Romans 14:1-23

Even as believers, we should not be surprised when we see things differently from one another.  We all come from different backgrounds.  Our paths of sin took us different directions and our paths to Christ are unique.  We also have had varied experiences since we have trusted Christ and have studied God’s Word in different ways and proportions.  This passage gives us great advice as to how we should handle these things.

DON’T DISPUTE OVER THE DIVERGENT: The key is to not allow our diverse views on the non-essentials to become disputes.  As long as we are disputing with one another, we will not be focused on promoting the kingdom of God.  There truly are areas that are not clearly defined in Scripture in which we have liberty.  In Paul’s day these things were Jewish holidays and food.  In our day it might be entertainment and what we drink.  We will find that different cultures will treat these things in different ways.  For example in Brazil, dominos are used for gambling so many Christians don’t use them, while many believers in the US have problems with playing cards.  We must not allow these types of issues become reasons for arguments and distraction.  We have so much work to do in this world to promote the fame of Christ.  We must not lose sight of the essential.

DO DEFER IN THE DIVISIVE: We are to handle these issues with deference.  That means giving priority to others and not allowing the different to become divisive.  It takes two people to carry on a fight, so the easiest way to avoid this is to simply decide not to make an issue of it and abide by the standards of whoever might be offended by some activity, food or drink.  It simply is not worth it to try to convince another person of our position if it is not a clear issue of sin or essential doctrine.  The Christian life is not about standing up for our rights or about convincing everyone to see the world from our perspective.  When we divide over the trivial instead of defer to others, we commit a much worse offense than the person we were trying to convince to change.

DON’T DESTROY BECAUSE OF THE DOUBTFUL: Sometimes it seems that the more doubtful the item is, the more we end up emphasizing it.  For some reason that which is doubtful to us seems to capture our attention.  We enjoy getting up on our “hobby horse” and we try to convince everyone else to jump on board with us too.  The problem is that what may be fine for some people may be sin for another and when we insist that they do that which goes against their faith, we destroy their conscience.  We must strive to protect our consciences in all honesty but we must also be careful not to offend the conscience of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  If in doubt, it is a good idea to refrain.  We must not use our liberty as a means to hinder the spiritual well being of others.  It all comes down to priorities.  We must not major in minors and minor it that which is of eternal significance.