I have been reading Romans, obviously, and I read chapter 14 today. It was so good that I decided to post it, because I think this subject is something God has been teaching me about since I'vebeen following Him.
CHAPTER 14:
"1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The 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. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. "
I love how Paul calls vegetarians weak! Hahaha. I actually think that word is used because of some word translation problems... or maybe he just thought that it took more faith to eat a steak. It's funny that there's a part in the Bible that instructs how christians should treat vegetarians (and vegans...) But I love that line, "Who are you to judge someone else's servent?" If one man feels called to sacrifice something, be it rated R movies or pork chops, we are not to judge them. This was good for me to read, because I often shake my head at Christians who are always sacrificing things--shutting the world out, I call it.
"5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If 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. "
That last verse here is priceless. If only we could live like that. WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE BELONG TO THE LORD.
"9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
11It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' "[1]
12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food[2] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. "
DO NOT BY YOUR EATING DESTROY YOUR BROTHER FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED. Don't get nit-picky! We need to hear this constantly, I think. If only we'd all stop wasting our time on issues that didn't matter--can you imagine how unified the Church would be?
"19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. "
Keep your opinions between yourself and God. I think that's pretty damn good advice--though, that is my opinion... I love that idea though, that we should not "Condemn ourselves by what we approve." Way to go, Paul.
3 comments:
I forgot to mention that though I know that this passage in the letter was written for a specific cause, I think that it definitely applies to the church today...
You are exactly where we are at Dale's-- we read chapter 14 last night. The meat/no meat stuff applies, I think, to whether Christians are required to conform to Jewish dietary law. Remember all the stuff with Peter in Acts, with his dream about all the animals coming out of a sheet from the sky? We referred to that last night.
The meat/veg. comments were not about dietary laws--they refer to food sacrificed to idols. The idea this that the idols aren't real, so eating food (usually meat) sacrificed to them isn't actually problematic; however, one can easily see how this could be a point of dispute among some people, wanting to be holy and not contiminate themselves with something offered to another "god."
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