Digging in Deeper: Romans 14:5-9

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“One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I was in high school, I got to play in the jazz band. We met before school at 6:45 two days a week. I loved it. More than just that, I learned to love jazz as a musical style. Jazz is all about improvisation. It’s about having the freedom to explore and create. There are almost endless possibilities and varieties open and available to players. I say almost endless because there are some boundaries, and the greatest freedom comes to those musicians who have spent the most time learning where those boundaries are through years and years of discipline and practice. But within those boundaries, there really is room to thrive. In a world that operates like it’s playing a fugue, the church offers jazz to those interested in something truly free. As Paul continues exploring the freedom we have in Christ, let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 14:4

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“Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the biggest critiques against the church and believers more generally is that we are judgmental. We’ve talked about this issue before in other contexts, but the reality is that sometimes we have been deserving of that criticism. But not always. There’s a difference between standing firmly on a particular moral position and actively condemning those who hold and act on the opposite view. Where judgmentalism becomes an even more pressing problem for believers, though, is within the church. When we start judging one another as fellow members of the body of Christ, we sew the seeds of division and disunity which eventually grow to split churches and to create bad church experiences that can drive people away from the church entirely. As with the situation of judgment cast outside of the church, the situation is a bit more complicated than it appears at first glance. What Paul writes here offers some helpful wisdom in our efforts to get things right.

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A Choice of Response

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For the last few weeks, we have been talking about the various kinds of interruptions we might experience as we go through our lives. We’ve talked about divine interruptions as God invites us to go in a new direction as well as interruptions from sin – both the sin of others and our own sin. So many of the interruptions we face on a regular basis, though, aren’t critical interruptions, they’re just irritating. In those situations, knowing how to respond to the person who is the cause of the interruption matters a lot. This is especially true when the interruption turns out to be God-ordained after all. In part four of our series, we are taking our cue from the example of Jesus. Let’s dig in together.

A Choice of Response

Covid was tough. It was tough for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons it was tough for me personally was that I wound up working from home a lot. With three still-young children. Who were all doing school from home. Do you know how hard it is to write a sermon or a Bible study outline when you’ve got three kids coming to you on a rotating basis (or simultaneously) either needing help with their schoolwork, needing to be reminded to do their schoolwork, or just needing to be entertained for a few minutes so they don’t start creating their own entertainment which usually creates more problems than it solves? About as hard as it is to get anything else done with all of those things going on. Many of you know those woes far better than you’d like. 

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Morning Musing: Romans 14:2-3

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“One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Yesterday we introduced the idea of struggles to get along in the body of Christ because of differences of opinion over non-essential matters of the faith. Well, that wasn’t exactly the language we used, but that was the issue all the same. Paul’s counsel then was that we should receive one another as we are, weaknesses and all, without getting into needless and unhelpful arguments about issues on which differences of opinion are okay to have. The freedom we have available to us in Christ is vast, and if we are going to get along well in the church, we have to learn to respect that freedom. As Paul continues into chapter 14, he gets a little more specific about the particular shape of this issue in the Roman church. Let’s take a look.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 14:1

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“Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I was a pretty easygoing kid when I was growing up. I rarely, if ever, got into an argument with friends. I was respectful to other adults. I internalized early the importance of going along to get along. But at home, my sister and I fought like cats and dogs. We argued about almost anything. I antagonized her all the time. I love her now—and I did then too—but we mixed about as well as oil and water growing up. Sometimes it seems like the church kind of does the same thing. We fight amongst ourselves and over some of the stupidest things. We think that if someone is not just like us, then they can’t be a part of us. Natural human tribalism is alive and well in our midst. What are we supposed to do about that as we pursue the unity of Christ together? Over the next chapter and a half, Paul sets about offering some counsel on how we can get this often broken part of our lives together right. Let’s start digging in and see what we can learn about how to get along.

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