Dealing With Fellow Christians, Part I – Romans 14:1-12
Dealing With Fellow Christians, Part I – Romans 14:1-12
by Pastor Lee Hemen
April 15, 2007
Although Psalm 133:1 reminds us “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” the Psalmist did not know about my brother Ed and me. While we get along very well now, because we are old and cannot run as fast as we used to, when we were younger we could put on a real show. While we could pound on one another until the cows came home, we also were the first to stand side-by-side one another as well. I will never forget the relief that surged through my scrawny body when behind the three upper classmen, who were trying to take may pants off in order to embarrass me, stood my “Big Brother.” It was kind of like the cavalry showing up in the nick of time! This is the way it should be for fellow believers within the church.
Certainly everyone knows that it is often easier to deal with the splinter in someone else’s eye rather than pull the log out of our own. Jesus knew this to be true. In fact, He related that the believer had better be very careful in eternally judging another before doing so. What we may think as justified judgment on our part may really be simple backstabbing belligerence. The focus for Paul was to help disciple the weaker Christian. Here in these verses he relates for us just how we are to deal with fellow Christians. Let’s learn for ourselves exactly how this is done.
READ: Romans 14:1-12
It has amazed me over the years how there will be folks who deliberately try to put one over on their fellow Christians. We have had people join our church and then try to change what we believe and practice as Baptists. They flat out lied when they joined. Why do that? There are those who will always try to prey on the spiritually weak. Paul was addressing this kind of issue. There were those for whatever reason who felt spiritually superior to their fellow believers by condemning them. Paul reminds us that in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration…
I. Their Weak Faith (vv. 1-4)!
1. For the Christian, it is not the survival of the fittest that gains the prize! We are not to kill our wounded. Paul did not excuse stupid or foolish or inane theology, rather he wanted his readers to understand how they were to encourage “weak” brothers in Christ. He related, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Disputable matters could mean several things. Namely, that “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.” Some hyper Hebrews would not allow meat into their diet, thinking that it might be unclean in some way. Also, there were ex-pagans coming into the church who only ate vegetables to honor their false pagan deities, and now they continued to do so because it was their lifestyle. Paul knew about how Peter was rebuked by God and told to “not call anything impure that God has made clean (Acts 11:15).” And that Christians could eat anything with a clear conscience because “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’ (Matthew 15:11).” Therefore, “The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.” The Christian gives up the “right” to be judge and jury of another individual, period. Christians are considered “servants to Christ.” (1 Corinthians 4:1 & 1 Peter 2:16) As servants we cannot “judge someone else’s [God’s] servant.” In fact, “To his own master [Jesus] he stands or falls. And he will stand,” Paul declares, “for the Lord is able to make him stand!” Those who are strong in their faith are to help those who are weak in theirs.
EXAMPLE: Sadly, there are many people who consider themselves “Christian,” who could not explain even the simple basics of their faith. In the mad rush for numbers through the turnstiles of the neo-orthodox emergent church, the flood of unsuspecting souls are being lead into a bogus bill of goods. They are not being taught the reasonableness or responsibilities of their faith. The basic question of “What does it all mean?” has not been adequately taught them. We live in a culture where we cannot make anyone feel bad about themselves, so even in our Christian practice there are churches who never tell the crowd how to grow up. Feelings have been substituted for faith. Growth is equated with a momentary emotional rush. One has to continually get their Sunday morning spiritual “fix,” in order to feel their faith flow through them. The theatrics of the movie screen flicker in the lives of wasted adoring zombies who sit mesmerized by a glowing screen. They are the spiritually feeble in faith. They are the waiting cannon fodder for the cults. Paul would tell us in dealing with these fellow Christians, we have to consider their weak faith.
There has been a lot of discussion over the years as to whether Christians should be following Old Testament laws in regards to Worshipping on Sunday or whether we can correctly eat pork or not. These kinds of myopic discussions completely miss the point of why Jesus went to the cross in the first place. If following Old Testament laws could impart any grace at all, Jesus did not have to die on the cross. Yet, Paul knew their would be those who were weak in what they believed and needed those who took a stronger view of Jesus to help them understand the importance of grace by faith alone. Therefore he would relate that in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration…
II. What they Regard As Spiritually Significant (vv. 5-8)!
1. Misplaced devotion is simply that -- misplaced! A second area of differing opinions was how one displayed their devotion to God. “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.” Yet Paul knew that such adherence to observing the feasts set up under the old covenant were no longer valid. “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16) Either choice for Paul meant nothing and it did not gain the individual anything. Why? Because “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” that what he was doing was for God and not for himself! Eating certain foods or observing a special day does not earn you brownie points or a special blessing from God. Rather, the person who does these things should do it for “the Lord and [give] thanks to God.” Christians should not get caught up in vain arguments, but instead they should remember that “none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.” The Christian’s entire life is lived for Jesus Christ! “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” The Christian does not live trying to please an ambivalent God. Paul realized that “everything God created was good, and nothing was to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” in the believer’s life. Eating certain foods or observing special days did not matter. In dealing with fellow Christians, we have to take into consideration what they regard as spiritually significant.
EXAMPLE: If we believe that we should only worship on Saturdays or Sundays does not truly matter. What does matter is why we do it. If it is to earn grace by following a set of rules, then we are trying to appease God by following the law again. Jesus fulfilled the entire law of God. We as sinful human beings can never hope to come close to observing even one law of God completely without blowing it. This is why I personally am glad that I do not have to sit and do certain rituals to gain any grace from God. Jesus paid it all for me. There is nothing I can do to earn God’s favor. Yet, does this mean I should look down on those who struggle with this? No. But rather, like Paul would relate to Timothy: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:2-3) In dealing with fellow Christians, we have to take into consideration what they regard as spiritually significant.
Now do not think that Paul did not give credence to worshipping Jesus, the Trinity, the Virgin birth, baptism, being a member of a local church, or other basic theology, because he did. In fact, Paul both saw for himself and taught others the significance of correct theology concerning their faith in Jesus Christ. This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we also have to take into consideration…
III. The Basis of the Problem (vv. 9-12)!
1. How firm is your foundation in the Lord? Within these final verses we will consider this morning, Paul gives us a foundational inescapable truth about our faith. Christians cannot and dare not judge one another as to whether their faith saves them or not, but they are to remember the very reason Christ died for them. In kind of a backhanded slap Paul relates that “Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” Both the spiritually dead and the spiritually alive, are under the grace of Jesus. This is why he asks two direct questions: “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother?” The answer: Christians cannot decide who is ultimately saved or not. “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” What we believe and why does matter, but it is not up to the individual to pass eternal judgment. Only God can. Paul knew that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) Paul would continue by stating “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11) He knew it was important for us to not only witness to an unbelieving world, but to also train weak believers in the basics of their faith. He knew that at the core of the issue was the fact that one day, we all, weak or strong would stand and “give an account of himself to God.” This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration the basis of the problem.
EXAMPLE: In the movie Cool Hand Luke, Steve McQueen, when he tries to escape is told by the sadistic prison warden that “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Too many see God as a kind of prison warden, ready to punish His wayward charges if they try to escape His watchful wrathful eye. This is completely a wrong view of God, and we indeed have “a failure to communicate.” The basic problem of too many Christians is they do not know God’s Word. Sure, many read it to discover a morning devotional thought for the day or to track the latest endtimes theory concerning who is the Antichrist, but few know how to actually make it valid for their life. Spiritual truth is learned as it is applied and lived out in devoted service to the Lord. Believers grow in faith as they go in faith. This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration the basis of the problem. Some are weaker than others.
Conclusion:
In dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration their weak faith, what they regard as spiritually significant, and the basis of the problem.
by Pastor Lee Hemen
April 15, 2007
Although Psalm 133:1 reminds us “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” the Psalmist did not know about my brother Ed and me. While we get along very well now, because we are old and cannot run as fast as we used to, when we were younger we could put on a real show. While we could pound on one another until the cows came home, we also were the first to stand side-by-side one another as well. I will never forget the relief that surged through my scrawny body when behind the three upper classmen, who were trying to take may pants off in order to embarrass me, stood my “Big Brother.” It was kind of like the cavalry showing up in the nick of time! This is the way it should be for fellow believers within the church.
Certainly everyone knows that it is often easier to deal with the splinter in someone else’s eye rather than pull the log out of our own. Jesus knew this to be true. In fact, He related that the believer had better be very careful in eternally judging another before doing so. What we may think as justified judgment on our part may really be simple backstabbing belligerence. The focus for Paul was to help disciple the weaker Christian. Here in these verses he relates for us just how we are to deal with fellow Christians. Let’s learn for ourselves exactly how this is done.
READ: Romans 14:1-12
It has amazed me over the years how there will be folks who deliberately try to put one over on their fellow Christians. We have had people join our church and then try to change what we believe and practice as Baptists. They flat out lied when they joined. Why do that? There are those who will always try to prey on the spiritually weak. Paul was addressing this kind of issue. There were those for whatever reason who felt spiritually superior to their fellow believers by condemning them. Paul reminds us that in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration…
I. Their Weak Faith (vv. 1-4)!
1. For the Christian, it is not the survival of the fittest that gains the prize! We are not to kill our wounded. Paul did not excuse stupid or foolish or inane theology, rather he wanted his readers to understand how they were to encourage “weak” brothers in Christ. He related, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Disputable matters could mean several things. Namely, that “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.” Some hyper Hebrews would not allow meat into their diet, thinking that it might be unclean in some way. Also, there were ex-pagans coming into the church who only ate vegetables to honor their false pagan deities, and now they continued to do so because it was their lifestyle. Paul knew about how Peter was rebuked by God and told to “not call anything impure that God has made clean (Acts 11:15).” And that Christians could eat anything with a clear conscience because “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’ (Matthew 15:11).” Therefore, “The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.” The Christian gives up the “right” to be judge and jury of another individual, period. Christians are considered “servants to Christ.” (1 Corinthians 4:1 & 1 Peter 2:16) As servants we cannot “judge someone else’s [God’s] servant.” In fact, “To his own master [Jesus] he stands or falls. And he will stand,” Paul declares, “for the Lord is able to make him stand!” Those who are strong in their faith are to help those who are weak in theirs.
EXAMPLE: Sadly, there are many people who consider themselves “Christian,” who could not explain even the simple basics of their faith. In the mad rush for numbers through the turnstiles of the neo-orthodox emergent church, the flood of unsuspecting souls are being lead into a bogus bill of goods. They are not being taught the reasonableness or responsibilities of their faith. The basic question of “What does it all mean?” has not been adequately taught them. We live in a culture where we cannot make anyone feel bad about themselves, so even in our Christian practice there are churches who never tell the crowd how to grow up. Feelings have been substituted for faith. Growth is equated with a momentary emotional rush. One has to continually get their Sunday morning spiritual “fix,” in order to feel their faith flow through them. The theatrics of the movie screen flicker in the lives of wasted adoring zombies who sit mesmerized by a glowing screen. They are the spiritually feeble in faith. They are the waiting cannon fodder for the cults. Paul would tell us in dealing with these fellow Christians, we have to consider their weak faith.
There has been a lot of discussion over the years as to whether Christians should be following Old Testament laws in regards to Worshipping on Sunday or whether we can correctly eat pork or not. These kinds of myopic discussions completely miss the point of why Jesus went to the cross in the first place. If following Old Testament laws could impart any grace at all, Jesus did not have to die on the cross. Yet, Paul knew their would be those who were weak in what they believed and needed those who took a stronger view of Jesus to help them understand the importance of grace by faith alone. Therefore he would relate that in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration…
II. What they Regard As Spiritually Significant (vv. 5-8)!
1. Misplaced devotion is simply that -- misplaced! A second area of differing opinions was how one displayed their devotion to God. “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.” Yet Paul knew that such adherence to observing the feasts set up under the old covenant were no longer valid. “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16) Either choice for Paul meant nothing and it did not gain the individual anything. Why? Because “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” that what he was doing was for God and not for himself! Eating certain foods or observing a special day does not earn you brownie points or a special blessing from God. Rather, the person who does these things should do it for “the Lord and [give] thanks to God.” Christians should not get caught up in vain arguments, but instead they should remember that “none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.” The Christian’s entire life is lived for Jesus Christ! “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” The Christian does not live trying to please an ambivalent God. Paul realized that “everything God created was good, and nothing was to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” in the believer’s life. Eating certain foods or observing special days did not matter. In dealing with fellow Christians, we have to take into consideration what they regard as spiritually significant.
EXAMPLE: If we believe that we should only worship on Saturdays or Sundays does not truly matter. What does matter is why we do it. If it is to earn grace by following a set of rules, then we are trying to appease God by following the law again. Jesus fulfilled the entire law of God. We as sinful human beings can never hope to come close to observing even one law of God completely without blowing it. This is why I personally am glad that I do not have to sit and do certain rituals to gain any grace from God. Jesus paid it all for me. There is nothing I can do to earn God’s favor. Yet, does this mean I should look down on those who struggle with this? No. But rather, like Paul would relate to Timothy: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:2-3) In dealing with fellow Christians, we have to take into consideration what they regard as spiritually significant.
Now do not think that Paul did not give credence to worshipping Jesus, the Trinity, the Virgin birth, baptism, being a member of a local church, or other basic theology, because he did. In fact, Paul both saw for himself and taught others the significance of correct theology concerning their faith in Jesus Christ. This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we also have to take into consideration…
III. The Basis of the Problem (vv. 9-12)!
1. How firm is your foundation in the Lord? Within these final verses we will consider this morning, Paul gives us a foundational inescapable truth about our faith. Christians cannot and dare not judge one another as to whether their faith saves them or not, but they are to remember the very reason Christ died for them. In kind of a backhanded slap Paul relates that “Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” Both the spiritually dead and the spiritually alive, are under the grace of Jesus. This is why he asks two direct questions: “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother?” The answer: Christians cannot decide who is ultimately saved or not. “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” What we believe and why does matter, but it is not up to the individual to pass eternal judgment. Only God can. Paul knew that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) Paul would continue by stating “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11) He knew it was important for us to not only witness to an unbelieving world, but to also train weak believers in the basics of their faith. He knew that at the core of the issue was the fact that one day, we all, weak or strong would stand and “give an account of himself to God.” This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration the basis of the problem.
EXAMPLE: In the movie Cool Hand Luke, Steve McQueen, when he tries to escape is told by the sadistic prison warden that “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Too many see God as a kind of prison warden, ready to punish His wayward charges if they try to escape His watchful wrathful eye. This is completely a wrong view of God, and we indeed have “a failure to communicate.” The basic problem of too many Christians is they do not know God’s Word. Sure, many read it to discover a morning devotional thought for the day or to track the latest endtimes theory concerning who is the Antichrist, but few know how to actually make it valid for their life. Spiritual truth is learned as it is applied and lived out in devoted service to the Lord. Believers grow in faith as they go in faith. This is why in dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration the basis of the problem. Some are weaker than others.
Conclusion:
In dealing with fellow Christians we have to take into consideration their weak faith, what they regard as spiritually significant, and the basis of the problem.
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