GUARD YOUR ACTIONS

Background Passage: ROMANS 14:13-23

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 14:13-23

BIBLICAL TRUTH: CHRISTIANS ARE TO GUARD WHAT THEY DO SO THEY WILL HELP AND NOT HINDER THE GROWTH OF OTHER BELIEVERS.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 14:19

The churches in the Capitol District of New York called for citywide prayer to ask God to bring revival to this region, once so touched by God through Charles Finney and other great revivalists in the 19th century. I was delighted to see the focus on revival and eager to participate. My wife and I dressed in our best and drove to the high school gymnasium where the prayer service was to be held.

Though we arrived early, hundreds of local believers were already streaming in. I noticed the casual dress and immediately felt uncomfortable. When we were seated, the band was already playing. The music was loud, unfamiliar, and anything but worshipful (or so I thought). Instead of preparing me for prayer, the gathering prompted me to criticize. We walked out in disgust, just after the service began. My critical spirit continued for days as I complained to anyone who would listen about how a citywide prayer service did nothing to prepare me to pray.

As an outsider to New York, it never occurred to me during these days of complaining that the music of my prayer service simply reflected the music in the local churches were God was at work. The music that I preferred at the time was found primarily in the churches that were either dying or dead..

In time I realized that I had a responsibility to affirm what God was doing and to join Him, whether I liked the format of the prayer service or not. I had a responsibility to accept my fellow believers rather than to judge them because they worshiped with a music style foreign to me. My reaction showed that I was more concerned about me and my preferences than about god and what He wanted to do. I was not guarded in my reaction to the prayer service and, as a result, may have hindered the growth of some of my seminary students at the time and, by extension, those they influenced.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

Christians who disagree on how to show devotion to God should refrain from criticism and focus on how to stop adding fuel to the argument.

Showing the love of Christ to fellow believers means that you stop goading them by criticism and argument when there are different interpretations of how to live the Christian life. The kingdom of God has a higher level of meaning than whether you fast or feast on a certain day. Instead, the kingdom of God is about doing right to others, working toward peace within Christ's body, and experiencing joy as you and other believers focus on God's purposes.

Flaunting your freedom is not worth it if it tears down the faith of another believer. Sometimes you must balance the freedom you may feel within your conscience with the responsibility you have toward other believers.

The Roman church apparently had some members arguing among themselves about how to live the Christan life. Some church members still felt bound by their conscience to show their love for God in ways they did before they became Christians—honoring certain days as more holy than others or fasting on special holy days, for instance.

Other members found that their freedom in Christ released them from the religious practices and related legalism that had bound them in the past. In their freedom, these members were tempted to look down on the traditionalists with prideful superiority as being weak and not as spiritually mature as they. On the other hand, those bound by their conscience criticized those who were not practicing their faith in traditional ways as being dangerously unfaithful to God.

Paul's admonition to both sides continues in this passage. Note that these differences among believers had nothing to do with behavior declared by God to be sin, but rather with legitimate differences of opinion on how to live the Christian life.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.What could your criticism of another believer's practice of the Christian life do to that believer? (14:13)
2.What are the primary concerns of the kingdom of God? (14:17)
3.What noble decision might you be called to make for the good of other believers in your church? (14:21)

ERECT NO BARRIERS (ROM. 14:13-14)

Romans 14
13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

VERSE 13 ~ No longer criticize hints that this criticism within the church was habitual. Paul wanted it to end for the good of the church and all her members. Both the traditionalists and the free-spirited were criticizing each other. Paul suggested that they focus within and start eliminating behaviors that inflamed the other side.

Paul described these behaviors as a stumbling block (something you strike with your foot that cuts you and makes you stumble or fall) and as a pitfall (something that is manipulated to serve as a trap, such as a circle of rope drawn at the right time around someone's legs so he can't move). Each side knew the hot buttons, the best ways to goad the other side into criticism and spiritual pride. The traditionalists needed only to question the spiritual credibility and fidelity of the other side. The spiritually free needed only to charge the traditionalists with being weak in faith and not as spiritually mature in Christ. Then the arguments, criticisms, and accusations began to fly.

VERSE 14 ~ Paul taught that nothing should be considered unclean (in a Levitical sense, as it related to ceremonial purity). To the Cristian with a devoted, Jewish background of faithful worship, this was a difficult thing for Paul to request. That is probably the reason why Paul insisted that his position came from an absolute knowledge (I Know) shaped by personal revelation.

Am persuaded means that Paul's reasoning on this matter had developed to the point where it was now complete. Paul understood that Christ's sacrifice satisfied every ceremonial requirement of worship before a holy God. Yet Paul pointed out that if one's conscience declares something to be unclean, then for that person (to that one) it is unclean.

To the likely frustration of Paul's readers on both sides of the argument, Paul was declaring both sides to be right. Those declaring their freedom in Christ were on firm theological ground not to practice the rituals of Judaism as a Christian. For those still bound by their conscience to practice them, practicing the rituals was the right thing to do.

br> ACT IN LOVE ( ROM. 14:15-18)

15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

VERSE 15 ~ Your brother refers to the “weaker” in faith whose conscience demands a more restricted diet. You is the “stronger” in faith. For the stronger in faith to insist on exercising his or her freedom in Christ in a way that hurts the “weaker” in faith is not the way to act in the love of Christ.

The hurt may have two results. First, the “weaker” in faith may experience distress and uneasiness by watching the “stronger” in faith practice a conduct that violates the conscience of the “weaker”. Second, the “weaker” may feel forced to participate in the conduct that his or her conscience prohibits. Both results are undesirable and unnecessary, but the second can have lasting consequences.

If the “weaker” believer is pressured to participate in a conduct that violates his or her conscience, that conduct may weaken the believer's moral integrity and undermine the building of Christian character. This is true even though the conduct is permissible within the freedom which Christ brings. Paul warned against the “stronger” undermining the moral strength of the “weaker” when he wrote, do not destroy that one for whom Christ died.


VERSE 16 ~ Your good is the Christian liberty exercised by the “stronger” in faith. This spiritual freedom earned through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not worthy of the bad name given it when Christians practice their freedom in a thoughtless and prideful manner. To brag about and flaunt what you do in freedom before the believer who disagrees with you will inevitably bring criticism.

VERSE 17 ~ For the Christian, the God-ruled sphere of life (the kingdom of God) has meaning at a higher level than the ceaseless debate over whether one should feast or fast on a certain day ( or what kind of music one prefers, what Bible translation to use, where and when the church meets, and so forth). Rather, God's kingdom is more about righteousness (doing right to others and defending those who are weak and vulnerable), peace (being one in Christ with other believers and not divided by arguments), joy (natural happiness rising out of the body of Christ when believers are right with one another and fulfilling God's purposes). The Holy Spirit makes righteousness, peace, and joy possible among followers of Jesus Christ.

VERSE 18 ~ A believer may choose either to feast or fast on a special day and still e right with God. No believer, however, can be pleasing to God while ignoring righteousness, peace, and joy. Paul's admonition is to focus on the higher priorities of the Christ-life rather than on the secondary issues, where there is room for individual interpretation.

SEEK POSITIVE RESULTS (ROM 14:19-23)

19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

VERSE 19 ~ Instead of being ready to pounce on a fellow Christian who might disagree with you on a disputable point ab out the Christian life, be ready to pursue (or “seek after earnestly”) peace. Instead of being defensive, be open and transparent. Instead of being argumentative, be conciliatory. Focus on having the type of attitude, speech, and behavior that builds up (literally “builds a house”) another believer's spiritual life.

VERSE 20 ~ Is winning an argument to prove your position worth the misguided power that tears down the faith of a fellow Christian? Should your freedom be flaunted in a way that insults another believer and hurts his or her practice of faith? The fact that everything is clean does not remove one believer's responsibility to help another when possible.

I may feel free, for instance, to go to my church's Saturday night service instead of on Sunday, but I am not free to use my freedom to disturb or insult or offend another believer. I may feel free to not be a t church every time the door is open, but I am not free to use my freedom to start an argument or to bait someone into having a critical spirit against me.

In context, everything likely refers to food, reflecting the attitude Jesus expressed in Mark 7:15. The use of the word does not mean that every kind of behavior is permitted, that one can do whatever he or she thinks is okay.

VERSE 21 ~ In some cases, you might decide to not exercise your freedom for the good of other believers. For instance, in recent years there have been books on the best-seller lists that challenge the way different Christians practice their faith. You might decide not to read such a book; or, even if you do read it, you might purposely refrain from discussing it with others or recommending it to persons whose faith is nonexistent or vulnerable.

Whatever the item is that might cause a stumbling block for someone, yo might be in a position where it is better to refrain from exercising your freedom in Christ to do a certain thing for the good of the larger body of Christ.

The Holman CSB omits “or is offended, or is made weak,” which is included in the KHV, because the two versions follow different Greek manuscripts at this point.

VERSES 22 23 ~ Paul's admonition to the person “stronger” in faith—to withhold the free exercise of your faith and to keep it to yourself before God—does not diminish the value of that faith. Such a person simply balances freedom with responsibility. To attain freedom in Christ from legalism and a troubled conscience is to be blessed (“spiritually prosperous”), whether that freedom is exercised or not.

Paul's admonition to the “weaker” in faith—not to engage in a practice that your conscience condemns—warns against condemnation rather than freedom, not only from your conscience but also from God. If your conscience forbids doing a certain thing, follow your conscience.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Christ-loving, Bible-believing Christians may disagree on secondary issues related to Christian living. Paul's appeal is that you focus your passion and energy on the primary issues of God's kingdom rather than on the secondary issues. That means that you will guard yourself from criticism over secondary issues so that you don't hinder the growth of another believer.

Think about these three areas to guard:

YOUR WORDS......When someone states an opinion in an area where believers may disagree, do you verbally challenge that person, or do you seek more insight that aids understanding on both sides? When you have a conversation within a group of people who agree with you on an area of interpretation, ow do you speak of those who disagree?

YOUR ATTITUDE......When you hear of someone attacking you for your position in an area where believers may disagree, what happens in your heart? Do you become defensive? Angry? Hurt?

YOUR BEHAVIOR......Do you manipulate others toward your position, or do you seek mutual understanding and thoughtful discussion? Do you avoid those who take different positions? Do you isolate or marginalize those who do not practice their faith as you do?