WALKING ACCORDING TO LOVE
Romans 14:13-23
* Having already read our text, let reread verse 15 again. (Read) I call your attention to the last part of that verse which is for me the summary of Paul’s challenge to his readers. That is, to walk in love. Think for a time with me about this concept. In fact, let’s break it down word by word and concept by concept.
* We begin with the word “Walking.” You and I know all about walking. It is one of the first things we attempt to teach our kids and is a normal part of life. However, when we think of this type of walking, it is not about our legs it is about our life. One of the definitions reads this way; “To conduct oneself or behave in a particular manner.” The way we live is our walk.
* Next, look at “according to.” These two words are very interesting and used very frequently. We may say “according to my dad, my mom, the Bible, the church, or any other of a multitude of possibility. So this means “in keeping with, as determined by, and/or as indicated by.”
* Finally, we come to the word “Love.” Now, everybody seems to have their own definition of love. Some say it’s a “warm affection or devotion”, a “strong positive emotional attachment”, “to be enamored with”, and even “a feeling of sexual desire and passion.” However, if we truly desire to understand the full range of love, we must look to the source of love. So I’ll sum up love in one word: God. It is not that God can love, it is that God IS love. It is His character and nature.
* Before we get to our text, allow me to briefly set our thinking caps on correctly about this thing called love. A common modern day concept about love is that it is only an emotion you feel. Well, make no mistake you may well experience an accompanying feeling. Many times in scripture we read about God being grieved with His people and Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, but real love is more than just a feeling. Another common thought about love is that it never confronts or corrects. Yet, it is because of authentic, godly, agape love that God reaches into our lives to confront and correct us of the sin we are involved in.
* When we understand God’s love and walk according to His love, things are different in our lives. As a result, people see the Lord in us.
* So how do we walk “according to” love? It’s one thing to say it, but how do we do it? Allow me to offer you 3 things which should impact us.
1. The Choices we make. – Choices make us who we are. I used to tease my wife by telling the story that as a music minister, one night I said to her, “Deb, I’ll let you select the next 3 hymns.” Pointing, she said, “I’ll take Him, Him, and Him.” Obviously, that’s a funny, but it illustrates the point that when you give someone a choice, you never know what they’ll choose.
* In this text, the call is 3 about three choices to make if we walk in love.
a. No Longer Criticize – It goes without saying that the enemy #1 of walking is Christian love is the tongue. The warnings are many and severe which speak of the improper use of the tongue. James compares the tongue to a horse, ship, and fire, with the lesson found in James 3:8 being, that “no one can tame the tongue.” Knowing how wild the tongue is, we must watch it constantly to make sure we keep tabs on it. Without proper attention, the tongue will be given to gossip, slander, outbursts of anger, rotten talk, and insult, which are forbidden by the Bible for the believer.
b. No Longer Complacent – Reading verse 15 convinces me that Paul is striking a blow at the complacent believer who says by his actions, “I don’t care.” When we come to the place that we don’t care how we impact those around us, we ceased to walk in the love of God. With everything Jesus did in His earthly life, He taught us to love other people with a love that propels to action. Could it be that too often we make a decision to not worry about others and literally, negative impact one who is lost; so by our complacent attitude and behavior, someone is driven away?
c. No longer Confuse. – Back in verse 1, Paul writes about “doubtful issues” and we talked about these last week. It would seem that in verse 16-17 Paul is returning to this thought and saying, “Don’t let secondary issues control your life because those are not what God’s Kingdom is all about!” It seems to me that confusion abounds in the American church today. There appears to be a tendency to replace the true purpose of the church with some kind of manmade imitation. The Bible says, “The Kingdom (church) of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit and about serving the Messiah in this way.” Think about that and ask yourself a few questions. Have I confused my purpose for the church and God’s purpose for the church? If I could have the church like I wanted it, how similar or different would it be to the church God wants? I submit when we make His church like we want it, the culture becomes confused, they miss the greatest gift ever given, and we are not walking in love.
* We may not be walking in HATE, but we are not walking in His love.
2. The Course we stake. – I offer the thought that we “stake out our course” of life because most of us know what it is to set goals and move towards them. The first time you traveled to Orlando, Florida, you had a map in hand and an idea about the route to get there. First, you had to know where you were going and then your could chart or stake out the course. Whether in your mind or by drawing lines on a map, you knew which way was acceptable and which way was wrong. If we are to truly walk in love we have to begin at the point of saying, “I desire for my life to be a life which reflects the Love of Christ.” Then you watch the mile markers.
a. What encourages peace – The Bible tells us that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, and ‘peace’. Jesus tells us that He came to give us ‘peace.’ And now, verse 19 tells us to “pursue peace.” That word pursue is the same word we studied in Hebrews 12 last Sunday evening. It means to chase after, run swiftly, and my own perception – to stalk. We are to find peace, live out peace, and share peace. You know how hard we chase it? We pursue it like we pursue that goal mentioned in Philippians 3. Get this picture; a runner leaner toward the tape at the finish line, wanting to win the race. To walk in love means with all that we are we no longer complacent, criticizing, & confusing, because we are chasing after peace.
b. What edifies people – The HCSB says, “What builds up one another” & the KJV reads “edify.” This is a construction term which speaks of constructing a build or edifice. The course we stake out must be one that includes building people up and not tearing them down. You see, our adversary is in the business of tearing down people. He tells us we’re worth nothing, we’re worthy of nothing, and we will amount to nothing, while in the Bible, we are told that, in Jesus, we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. Through His blood we are cleaned, forgiven, and secured. A message of security and forgiveness through Jesus is the message of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is what our lives must be about if we walk in love.
c. What eliminates problems – May I reword verses 20 and 21 for us today? Do not tear down God’s work because of doubtful and debatable things. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to cause someone else to stumble and thus, miss God’s grace by these types of things. It is a noble, honorable, and good thing as well as it demonstrates your love for God and People if you do not do what you KNOW will cause problems in the life of another person. A believer should not be a problem maker, he or she should be a problem breaker.
3. The Chance we take. – Let me explain this “chance” which we take. All of us are headed to a ‘conclusion’ in this life. For some, it will be soon and for others it will be delayed (as we count delay). Yet, it’s coming. The Bible clearly teaches us that there are only 2 options for the next step. Whether we call it ‘right-wrong’, ‘good-bad’, ‘narrow-broad’, or God’s way and the other way, the truth is that no third way exists. What is more important for us to know is that the choices we make in this life construct the road we take in the afterlife. Just as surely as a road construction crew builds a road which will be traversed by many, you & I are building an eternal road which we will traverse eternally. As we go along our way in this life, when we come to forks in our road there are essentially only 2 options, God’s way or the wrong way. Never forget, one day we will all stand before God, either at the Judgment Seat of Christ or the Great White Throne.
* At that time, we will give an account to God for the choices we have made and the course we have taken. When we do not submit our lives to Christ;
a. We can be corrupted by our actions. – To read the first part of verse 22 in the HCSB is to get the feeling that we should go silent about our beliefs. Yet, Paul is returning to the concept of doubtable issues. He is saying, “Do you have faith about this issue? Is your faith strong enough to eat the meat and not be bothered? If you do, don’t use it as a weapon for those who don’t have this faith.” Our actions toward those who may be (as Paul denotes) weaker in faith can corrupt a person. Here is the first action which will corrupt a believer; “Spiritual snobbery.” When we have to tell people how spiritual we are there is a problem. When we carry the attitude that “I’ll be glad when they catch up with me, spiritually,” there is a problem. And the problem is pride, and pride is sin, and sin corrupts. By the way, the last phrase of this chapter should carry huge weight with us. “Everything”, not some things; “that is not from faith”, this is our belief, trust, and dependence on Christ; “is SIN”. What a sobering truth.
b. We can be condemned by what we approve. – In the last part of verse sets this principle in the form of a Beatitude. (read) By what a man approves, he can either condemn or acquit himself. We know that Paul taught us in Romans 1 that those people who accepted, applauded, and approved of sexual immorality were and are just as guilty as those who committed the act. In the context of verse 15 could it be the he is now saying, “Be careful that you do not approve pharisaism because in doing so your will be affirming the very thing which Jesus opposed.” May I offer you just one thought; based on our place in creation you and I have no authority to approve or disapprove anything, we are in a position of simply carrying out the policies of our master. To approve of anything which Christ has not placed on the approval list is to invite judgment.
c. We can be converted by what we accept. – The last part of verse 16 says, “Do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.” One of those is you. Christ died for you, have you accepted that fact and made a decision to follow Him? Receiving Jesus in a personal way is the first step to removing the corruption and condemnation that is on your life. Upon receiving Christ in this personal way, some truly super things begin to take place. First, you have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Next, you have direct access to God. Next, things of this world won’t consume you because you’ll come to live with an eye on eternity, thus peace, joy, and love will begin to rule your heart. Yes, you’ll still have difficulties, but now, you’ll not face them alone. Finally, you’ll know that you have been accepted by God. With all of this, you’ll be walking according to love.
