A Solution To Most Arguments Among Christians Series

A FACT OF LIFE: There are going to be disputable matters Christians disagree on.

- Romans 14:1b, 2, 5a.

- Verse 1b introduces the term “disputable matters.” Now Paul has a lot to say about this and we are going to unpack this chapter over the next five weeks and detail the major points he makes. We need to start with the simplest: there are disputable matters.

- What’s so important about this and what we are going to talk about this morning is that Paul puts this forward as an acceptable category.

- What might an alternate approach look like? Well, that’s easy, because we see it all the time!

- It looks like this: I’m right about every detail and every interpretation I have about the Bible!

- This can arise from a good place: we say the Bible is the Word of God and that it gives us clear instruction. Yes it is and yes it does. But that doesn’t mean that every issue is handled to the point where there isn’t any nuance. Life is complicated, situations are complex, cultures are diverse, maturity levels are varied, and so on. The Bible is the Word of God but that doesn’t mean that my interpretation of the Bible is inerrant! Far too often we get people (who think they’re mature!) who are dogmatic that every thought they have about the Bible is without question the right way to look at it.

- Paul gives us a different vision with these two words (and the rest of the chapter): disputable matters.

- There are going to be matters that honest Christians are going to disagree over. It’s going to happen. It’s not a glitch in the system. It’s part of the way things work in this imperfect, sin-stained world.

- Maybe we should start with a simple exercise: we can all say, “I’m not always right.”

- In fact, I do try to say this to myself on a regular basis. I think it’s important to know that I don’t know everything, that I could be wrong, and that there is more I don’t know than I do.

- One sign of maturity, I think, is that you begin to be increasingly aware of how much you don’t know. I am far more aware today, more than thirty years into a spiritual journey, of how little I know than I was at the beginning. I hope that’s a sign of growth.

- Verse 2 gives us an example of this from Paul’s day: eating meat versus eating only vegetables.

- That issue, of course, stirs up nothing within us. In fact, we probably read it and think, “Who cares?”

- Well, they did. We can’t be certain which specific issue he is referring to: it could be meat sacrificed to idols (some Christians felt they shouldn’t eat that meat; others said that the idol isn’t real so nothing actually happened to the meat), it could be that the meat wasn’t kosher (some Christians felt they should continue to be faithful to parts of the Mosaic Law; others didn’t), or it could have (less likely) been some believers pursuing vegetable-only diet like Daniel in the Old Testament. We don’t know for certain which issue it was but we do know for certain that it was an issue.

- That in itself is a lesson to us. Here was an issue of burning intensity in Paul’s day that has faded away to nonexistence in our day. It’s a reminder that the particulars of place and culture can raise issues that are very specific to that moment.

- A second example is in v. 5. This is also an issue that doesn’t generate much heat today: should we consider some days more sacred than others? Some considered certain days to be holier and more sacred; others thought it best to treat each day the same. Again, not an issue we care much for today, but one that created strong reactions back then.

- So, then, what would be some examples from today that do get our attention?

- A few modern examples:

a. What songs to sing in worship.

b. Public school, private school, or homeschooling.

c. Tattoos.

d. Drinking alcohol.

e. Who to vote for.

f. What shows/movies to watch.

g. How expensive a car to own.

- Before leaving this point, there is an essential point that needs to be made. I am not arguing here that there is no such thing as truth and that we can all just believe whatever we want.

- There are a few indisputable matters that make up the essential core of our faith. They are much fewer than most of normally presume. Things like the deity of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the inspiration of the Bible, the Trinity, and so on.