Agree to Disagree

Sermon Notes

Romans 14:1–13 NKJV

1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 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 shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Twelve: When Christians Disagree (Romans 14:1–15:7)

Two of the most famous Christians in the Victorian Era in England were Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker, both of them mighty preachers of the Gospel. Early in their ministries they fellowshipped and even exchanged pulpits. Then they had a disagreement, and the reports even got into the newspapers. Spurgeon accused Parker of being unspiritual because he attended the theater. Interestingly enough, Spurgeon smoked cigars, a practice many believers would condemn. Who was right? Who was wrong? Perhaps both of them were wrong! When it comes to questionable matters in the Christian life, cannot dedicated believers disagree without being disagreeable? “I have learned that God blesses people I disagree with!” a friend of mine told me one day, and I have learned the same thing. When Jesus Christ is Lord, we permit Him to deal with His own servants as He wishes.

Receive - to welcome, to have at a guest.

Disputes - to dispute with someone on the basis of different judgments.

Doubtful Things - to argue about differences of opinion.

Despise - to despise someone or something on the basis that it is worthless or of no value.

Esteems - to judge something to be better than something else, and hence, to prefer.

Convinced - to be completely certain of the truth of something.

Sermon Outline

At least the weak and the strong have as their base faith in Christ Jesus.

But what if there is differences of opinions on things being done in church that are not outside the boundaries of Scripture?

How must the church respond to such opinions?

How are we to view those in our church who do not meet our own expectation of Christianity and have a different perspective on issue you feel strongly about and they don’t?

What are doubtful things?

The disputations are the movements of thought in the weak man, whose anxious mind will not be at peace; no censure of any kind is implied by the word. The strong, who welcome him to the fellowship of the Church, are to do so unreservedly, not with the purpose of judging and ruling his mind by their own.” Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Vol. 2, p. 231). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

In every church there are weak and strong believers. The strong understand spiritual truth and practice it, but the weak have not yet grown into that level of maturity and liberty. The weak must not condemn the strong and call them unspiritual. The strong must not despise the weak and call them immature. God has received both the weak and the strong; therefore, they should receive one another. Warren Wiersbe

“Some in the early church were convinced that vegetarianism was the right road to follow. They believed that the spiritual measure was not only whether someone refrained from eating meat offered to idols but refrained from meat altogether. The vegetarians thought that exercising such restraint moved them to a higher level of spirituality. Those vegetarians were the ones Paul describes as weaker brothers. They did not understand the fullness of the biblical concept of Christian liberty. They were held captive to elemental principles of “taste not, touch not, handle not.” They thought they were being devout when, in fact, they were being infantile and immature in their reasoning.” R C Sproul

Big Idea

The greatest steps we can take as a church are the ones we take together; leaving no one behind.

So what steps should we make as the body of Christ here at Westlakes?

We welcome all Christians to our fellowship. (1)

We encourage discussion on Christian ethics. (2-4)

We allow for individual Christian liberty without judgment (5-9)

We recognise that we all will be held accountable for our responses and life choices. (10-13)