Romans 14:1-12 | How to Disagree (pt 1)
Notes
Transcript
SERMON TITLE: How to Disagree (pt 1)
SCRIPTURE: Romans 14:1-12 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 9-14-25
TURN MIC ON / WELCOME
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. We’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul gets to the so what beginning in chapter twelve. Meaning he addresses how all of the theology that’s found in the first eleven chapters is to play itself out in how we live. Or — at least — how it should influence the way we live.
And — today — we begin another mini-series — as Paul is going to address the same topic for quite a few verses. What topic is that? How to disagree.
Now if you’ve been around Gateway for a few years — you may remember that when we were in the book of Acts — we also looked at this topic — how to disagree. That was way back in 2020 — a time in history when the world was at peace, everyone was getting along with each other, there were no controversies, and — oh wait — 2020 was the exact opposite of all of that. And unfortunately division — instead of peace — disharmony — instead of getting along — and controversies — instead of truth — all of that was also happening in the church among God’s people.
But here we are in 2025 — a time in history when the world is at peace, and everyone is getting along with each other, there are no controversies — and — since none of that’s true — including in the church — it’s a great time to return to the topic of how to disagree with each other — for disagreements are sure to come. Yet — for the follower of Jesus — how we disagree with others is as important as what we disagree about. In fact — how we disagree — should be an obvious difference between us and those who don’t believe in Jesus. For we follow a Savior who had many disagreements with us and — news flash — I’m sure still has many disagreements with us right now — and yet — he continues to welcome us in fellowship with him even as he reveals to us the errors of our ways.
So with that as a guide as to where we’re headed — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter fourteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter fourteen today — looking at verses one through twelve. There Paul writes…
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 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. 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. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
How to disagree — that’s our topic for the next few weeks. But Paul’s going to start us off on this journey with a pretty unpopular statement: Some of our disagreements are simply due to the fact that some of us are weaker than others. I’ll explain what he means by weaker in a moment — but know that Paul’s point runs counter to the egalitarian view of our culture where everyone’s thoughts, opinions, insights, and so on are equally valid. Paul — inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words on behalf of God — disagrees with our culture. After defining the weak and the strong, we’ll then look at what we’re not to do in our disagreements along with what we are to do when we find ourselves in a disagreement.
And — let me say this — disagreements should not surprise us! I mean — look around the room you’re sitting in right now. Here at Gateway we’ve got people of all ages — even a couple of ninety years old among us.
But it’s not just our physical ages that are different — we’ve got people of all kinds of spiritual ages. Some of you have believed in Jesus for decades — some for days.
We’ve got all sorts of backgrounds of what our lives were like before we believed in Jesus. Some of us were raised in a Christian home. Some in a non-believing home. Some were raised Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, and — few of us ironically — were raised Presbyterian.
Some of us came from legalistic type churches and you can’t believe that people wear shorts to Gateway — others of us come from churches that were the opposite of legalistic — you wonder why I don’t wear shorts when I preach.
Some of us are Matt Chandler, John Piper, and Tim Keller fans. Others subscribe to Steven Furtick, Andy Stanley, and Craig Groeschel sermons. And some of us — I’m sure — really like TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, and Joyce Meyer.
Why do I bring all of this up? Because all of that has the potential to create all kinds of problems for us when it comes to unity and being biblical in our disagreements. And that’s what Paul is warning us about as he encourages us in yet another way that we’re to love one another — a theme he’s been returning to for a few chapters now. For how we disagree with each other is an opportunity for us to love each other as we’ve first been loved by Christ.
THE WEAK AND THE STRONG
With that — let’s understand what Paul means when he calls some of the Christians in Rome weak and others strong. We’re back in verse one.
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
And skipping to verse five we read…
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
And — to clear up a question you may have — “Josh, I saw Paul call some weak, but I didn’t see him call the others strong” — later on Paul will say…
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Yes. That’s in the next chapter — which tells you that Paul’s gonna spend a long time on this subject. Apparently — division in the church isn’t a new problem — it’s an ancient one. Because our enemy loves nothing more than for God’s people to spend time fighting with one another instead of uniting together to fight him.
But back to the weak and the strong. Paul starts his thought with a command: to welcome those who are weak in faith. A few observations. These people — those who are weak — are weak in faith — meaning — they are believers. The weakness of their faith doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re brand new Christians — for Scripture warns that you can be a Christian for a very long time and still not have matured very much spiritually. And that’s what Paul is suggesting when he calls these Christians weak in faith: They’re Christians whose faith hasn’t matured very much.
And Paul gives some examples of what this looked like in the church in Rome. Apparently these Christians — who were weak in faith — had some sort of belief that eating meat was unholy. The weak person — Paul says — eats only vegetables. This isn’t a knock on you if you’re a vegetarian for health reasons. The weakness isn’t about the specific diet — it’s about their view of the diet.
Which may make you wonder, “What was the big deal about meat for these people?” If you know your Old Testament, what to eat and not eat was a really big deal for the Jewish people. Go read the book of Leviticus if you don’t believe me. What you ate — or didn’t eat — was a matter of holiness for the Jewish people. And — in the church in Rome — there were many Jews who’d come to believe in Jesus — just as there were many Gentiles — or non-Jews — who had also come to believe in Jesus. And within this diverse group — there was disagreement over what a person could eat while being faithful to Jesus.
Now — so these weak Christians don’t get a bad reputation — they weren’t legalists. You can be weak in faith — have an incorrect view of something — and not be a legalist. Paul’s quick to call out legalists when the situation is called for — but here he doesn’t call the weak Christians legalists. Why not?
To answer our question let’s look at some examples of when he does call people out for begin legalists. For example he said…
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
But what exactly was Paul reacting to? He makes it clear later when he writes…
1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
The legalism that Paul’s rejecting is where our works — what we do — is what makes a person right with God. In the Galatian church there was division around many works — circumcision, as an example — that they believed had to be done — in addition to believing the gospel — in order for a person to be right with God. And Paul totally and completely rejected such legalism. He calls it a false gospel. He says things like, “Who cast an evil spell on you” and “Let anyone who preaches such things be cursed.” He doesn’t hold back when it comes to legalism. As one person said, “Jesus plus nothing equals everything.” As soon as we try to add anything to Jesus — in order for our salvation — we lose everything. The gospel — the Good News of salvation — is about what Christ has done for us.
So back to these weak Christians in Rome. Instead of the forceful language that he uses in Galatians — Paul is gentle with them. This tells us that Paul didn’t view these weak Christians as legalists — they weren’t saying, “To be right with God you must believe in Jesus and not eat meat” — whatever questions, concerns, and beliefs about eating meat that they had — though mistaken — wasn’t because they were being legalistic.
Why do I say that they were mistaken? Because of what we read elsewhere in Scripture. For example…
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” 17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
And Paul taught the same thing.
8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.
Again — though these weak Christians were mistaken in their beliefs about food — they weren’t taking their beliefs to the realm of legalism — where eating or not eating was a sign that a person was a true Christian or not. Yet — though it wasn’t legalism — guess what — their mistaken beliefs were still cause for division in the church!
Yet eating or not eating meat wasn’t their only mistaken belief. Apparently these weak Christians also held some views about certain days being “better” — or more “sacred” — than others. This may have been something to do with the Sabbath — Saturday — being the day for Christians to worship — versus the Lord’s Day — or Sunday — but we’re not exactly sure — Paul doesn’t give us enough details. All he does let us in on is that this also was a point of division in the church. And — again — Paul makes it clear that these weak Christians weren’t being legalists about their view of these special days — but they were mistaken in their views about the special days.
Now — at this point it’s understandable if you’re thinking, “What does eating or not eating meat and this or that special day have anything to do with me?” Though meat and special days aren’t causes for division in the church today — there are many beliefs that Christians hold to that do cause division in the church. And — to stay in line with Paul’s thinking — these are mistaken beliefs by Christians who are weak in the faith — not legalists — that’s a different topic — but whose mistaken beliefs cause division in the church.
Here at Gateway — we call this the difference between the essentials and non-essentials. This isn’t something that we came up with — this is how our denomination articulates the idea — which isn’t even unique to our denomination but is an idea — essentials and non-essentials — that goes back centuries.
The essentials of the faith are made explicit in a document that’s cleverly titled “The Essential of Our Faith.” The essentials are what all members of Gateway are required to agree to — they’re what unite us together as a faith family. What are the essentials?
I’m about to read them and — if you’re a member of Gateway — would you stand right now — that goes for folks at our North Main Campus? Friends in Bucyrus — you’re part of the EPC and have the same essentials of the faith — so you can stand as well if you’re a member for the faith family there. I know that standing during the sermon is different — but I thought we’d take the opportunity to reaffirm what we believe as a sign of our unity around the essentials. At the end I’ll ask you to respond by affirming that this is what you believe as a member of Gateway Church and First Pres Bucyrus.
Here are the essentials.
We believe that…All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God’s redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.
We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To him be all honor, glory and praise forever!
Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and his virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day, he arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, he now is our High Priest and Mediator.
The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, he gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.
Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits his righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifying them in his sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again to the earth — personally, visibly, and bodily — to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
As members of Gateway Church and First Pres Bucyrus to you reaffirm your belief in the essentials of our faith? If so, say “I do.” You can be seated.
Now my prayer for us as a faith family — and I hope this is your prayer for us as well — is that our being united on these doctrines will keep us united together when we disagree on non-essential matters. Now — for sure — non-essential doesn’t mean non-important. But if we’re united on the most important doctrines — on the essentials — why would we allow non-essential doctrines — and even things that aren’t doctrines — divide us? Because — when we divide over non-essentials — we demonstrate that the essentials aren’t actually our essentials — whatever we’ve divided over was more important — otherwise — why divide and go our separate ways?
WHAT WE ARE NOT TO DO
Now that we have an idea of what Paul means by weak and strong Christians — and the situation going on in Rome and how it all relates to unity in the church — let’s look at what we’re not to do when we find ourselves in a disagreement with one another over a non-essential issue.
Here’s what Paul says in verse three.
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. 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.
A few verses later he asks…
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
When we disagree — what are we’re not to do — as those who follow Jesus? We’re not to despise one another nor are we to pass judgment on one another. Don’t despise and don’t pass judgment.
The temptation of the strong is to despise the weak for their lack of spiritual growth and maturity — to be impatient with them — to look down on them. The temptation of the weak is to pass judgment on the strong — believing that the strong are loose with their theology, unprincipled in their practices, and dishonor God by their behavior.
Now up to this point in the sermon — I haven’t asked you any self-reflective questions to help you discern if you’re a weak Christian or a strong one — so here’s the first reflection question: Which of these temptations do you find yourself struggling with most? Do you find yourself often despising other Christians or passing judgment on them? This isn’t a sure fire way to know with certainty whether you’re weak or strong, but it’s still a helpful question to ponder.
And — when we remember that the reason we’re not to despise or pass judgment is because a disagreement has occurred — we begin to see the complexity of the situation. For — once again — though these disagreements are over non-essential matters — that doesn’t make the matter unimportant. And what Paul is telling us is that when we discuss our differences and disagreements on these non-essential issues — we’re to do so lovingly, and with kindness, and with our Bibles open. As we like to say around here, “We’re Word and Spirit Christians” which means we want our differences to be discussed with God’s Word opened because submitting to his Word on all things is something we all agree to — that’s an essential!
WHAT WE ARE TO DO
Which gives us another way to test the maturity level of our faith — how weak or how strong our faith is. But before we get to this second test — let’s return to Paul’s words.
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
And why do we welcome the weak — even when their weakness is a potential for division? Because…
3 God has welcomed him.
Remembering that — whether weak or strong…
4 he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
And God upholds and makes both the weak and strong stand — because — both are Christians. Thus…
6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
And both the weak and the strong believe that…
10 we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Thus — the key to all of this — according to Paul — is that…
5 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Now we just read some amazing, soul-lifting, unity producing truths.
We’re to welcome each other — even with our disagreements — because God has first welcomed us.
And — whether weak or strong — God holds us up and causes us to stand firm so that his will is accomplished in our lives.
And — in knowing that we’ll all stand before the judgment seat of God — which — for the Christian — is not a threat — but a time of receiving eternal rewards for having lived our lives to honor the Lord — even to the point of allowing our death to honor him.
Thus — each of us should be fully convinced in his or her own mind — and not just on the essentials — but on the non-essentials as well.
But how are our minds to be fully convinced? By God’s Word.
The second way to test the maturity of your faith is to ask: What is the role of God’s Word in your disagreements with fellow Christians? Is God’s Word even considered? Opened? Explored and studied for what God has to say — and not just a verse over here that supports your position — but also the verses over there that support the other person’s position? Do you allow God’s Word to shape what you believe — even regarding non-essential doctrines? And are you in God’s Word regularly enough so that it can shape what you believe?
And — let me say this — and I do so with a heavy heart — for it’s far more common than it should ever be — but Christians often debate, argue, disagree — and even divide — over some topic — and they did so without every opening God’s Word. May that never be the case for us — especially with our unified commitment to be Word and Spirit Christians.
CONCLUSION
Since this topic is going to go on for a few weeks — I think that’s enough for today. Some important questions to consider for all of us. However, I thought I might end with one example of why I’m so proud of you all when it comes to disagreeing.
If you’re newer to Gateway — and haven’t attended one of our baptism services — something different you’ll quickly notice about us is that you’ll see families who bring their children up for infant baptism while others bring their children up for child dedication. In many churches, it’s infant baptism or child dedication — almost like it’s one v one — infant baptism versus child dedication. Because everyone knows that a church practices one or the other, but not both.
Now long before I came to Gateway — which we’re at the nine and half year mark for anyone keeping count — but way before my time — the practice at Gateway was to practice both infant baptism and child dedication. Why? Because what we do with our children is a non-essential — and we have people coming from all kinds of church backgrounds — but more importantly — who’ve come to different conclusions with their Bibles open on this important — but not essential doctrine.
So — in order to do our best to welcome each other — we practice both around here. And what I love most — is how we celebrate with families — regardless if they’re baptizing or dedicating their child. Because we’re a congregation that’s thankful for families who are committed to raising their children up to know and love Jesus. Something that we allow to supersede our views on infant baptism and child dedication.
Thank you Gateway for honoring the Lord — and welcoming one another — even in our difference — or let me say — especially in our differences. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for your goodness, kindness, and graciousness towards us. For there’s much that we believe and do that you disagree with. And — yet — you welcome us anyway. You welcome us into your family and — even more amazingly — into your eternal presence.
Spirit, you are the Spirit of unity and you desire unity among us. United us — we pray. Knit our hearts together. Produce within each of us a spirit of hospitality — where we are the most welcoming people that others know.
And — Jesus — us being welcoming into your family and into your Father’s presence is possible because of what you did — in love — for us. You lived for us. Died for us. And defeated death for us — and for our unity. May we fight hard — as we live under your Word to us and by the power of the Holy Spirit in us — to display the unity that you’ve made possible. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
May you honor your God as you welcome each other as you’ve been welcomed by God. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
