Accept Series

We come today to our last tip from God on how to strengthen and lengthen our relationships. We have learned about LOVE, ENCOURAGEMENT, FORGIVENESS, SERVICE, and YIELDING and I hope you have been able to practice some of these things to help any relationships that you may be in. Todays tip on relationships has to do with ACCEPTING the fact that everyone has their own opinions about things and being able to adjust and live with it and still get along.

PRAYER

In a perfect world everyone would agree with me; everyone would bring up their kids like I do; everyone would sing the songs I like; everyone would spend their money like I spend mine. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone started reading from the right script, which just so happens to be the one in my hand.

But the reality is, I don’t live in a perfect world. . . and neither do you. We don’t see eye-to-eye. The question for each of us is: What do we do when we disagree?

We can spend an enormous amount of time persuading the other person to subscribe to our point of view, but what if that approach doesn’t work? And most times it doesn’t. What happens then? If the relationship over? Of course not. Or it doesn’t have to be.

Well, in the book of Romans, Paul teaches us to remain humble when we have differences in opinion. Yes, some grounds are worth defending and there are times when we need to stand our ground, but Paul helps us to see where to draw those lines and still get along with each other. His instructions guide us to maintain these strong relationships in spite of any and every difference of opinion.

First of all, let me say that strong relationships are not hindered by differences in opinion. A few Wednesday nights ago, Linda taught from Romans 14 on unity in the church. If you missed it, you missed a good lesson. But here’s the question: what’s the difference between being united and being unified? Can you be united and NOT be unified?

If you were to take two enemies, handcuff them together, and lock them in a room, you’d see two persons united but not unified. Just because people are together doesn’t mean they’re unified. The same is true for the church. That’s one of the biggest challenges of most any pastor, to keep the church unified. Yes, we are united every time we come together, but there are often challenges in keeping the church unified. So, today we are talking about acceptance—being accepted and being acceptive.

READ Romans 14: 1-4. “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 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. 4 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.”

Paul addresses just one issue, one difference of opinion that existed in the church at that time. There were probably several differences, but Paul chooses this one to make his point. While one group may have been more mature in their thinking, both groups were guilty of a critical spirit. Rather than running each other down and resenting the other’s opinion, Paul challenges them to accept one another.

When we talk about accepting one another, it carries the idea of welcoming others and being generous toward them. Now, there is a difference in what the world says and what the Bible says. The world defines acceptance as a full affirmation, even an endorsement, of a person’s beliefs and practices. “If it feels good, do it.”

The Bible doesn’t use the word “accept” to mean to condone sin. The world may condone what God calls sin, but the Bible allows no room for accepting or condoning sin. Instead, the Bible’s desire is to stay close, even when both parties see things differently.

It’s important to note that Paul isn’t talking about black and white sin. In this case, we would say, what difference does it make as to what one eats. So this was one of those vague things that some viewed as sin but the Bible doesn’t directly address. That borders on us making our own rules and laws even when Scripture doesn’t directly address it like the Pharisees. On the other hand, the Bible does ask us to get involved in the blatant sins. For instance, if a believer sees a brother in Christ walking down the street in a drunken state, he should challenge his choices. Ephesians 5:18 – “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:”