidelines found in scripture. When we use proper discernment and apply the principles correctly to these unique situations, God receives the honor and we normally learn an important lesson that adds to our life experience. However, when we do not use discernment and we do not properly apply the principles found in scripture, God gets no glory and we end up hurting other people.

Challenge: Are you easily offended? If so, do you struggle with silent judgments of other people? We can all struggle with this sometimes. Pray that God would renew your mind in this area.