Judging Others (Romans 14:1–12)

Introduction

Attention

We're continuing our series in the Book of Romans. Today we'll be in Romans 14:1-12. These verses today are going to cover the topic of judging others. We hear the term, “judging others,” and we typically understand that to be to be a bad thing. Sometimes we believe we should never have an opinion about anyone else. But what does the Bible actually say about judging others?

Imagine a life where you never made any judgments at all. You wake up in the morning and you have to decide whether to go to work or stay in bed. How do you make that judgment call? So you lay there in bed, not making any judgments. Eventually you get hungry. So you get up, go to the fridge, open up the fridge, and there are a bunch of breakfast options, but you can't make any judgment about what to choose for breakfast. So you just stand there. Your cat walks by your leg, and you think maybe the cat wants food, but you don't want to impose your will on the cat. So you just pat the head of the cat. Good kitty. Should you get dressed or go to work in pajamas? I mean, who are you to judge what's appropriate dress? And then should you drive to work? I mean, do you want to impose your will upon everybody else in the highway? It's impossible to get through life without making any judgments about anything.

And in fact, Christians have to make judgments all the time. Friends at work are all going to the bar after work. Do I go with them? My boss is getting really strict. Do I complain about it? My child is having trouble with a teacher. Do I speak with the teacher? What do I say?

We’re going to look at the topic of making judgments, and really this topic is about how we treat one another. We’ll look at judging others through the lens of Romans 14.

Setting

We're down to our last three chapters in the book of Romans. Today we'll be in Romans 14:1-12.

We ended chapter 13 speaking about living in view of the return of Christ. Since his return is closer than ever, we should walk with decency as it says in Romans 13:13-14, putting “on the Lord Christ,” and making “no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.” In other words, live your life in holiness, because the day of his return is closer than ever.

That leads us into chapter 14. So if you have your Bibles open up to Romans 14:1-12.

Scripture Reading

Romans 14:1–12 CSB

1 Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge 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 will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God. 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Pray

In seminary, the teach something called eisegesis, which is what you don’t want to do as a preacher. That’s pulling something out of a text to make it say something it does not say. Since verse two says, "One who is weak eats only vegetables,” I'd love to claim that this is speaking about the glories of meat eating, and then have us all go out for a steak dinner. But I can’t do that. That's not what this is teaching.

If you are a vegetarian, keep going. This text is more than about food.

The Strong and the Weak in Faith

We start off speaking about two individuals: One who is strong in the faith, and another who is weak in the faith. The one strong in faith is looking upon the one weak in faith. He says in Romans 14:1, “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith.”

He doesn't actually name the other side of this until the first verse of Romans 15, where he says in Romans 15:1,

Romans 15:1 CSB

1 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

And so from the viewpoint of those who are strong, he instructs us to bear the weaknesses of those without strength. He describes examples of what he means about those weak in the faith in the chapter where we're studying today, Romans 14. We're working a little backwards, but what's important to know is that there are basically two characters here: one strong in the faith, and one weak in the faith.

Disputed Matters

He tells us at the end of Romans 14:1, that those strong in the faith should not argue with those weak in the faith about disputed matters.

Verse one sets up the rest of these verses of Romans 14:1-12, so it's going to be important for us to get our minds wrapped around what he is saying about not having arguments with those weak in the faith over disputed matters.

What is a disputed matter? It's probably clearer to define a disputed matter by describing what it is not. Disputed matters are not core doctrines of the faith.

There are undeniable, undisputed doctrines of the faith that the disciples held their ground on and stood firmly even to the point of their death. The fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, that he lived a perfect life, that he died on the cross for your sins and mine, that he rose again from the grave on the third day, and that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life, these are undisputed doctrines of the faith that are worthy of our life if the Lord wills.

So if there is someone who claims to be a Christian, but would say, for example, “Jesus was a good teacher, but I don't believe he rose from the dead,” that would certainly be a salvation issue worthy of conversation and exploration with that person.

There are core issues, such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that if a person does not believe, despite what they claim about themselves, would categorize them as someone who is not biblically a Christian, and therefore someone who is not a true follower of Jesus. Yes, that is a judgment that is made about someone else based on a core doctrinal issue.

Salvation issues are what we would call first tier, or core, indisputable matters. We must be in agreement on these essential salvation doctrines in order to call ourselves a Christian.

These first-tier salvation issues are not what Paul has in mind when he is saying in Romans 14:1, “don’t argue” (with those weak in the faith) “about disputed matters.” So if that's not what he is talking about, what kind of issues is he describing when he says disputed matters?

He describes for us what he means by disputed matters through a couple of examples. One example comes from the dietary practices of some Christians of that day, and another example comes from the days that some Christians in the first-century were holding as religiously important.

This text reminded me about a speaker I heard at a conference this week. He was talking about the necessity of the multi ethnic church. For the SBC, before the 2000s, one estimate is that less than 10% of our churches were multiethnic. However, by 2020, the percentage of multi ethnic churches had risen to be about 22% of our convention. That also means that over 3/4 of our churches are still not multi ethnic churches.

The speaker went on to describe his church. As a pastor of a multi ethnic church, he described the multi ethnic church as something that sounds great on paper, but was somewhat of a headache. He says that you have the MSNBC guy sitting next to the Fox News guy and the Newsmax guy and when all the political things start bubbling over it's just tough to make people happy. If different cultures coming together don't have an appreciation for one another, holding it together is hard.

But as our neighborhoods become more multiethnic, our churches must reflect the people around us. And I am thankful to God for all the different ethnicities and cultures that he has brought here to Catalyst Church.

As the church was growing in the first century, it was becoming multi ethnic. For the first time, Jews and Gentiles would sit together, worshiping the same God together.

Meat and Vegetables

When cultures come together, differences stand out. Imagine the Jew and the Gentiles sitting together for a meal. Who could imagine this would happen? God brought these two very different cultures together to worship one Lord.

In Jewish culture, Jews would abstain from meat given to them by Gentiles. Sometimes the meat hitting the Gentile market in the first century would be meat that had been offered to idols. A Gentile would sacrifice an animal to an idol, and then the remaining meat would be sold in the market place.

By the time of the first century, kosher laws were already a form of practice in the Jewish community. If a Jew got kosher meat, he could ensure that this meat was in line with Jewish religious law. Eating in this way was a sign for the Jew of his observance of God's law.

So here’s the picture: Jews and Gentiles are together in the first-century church. They together in the Gentile land, sitting down for a Baptist potluck in the first century. Gentiles are happily serving food, and Jewish Christians are in line. Jewish Christians see meat on the table, and they wonder what to do. Since they didn’t know if it was kosher, some decided to be like Daniel and eat only vegetables in this Gentile land.

I believe that's what Paul is describing when he says in Romans 14:2,

Romans 14:2 CSB

2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables.

That is an example of what he would describe as a disputed matter. This was not a matter of a salvation concern. It was rather a matter of personal conviction.

Holy Days

The other example of a day that a person would judge to be more important than another day in Romans 14:5 is similar. It was a matter of personal conviction.

Jews in the Jewish culture would gather to worship on the Sabbath, which for us in our calendar would be a Saturday. The fact that early Christians started meeting on Sundays is actually another evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. How did a sect of Judaism with a practice of worshipping God on Saturday start worshipping God on Sunday? You see it in the New Testament.

In Acts 20:7, the early church is described as gathering together to break bread on the first day of the week.

In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul describes to the church what to do with their offerings on the first day of the week.

In Revelation 1:10, John describes the Lord's Day when he says,

Revelation 1:10 CSB

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet

So since Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, you have this picture from the early church starting to commemorate the first day of the week, known as the Lord's Day, as the day to set aside to worship together as a church. That's why today the Christian church still worships on the first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord's Day, the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

You can see that as being culturally odd for the Jewish Christian. And there were probably Jewish Christians who still made a habit of gathering in the first century on the Sabbath to worship. For them, it was a matter of personal conviction. Today, some of our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ still worship on the Sabbath as a matter of cultural and personal conviction.

So both of these examples of disputed matters are matters of personal conviction and not salvation issues.

Judging Others

Now we get to the matter of judging others, and judging others is at the core of what this text is about. The word “judge” appears at least five times in these twelve verses and is implied in other places.

Romans 14:3 “One who does not eat must not judge one who does.”

Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge another’s household servant?”

Romans 14:5: “One person judges one day to be more important... Someone else judges every day to be the same.”

Romans 14:10 “Why do you judge your brother or sister?”

Romans 14:10 CSB

10 But you, why do you judge 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.

There is an emphasis in these twelve verses on not judging your brother or sister in Christ. But there's something odd about that statement because Paul himself has to make a judgment in these verses.

Right in Romans 14:1, he has described some Christians as strong in the faith and other Christians as weak in the faith. But to do this he has to make a judgment about their faith, does he not? Is he violating the very thing that he's telling us not to do, which is not to judge our brother or sister?

If you talk to a random person in the street about Christianity, a lot of times people who claim to know about Christianity or the Bible really don't know it as much as they claim they think they know it. They may not know much of the Bible, but there is a scripture verse that many unbelievers will know. They like this one. They'll throw a little King James to make it sound more potent. They'll say, “Judge not lest ye be judged!” They love that verse. They've memorized that one. Now, if you ask them where to find it in the Bible, who actually said it, maybe some know Jesus said it.

Now, the verse that they’re describing is found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:1 where Jesus says,

Matthew 7:1 CSB

1 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.

Probably one of the most famous verses in the Bible. This verse is within the context of a picture that Jesus gives of one person pointing out the splinter in someone's eye while at the same time having this beam of wood in his own eye. It’s a picture of hypocritical judgment, where he tells the person in Matthew 7:5 this,

Matthew 7:5 CSB

5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.

The core of this teaching is that if you are someone going around judging others, be prepared for that same standard to be used against you.

But Jesus does not teach us that there is never a place for judgment. In this same Sermon on the Mount, in the same chapter of Matthew 7, Jesus says in Matthew 7:16, talking about false prophets, saying,

Matthew 7:16 CSB

16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

“You’ll recognize them by their fruit.” Now to recognize someone by their fruit, you have to make a judgment about them, do you not? You have to make a judgement about their teaching and their life in order to be able to recognize them by their fruit.

The Christian church has a duty to make judgments, especially about leaders. It is your duty to make judgments around core doctrines and indisputable matters. If myself or any other pastor up here begins to preach heresy, if for some reason I came up here and said, “I don't know if Jesus is the Son of God,” it would be your duty as Catalyst Church to make a judgement about that heresy and kindly, in love, let me go from my position, and as a church who believes the Word of God, find a new pastor.

So what is the warning around judging others for a Christian?

Christians are not warned against making judgments against false teaching. Christians should be aware of false teaching. We have a duty to protect those around us in Christ against false teachers.

But what about judgments that have to do with personal conviction? Christians do have personal convictions. Take a look at Romans 14:5,

Romans 14:5 CSB

5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.

“Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.” Now there's an important caveat there. Just because you have a personal conviction doesn't mean it applies to everyone else.

This is a silly example, but suppose when I was in the world I spent a lot of my time singing at karaokes. Now I made this example up, so I’m not talking about anybody here. When I was in the world, I sang my favorite secular karaoke songs, and karaoke became an idol in my life, leading me into a dark space. Then I become a Christian, and for me going back to karaoke would be like going back to the world. It's a personal conviction for me that I stay away from karaoke. Does that mean every Christian should not sing karaoke? Absolutely not. That’s your personal conviction.

God gives us personal convictions, and that is a good thing. Just make sure that if you have a personal conviction in your walk with Christ, that you are fully convinced of it in your own mind. Don't follow the personal convictions of other people. Following the personal convictions of other people is how we get things like legalism, and it’s how we get in trouble. Know God's word for yourself, and let the Spirit of God convict you. Be fully convinced in your own mind.

Matters of personal conviction can become hypocritical judgment like that. You've got a personal conviction about something. Maybe its about the way people dress. You speak to a Christian about something their wearing, telling them, “A real Christian wouldn’t dress like that!” They walk away feeling defeated, and meanwhile you've got your own layers of pride and layers of jealousy and layers of other sin happening in your own heart.

Personal convictions are what we see in Romans 14. The Jewish brother in Christ had personal convictions about his eating habits, but he's warned against looking down on Gentile brothers in Christ that didn't have those convictions. A Jewish brother in Christ had personal convictions on holy days, but was one not to look down on another Gentile Christian who did not have that personal conviction.

Does that happen today? It most certainly does. Christians are really good on beating each other up. Just look at the way we speak about other churches.

We might look at a mega church and say they're all about selling books and making money, because we have a personal conviction against big churches.

We might say our church is more biblical because we preach through books instead of topics because we have a personal conviction in preaching style.

We may observe a worship band and make a judgment about a church over personal convictions about worship style.

Here’s a main takeaway: We do harm to our brothers and sisters in Christ when we say my faith is better than your faith.

Christians don't go around saying I am better than you. Christians go around saying, “I need Christ just as much as you.”

Now here is the perspective shift that you need In judging others, and this is the main point for today.

Christians are to be careful in judging others, not only because of the present, but also because of eternity.

We see this in Romans 14:12 where it says,

Romans 14:12 CSB

12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

That prospective shift goes from verses 7 all the way down to verse 12.

Romans 14:7-8 shows the prospective shift that happens in the Christian life, where we are people who no longer belong to ourselves. We are people who now belong to the Lord. We are his.

You are his and the weaker brother or sister in Christ, maybe that you're having words about, they are his, too. As verse Romans 14:8 says, “Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” All of us who are in Jesus Christ belong to him.

So if we belong to him, I need to see my brother or sister in Christ as someone else who belongs to him. Christians, we need to see our lives through the lens of eternity.

Eternal life is a possession of the Christian, not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is. We belong to him. And there is a judgment day for the Christian. The Bible says that every Christian will stand before the Lord.

You see this in 2 Cor. 5:10,

2 Corinthians 5:10 CSB

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The judgment seat of Christ is a place of judgment for Christians where God says, “I gave you faith, I gave you eternal life. What did you do with the faith I gave you?” It’s not a judgment of heaven or hell. It’s a judgment of reward for works done in Christ. When we live in view of eternity, we start seeing our actions, the fruit of our life, our works as being what the Lord said in Matthew 6:20, storing up treasure in heaven.

Take a look at what it says in 1 Cor. 3:11-15:

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 CSB

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:11 “11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.” We live our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He is our rock. He is our fortress. We stand in him.

1 Corinthians 3:12–13 “12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious.” We build on the faith that God has put in our life through Christ. Our good works are a product of his work in us.

So we build with our love for God.

We build with our love for our brothers and sisters.

We build through sharing the good news of Christ in our life with others.

We build through our works of service to one another.

We build through our love for the orphan and the widow.

We build because of who Christ is in us.

“For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.” When he says the day will disclose it, he is talking about a judgment day of Christians before God.

1 Corinthians 3:14–15 “14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.” Some of us want to skip over the reward and just make it into heaven through the skin of our teeth. But I believe that is short sighted.

When we stand before the Lord and we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory, the eternal judge over the living and the dead, will we look back at our life and think, “I'm glad I made it in by the skin of my teeth?” Or will we show a life of faith that truly belonged to him? Will we see works that truly belonged to him? Will we see a love for one another that truly belonged to him?

Conclusion

Maybe you don't know Jesus Christ this morning. You need a life that belongs to him. Put your faith in him. Trust him. He will change your life. But maybe you are a Christian this morning who's been judgmental to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you need to repent. The day is not over yet. Will you commit today to love your brothers and sisters in Christ, and live a life with a view of eternity? Live a life that truly belongs to him.

Let's pray.

Prayer

Communion

We will have communion, remembering Jesus and his sacrifice for us. Meditate on the Lord and where your heart is with him.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 CSB

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!