Principles of Christian Unity
Romans 14:13-23
November 22, 2009
I. Stop Passing Judgment on Each Other.
There is an important rule of Bible Hermeneutics that must come into force here: "Never base a Christian doctrine on a single Bible verse." If you take Romans 14:13 all by itself, you will fall into the trap of tolerating every kind of bad behavior. Here we need to stop and think for a minute, because there is a difference between making good judgment calls on moral issues, and being a judgmental personality.
Christ Himself commands us to make good judgments in John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
Paul ordered the Church in Corinth to make a judgment call on the sinful life of a member, and cast him out of the Church.
There is a difference between major issues, and minor issues. If you cannot tell the difference between an essential doctrine, and a non-essential doctrine, then you have no business make judgment calls. If you cannot tell the difference between a big sin, and a little sin, then you have no business making judgment calls about who must be disciplined in the Church. A big sin for example, might be a church member who is secretly having adulterous affairs. He is unfaithful to his marriage vows that he took before God and man. He is unfaithful to his wife. Or consider a lady in WIC. Suppose all the ladies agreed to bring home-baked cookies to a party, and she promised to do so. But she forgot. So on the way to the party she stopped in the Bread Basket, and bought those cookies to bring. Are those sins equally bad? Of course not!
Jesus Himself taught us that all sins are not equally bad.
But we have digressed.
Paul is teaching the Romans in chapter 14 this important principle: "Don't be a person with a judgmental personality. Don't come down on your brother like a load of bricks about things that are not truly important. Don't be a hypocrite! Don't criticize and condemn your brother for the mote in his eye, when you have a big stick in your own eye.
There is a difference between judging people BECAUSE YOU ENJOY IT; and judging people BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO! Don't be a person with a negative, aggressive, hurtful judgmental spirit. Be thankful for people who are accepting, and loving, and helpful and non-judgmental. We need them. We need more of them. We need to be like them. But don't stop "judging with righteous judgment" when the need arises.
II. The Dietary Regulations of the Law are not binding on Jewish or Gentile Christians.
There were many dietary regulations in the Law of God. For example we read in Leviticus chapter eleven:
Paul contradicts the Old Testament Law of God in Romans 14:14 and 20..."As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself....All food is clean."
There are two very important Bible Hermeneutics principles that come into play here.
1. The New Testament is the interpreter of the Old Testament. Jesus and the Apostles have the authority to guide us in our understanding of the Old Testament. You must not isolate the Old Testament from the New Testament. And the Old Testament must not be allowed to interpret the New Testament. It is the other way around.
The problem of Jewish Christians having this difficulty with the dietary regulations is not much of a problem today. However, we have similar difficulties with modern evangelical traditions. For example: is it OK for a Christian to drink a glass of wine, or a bottle of beer at a meal? Denominations are very adamant one way or the other, in spite of the fact that Jesus' first miracle was to make wine out of water. Or the question: may women wear pants, or must they wear only skirts and dresses. May women have short hair, or must their hair hang way down below their shoulders? Or, is it OK for a Christian to eat in a restaurant on Sunday? Or go shopping on Sunday? Or travel on a Sunday. My old Greek professor in seminary studied in Scotland a hundred years ago, and he was not allowed to ride the train on Sunday. In fact, the train didn't GO on Sunday in Scotland. This made it difficult for him to have a student pastorate.
2. The Old Covenant is over, and it has been replaced with the New Covenant in Jesus' blood. The OT religion is OVER. No more Aaronic priesthood. No more sacrifices. No more dietary regulations. The civic Law of the Nation of Israel of 3500 years ago is not our Law today, and it covers many situations, such as slavery, that are no longer an issue. All that abides from the Old Covenant is the moral Law of God, the Ten Commandments. And even there, there is change, because it was mixed up with the OT Civil Law. For example, we must remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. But it is no longer necessary to have the Sabbath on Saturday. It is no longer necessary to execute a housewife for cooking Sabbath Day supper. It is no longer necessary to stone adulters, or disobedient children. This is the age of the Gospel of Grace.
III. BUT! The strong Christian who understands these truths, is to live in such a way as to edify rather than to destroy weaker Christians, who don't get it yet.
Act in love! Don't destroy your brother. Make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. Don't make your brother fall. We are called to sacrifice (and it's not such a great sacrifice) in order to maintain peace, and in order to build up the weaker brother. It really rankles some of the stronger brethren. They feel that the weaker brothers have too much power and influence. They feel that leadership gets put upside down! But remember what Jesus taught us as he girded Himself with a towel, and washed the feet of the disciples. He who is greatest in the Kingdom, is the one who becomes the servant of all.
Why is this important? Because it is a genuine predicament for the weaker brother. If he/she is not convinced in his/her heart that it is OK to eat bacon, and then he eats bacon anyway because he is ashamed or half-hearted about his scruples, HE ACTUALLY HAS SINNED, even though eating bacon is not really sinful. If you feel something is sinful, and you do it, you have sinned by your attitude!
So, those who are strong: if your brother is disturbed by your eating bacon, then serve only all beef franks at your church picnic. If your brother is disturbed by your drinking wine or beer, then we he is eating at your house, hide the wine bottles and the beer keg. If he thinks it is a sin to eat in a restaurant on Sunday, then if you want to feed him on Sunday, take him to your house, and not to the Pastaria. Etc. Don't put him in a position where he must injure his own conscience to go along with you. Don't put him in the position of condemning you for your actually good actions and practices. If your sister in Christ thinks women must always wear hats in worship services, then when you visit her, and worship with her, wear a hat to church. Remember, we are not here to gratify ourselves, but to serve Christ, and to help our weaker brothers grow in their knowledge and maturity.
Conclusion: Here are our three points summarized.