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Written by Pastor Darrell Cooper
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Friday, 06 March 2009 09:37 |
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Romans 14:1-23
September 14, 2008 - Lindsborg Cov.
“Disputable Matters”
(Church Unity)
Sermon
I would like to begin today with a pop quiz. I have heard that phrase all my life in school and I always wanted to say it! Class, let’s begin today with a pop quiz. So, if you will look inside your bulletins you should find an insert. On one side is the sermon outline, which we will get to in a moment. On the other side is something called The Sin Quiz. There are three questions on this quiz and I would like for you to answer them now the best you can, and then we will review them as we go through the sermon.
The first question says, “Is it possible for a person to sin without being aware of it by doing something he does not believe is wrong?” Is it possible to sin by doing something you don’t even know is wrong? Yes or no?
The second question says, “Is it possible for a person to sin by doing something that is NOT wrong?” Is it possible for a person to sin by doing something that is not even wrong? Yes or no?
The third question says, “Is it possible for a person to sin by doing something that is NOT wrong and that he KNOWS is not wrong?” You might find this question confusing, but answer it the best you can and we will come back to it later.
Let’s go back to the first question. Is it possible for a person to sin without being aware of it by doing something he does not believe is wrong? The answer to the first question is yes. If a person violates the heart, the character, or the command of God, it is a sin, regardless of what he or she believes about it. You can read more about this in Matt 25:41-46 if you would like.
Let me give you an example. I would guess that most young people in today’s culture would not even think about going into WalMart and taking a CD out of the store without paying for it. That would not even occur to them. However, many of these same youth have no objection to downloading that same music online without paying for it. The fact that this doesn’t bother them does not change the fact that it is stealing and therefore sin.
So, I think we would all have to agree that it is possible to sin without our knowledge. Just because we do not think something is wrong, doesn’t mean it isn’t.
But that is an easy one. Illegally downloading music is a simple puzzle to solve because the Bible makes it very clear, “Thou shall not steal.” That is almost a no-brainer.
But what about the times when the Bible is not so clear? What about some of the other issues where it seems a little confusing, where the Bible is not explicit? What are we supposed to do in those situations?
Paul calls these kinds of issues “disputable matters”. Look with me at the very first verse of Romans 14. “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Paul says that we are not to judge each other when it comes to disputable matters.
Well, what are disputable matters? A disputable matter is an issue of doctrine or practice on which the Bible is not explicitly clear to everyone or perhaps even seems contradictory. Sincere, godly, and committed Christians read the same texts and sometimes come to completely opposite conclusions. Sometimes these convictions are quite strong and so the Christians find themselves in a dispute. Paul says we should withhold judgment about these issues.
Now, I think it is very important that I make a clear distinction here, and to do so I will use an analogy of a dartboard. You have all seen a dartboard, right? What is at the center of a dartboard? (Pause for response) The bull’s-eye. That is correct. That is what you are focused on when you play darts. That is what you are shooting for. You want to hit the bull’s-eye of the target, or get as close as possible.
But the bull’s-eye is, of course, not the only circle on the board. There is a series of expanding concentric rings going out from the center of the board, all the way to the outer edge. As you move out from the bull’s-eye each consecutive ring represents fewer points than the previous one.
I would like us to think about the bull’s-eye as the central, core truths of our faith. These are the non-negotiables. These are the foundational teachings that all true Christians affirm. These are things like Jesus is God the Son. The Bible is the very Word of God Himself. Salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone. These things are not up for debate. These truths are essential for our salvation.
But the Bible speaks on more than just these foundational truths. The Bible gives us instructions on many aspects of life and doctrine. Think of these other truths like the expanding concentric rings on the dartboard. As they move further and further from the bull’s-eye issues, they become less and less central, and often less and less certain. By the time you get to the outer rim of the dartboard, there are many issues which sincere and committed followers of Jesus interpret and practice differently. These are peripheral issues. They are matters of personal opinion and conviction. Paul calls them disputable matters.
Now, let me make this distinction very clear. Elsewhere in his writings, Paul says that we ARE supposed to judge one another within the Church about bull’s-eye issues. These are matters of obvious and clear-cut sin. You can read more about that in 1 Cor. 5:12. But now, Paul says that we ARE NOT supposed to judge one another about differences of opinion on peripheral issues (disputable matters). (v. 10) Do you understand the difference?
Now, in any good fight there are at least two sides. In this chapter, Paul identifies the two opponents using what may seem like strange names. He calls one of the parties the “weaker brother”, and one of them the “stronger brother”. I want to say a quick word about what Paul means by these terms and what he does not mean.
When Paul refers to the weaker brother, he does not mean inferior. He means they are weaker in terms of their faith. The irony is that the weaker brother often has stronger convictions than the stronger brother, but he is weak in terms of his faith. Think of it in terms of his conscience. He has a weak, or sensitive conscience. The weaker brother feels like he does not have the freedom to do some of the things that his stronger brother feels perfectly free to do.
For example, look with me at Romans 14:2. “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.” Another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. Just as an aside, I want to say that this is one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible. I take it to mean that eating vegetables weakens your faith. It is right there in the Bible. It says that a person whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. ;-)
You laugh because you know that is not what Paul means at all. What is he saying? Paul is writing to the Church in Rome, and he knows his audience. Paul is acknowledging that some of his readers feel perfectly free to eat any food at all without restriction. These are the stronger brothers. He also indicates that there are others there who do not feel free to eat meat. I don’t have time right now to get into all the reasons why they believed this, but suffice it to say for now that some of the brothers there felt that it would be sinful to eat meat, so they became self-imposed vegetarians. Paul refers to these as the weaker brothers.
So now what? What happens when two groups of equally sincere and devoted followers of Jesus disagree over an issue of doctrine or practice? Well, Paul has some clear instructions for both groups. He begins by addressing the weaker brother. If you want to follow along in your sermon outline, this is where it picks up.
The first command in the weaker brother’s job description is, “Do not judge your stronger brother (v. 3; 10) Paul tells the weaker brother not to judge the stronger one. I think Paul has some keen insight into human nature here. He understands that this is going to be the natural tendency of the weaker brother. The weaker brother is the one who does not feel free to do certain things. He will likely be tempted to judge his stronger brother because he does feel free to do those things. Paul says, “Don’t do that.”
Verses 10-12 tell us the primary reason the weaker brother is not to judge the stronger is because it is not his job. It is God’s job. Paul says that you will never stand before God and give an account to Him for your brother’s behavior. You will give Him an account of your behavior (and attitudes and motives). “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” (v. 4a) So, if we find ourselves in the position of being the weaker brother, we need to suspend judgment. We must leave that to God. It is an issue between our brother and His God.
Let me give you and example from my own life. Several years ago I did some research on Halloween. That holiday is coming up in just a few weeks. I studied the origins of the holiday and where some of the customs came from. As a result of my study I came to the conclusion that Halloween is evil. I felt that it would be wrong for me, as a follower of Jesus, to participate in the holiday in any way, because to do so would be dabbling in occultic rituals.
Now, it was perfectly fine for me to have that conviction. The problem is I did not stop there. I began to try to force my conviction on those around me. I knew several families that dressed their kids up in various costumes and paraded them around the neighborhood Trick-or-Treating. I judged their freedom and condemned their behavior. I even taught about it here in church, and in the process I hurt some very dear friends of mine.
In that case, I was the weaker brother, but I did not heed Paul’s warning in this passage. So, several years ago I was the weaker brother.
Now, several years later, I find that I am still the weaker brother at times. For example, several weeks ago I took my family on a spiritual retreat of sorts in the mountains of Colorado. One of the things we did that week was spend a lot of time in corporate worship. On the very first night there I took notice of one of the worship leaders. He was a young man playing the guitar in the worship band. The reason I noticed him was that he was wearing earrings. Now, I have long since gotten over men having pierced ears. That doesn’t bother me at all. But this was different. This man had large holes in his earlobes about the size of a quarter being held open by a large, black spacer ring.
At first, I was so distracted by this that I could not worship. I just looked at him and thought, “That is just wrong! That is just not right. He shouldn’t be doing that.”
Now, if you had asked me what made his behavior wrong, I would not have been able to build a very strong biblical case. I could not have cited any violation of a specific biblical command, or even of a general principle. It just really bothered me. I finally realized that the problem I had with his choice of jewelry was precisely that, it was MY problem, not his. I was the problem, not him. This was a disputable matter. On further reflection, I had to admit that this wasn’t even a moral issue. It was a cultural issue. Nowhere does the Bible say, “Thou shall not have big holes in your ears.” The main reason his accessories bothered me was not that he was sinning, but because where I come from men don’t do that. Women don’t do it either, for that matter. So this was not a matter of clear cut sin or rebellion. It was simply a difference in culture, or perhaps one of personal taste or preference.
I had to practice not passing judgement on this disputable matter. If I had continued to judge him, a barrier would have gone up between us. I would not have been able to build a relationship with him or even get to know him. I would not have been able to love my brother the way I am commanded to.
The reason I share these stories is to point out that probably all of us are sometimes the weaker brother and sometimes the stronger one. I have been walking with Jesus for years now and still find myself in the position as the weaker brother. When that happens, Paul says that we should be careful not to judge our stronger brother for his apparent freedom. That is God’s job.
There is one more instruction Paul gives to the weaker brother. This one is not on your outline, but I would like you to add it if you would. In verses 14 and 23 Paul says, “Do not violate your conscience. Do not violate your own conscience.
This brings us to the second question on the quiz. Is it possible for a person to sin by doing something that is NOT wrong? The answer, believe it or not, is yes. Let me give you an example.
Let’s say, for the sake of discussion, that you always observe your Sabbath on Sunday. That is a common custom among Christians. This is a very important discipline for you . You have made it clear to your boss (and to everyone else) that you will not work on Sunday.
It used to be that one of your favorite things to do on Sunday was to go out to eat after church. It was a cherished tradition to go out and enjoy a meal with your family and friends. Then one day someone pointed out to you that going out to eat on Sunday forced, or at least encouraged the employees there to work on a day that should be their Sabbath as well. They accused you of being hypocritical by refusing to work on the Sabbath but then, in turn, violating someone else’s Sabbath.
That made you feel really guilty. You really wanted to keep going out, but you didn’t feel right about it any more, so you stopped doing it. If that is honestly how you feel, then Paul would say you should not eat out on Sunday. If you do, it will be sin. Even though the Bible nowhere says, “Thou shall not eat at a restaurant on Sunday”, you should not do that because it would not come from faith and Paul says that “anything that does not come from faith is sin.” (v. 23). In other words, if you feel like something is wrong, then for you, it is wrong, regardless of whether it is inherently evil or not. Even if God does not condemn a certain behavior, if you feel it is wrong for you and you do it anyway, you are rebelling against His authority, and that heart attitude of rebellion alone is sinful. So, Paul says to the weaker brother, do not violate your own conscience.
Now Paul turns his attention to the stronger brother. And if you look at your outline you will see that he has a lot more to say to this brother.
The first instruction in the stronger brother’s job description is to accept your weaker brother. (v. 1) In other words, welcome him into the family. Embrace him as a brother in Christ.
The second thing Paul tells the stronger brother is, “Do not look down on your weaker brother.” (v. 3) 1. In other words, do not reject your brother with contempt. Do not despise your brother as inferior to you.
Here again it seems that Paul has keen insight into human nature. We already saw that the tendency of the weaker brother is to judge and condemn the stronger brother. Now we see that the temptation of the stronger brother is to look down on the weaker brother, to treat him with contempt and disdain. Paul tells us not to do that. We are not to treat a weaker brother as inferior because he is not.
Physically speaking, I am not as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Pause) Why are you laughing? I am not as strong as he is, but does that make me inferior to him as a person? No. It does not make me inferior. It makes me weaker. The same thing is true in the spiritual realm. If you are weaker in your faith it does not make you inferior, it makes you weaker. So, Paul tells us not to look down on our weaker brothers and sisters.
The third thing Paul tells the stronger brother is, “Do not to put a stumbling block in front of your weaker brother.” (v. 13, 20-21) Don’t cause a weaker brother to stumble.
This brings us to the third and final question in the quiz. “Is it possible for a person to sin by doing something that is NOT wrong and that he KNOWS is not wrong?” We already saw that it is possible to sin by doing something that is not inherently evil, if you believe it is wrong. But what if you don’t? What if you know something is not wrong, can it still be sinful?
The answer, again, is yes. It is possible to sin by doing something you know perfectly well is not intrinsically evil. Let me give you and example.
Let’s say, for the sake of discussion, that I personally feel the freedom to watch R-rated movies. It usually does not bother my conscience at all to watch many R-rated movies. However, as my good friend, I know that you don’t watch them. We have discussed it several times before, so I know that you have very high standards when it comes to media entertainment. You are very careful what you watch and what you let your children watch, and you feel like most of the content that gives the typical movie an “R” rating is evil and so you have made it a personal policy to never watch R-rated movies.
Suppose one day I tell you about a movie I really enjoyed. I tell you that it was so funny, with well-developed characters and an engaging plot and so on. You are intrigued, so I invite you over to watch it at my house, but I intentionally omit the fact that this particular movie carries an R rating. I don’t tell you that because I know you will not watch it if I do. I don’t mention it until we are about 15 minutes into the show, and you start to see some things you are not used to, things that shock and offend you, and you ask me, “Wait a minute, what is this? What is this movie rated?” And I finally admit, “It is rated R.”
Do you see how I have just sinned against you? Even though the Bible never says, “Thou shall not watch R-rated movies (for obvious reasons), and although I feel perfectly free to enjoy the film, I have just sinned against you because I have violated your conscience and put you in a very awkward position. Now you may feel lots of pressure to do something you feel is wrong. You don’t want to do it, but you are already here; the movie has already started; you don’t want to make a scene in front of my family or our mutual friends, etc. I have just put you in a position where you are tempted to do something that for you would be sin. I am no longer acting in love, and therefore I am sinning, even though the Bible does not expressly forbid the activity.
Paul tells us not to put a stumbling block in front of our brother for at least two reasons: It might Distress him and it might even Destroy him (v. 15, 20). It might distress my brother. This speaks of emotional pain or trauma. It puts undue pressure on the weaker brother. He sees someone he respects and trusts doing something he considers sinful, and it is deeply disturbing to him.
But more than that, Paul says that we can actually destroy our brother in Christ. That is very strong language. How can we destroy our brother? There are at least a couple of ways. As I already mentioned, one way is to tempt him to do something that for him would be sin (v. 15). He does not feel the freedom to do that, but now he feels pressured to violate his own conscience. If he does, then it tends to sear his conscience, and the next time he is tempted it becomes easier for him to sin again. In this way, I can destroy my brother’s conscience.
Or, I might offend him so deeply that he abandons the faith altogether, resulting in his eternal damnation (v. 15). It may be, depending on his background, that my weaker brother has very good reasons to have such a tender conscience. If he sees me flaunt my freedom, if he sees that I have an I-know-this-offends-you-but-I-don’t-care-I-can-do-whatever-I-want-to-because-I-am-free-in-Christ attitude, then he may be so hurt and offended by my selfishness and arrogance that he says, “Well, if that is what it means to be a Christian, if that is how the Church really is, then I don’t want anything to do with it.” He could walk away from Jesus and so I really have destroyed my brother - eternally. So, Paul tells us to be very careful with our freedom and avoid putting stumbling blocks in front of our weaker brother.
Finally, in verse 22, he tells the stronger brother to keep your opinion to yourself. If you feel that you have the freedom to do certain things that would offend and alienate your weaker brothers and sisters, that is fine, just keep it between you and God. In other words, practice your freedom in private. And if practicing your freedom publically would bring spiritual harm to your brother or sister in Christ, then just don’t do it. Paul said that he believes he has the freedom to eat anything he wants to, but if it is going to hurt his weaker brothers, he will not eat meat ever again. This is love in action by preferring our brother.
So, Paul admits that there are some things in Scripture which are not explicitly clear, at least not to everyone. He calls these things disputable matters. Now, it is OK for us to have opinions on these matters. In fact, God wants us to have well-formed opinions. Paul says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” (v. 5)
The problem arises when we form strong convictions which oppose one another. Then, the tendency of the weaker brother is to judge the stronger brother, and the temptation of the stronger brother is to look down on the weaker brother. Paul is calling us to love one another and be very careful with our opinions, preferences, and convictions.
As I studied this passage, one of the things that struck me about it is how God does not seem very interested in settling the dispute. It seems like it would be much easier, and perhaps more satisfying, if God simply came down and said, “You are right and you are wrong. There.” But He rarely does that. He doesn’t seem to be terribly interested in settling the arguments. He seems more interested in the way we treat each other in the midst of the dispute.
God wants us to recognize the sincerity of the other brother, not to say, “Well, if you don’t agree with me then obviously you are not very spiritual,” or, “Since you do not share my opinion you must not be as committed to Jesus as I am.” God wants us to respect our brother and recognize the sincerity of his heart as well.
He also wants us to have the humility to give our brother the benefit of the doubt. After all, what if our brother is right? God wants us to suspend judgment and leave that to Him. Trust God to work it all out in our heart and in the life of our brother. He even wants us to limit our own freedom, if necessary, so as not to do any spiritual harm to our brother.
In verses 5-8 Paul says that whichever position we find ourselves in, whether weaker or stronger, we should use that as an opportunity to worship God. If you feel like you have the freedom to do something that others do not, give thanks to God in the midst of your freedom and praise Him. If you feel like you do not have the freedom to do certain things, then give thanks to God and worship Him from the place of your conviction. Either way, use your position as a platform to give thanks an praise to God.
Finally, in verse 17, Paul encourages us not to major on the minors. Listen to what he says in verse 17: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. Eating and drinking are the examples of disputable matters he raises in this chapter. In other words, “The kingdom of God is not about disputable matters. It is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Paul does not want us to be outer rim Christians. He wants us to be bull’s-eye Christians.
Disputable matters call for lots of grace and humility. They call for grace because I have to extend lots of grace to my brother when I believe he is wrong. They also call for humility. I must have sufficient humility to give my brother the benefit of the doubt. What if I am the one who is wrong?
Personally, I have lots of strong opinions on disputable matters. You might be hard-pressed to find a disputable matter about which I do not have an opinion. As I have reflected on disputable matters this week, I recognized that on some of these issues I now hold an opinion that is the exact opposite of the opinion I used to hold. I could cite several examples of convictions that have changed. There was a time when I held the opposite conviction, and it seemed patently obvious that I was right about it. But in the course of living in the context of Christian community, I encountered Christian brothers or sisters whom I admired and respected as godly, committed followers of Jesus who disagreed with me. As I listened to them explain why they disagreed, sometimes I had to say to myself, “Huh! You know what? They have a good point. I never thought about it that way before.” And it forced me to go back to the Bible. It caused me to take a good, long, hard look at the Word of God and ask anew, “What does God really say about this issue?” And sometimes I came to believe that they were right. I flip-flopped, and changed my opinion.
The interesting thing is that while I used to be wrong about those issues, now I know that I am right. And therein lies the danger. I must have enough humility to acknowledge that if I was wrong before, I could be wrong again. In fact, it would be interesting for me to hear this sermon again in ten years.
Here is the bottom line. I think the key verse in this entire chapter is verse 19. Listen to verse 19, and I will close with this: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Paul is saying that the Christian life is not about our freedoms. It is not about us demanding our freedoms and certainly not about flaunting them. It is not about our convictions and certainly not about imposing them. The Christian life is about loving God and loving others. It is about following Jesus and building His Kingdom in the hearts and lives of others around us. So, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 March 2009 10:19 |
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