The difference between us
this is a serious message today about something that could become a serious problem.
Have you ever been involved in a food fight? These are the kind of things that spontaneously break out in cafeterias or at summer camp and it’s usually for fun. But in the Bible a food fight broke out that ended up threatening to split apart a church.
Let me read for you Romans 14 about a serious issue that cropped up in the early church.
Romans (ESV) 14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
This is a food fight taken to a whole another level. In fact, you may be thinking, how silly that a church got into a fight over meat and potatoes. How silly that a group of people got so married to their food preferences that they were doubting those that didn’t hold their beliefs that they were even Christians.
Now there is a story behind the food fight…
But we do the same thing today. Let me tell you some of the fights that I’ve seen in the church…
- Carpet colors
- fuzzy doctrinal issues
- alcohol
- card playing
- what kind of music
- which version of the Bible
- technology or non-technology
- clothing preference
- hairstyles
- the wearing of makeup
- a woman’s role in the church
- G rated/PG rated/PG-13 rated/R-rated entertainment
- politics
- what you can and can’t do on a Sunday
and that’s just the short list! But let me add a new one to the list; Covid 19, coronavirus, where it comes from, how serious is it, what to do about it, and the politics that surround it. In a church like ours we have people who are hyper fearful and wish everybody would have a hazmat suit and then we have the opposite who believe it’s government overreach and that true Christians won’t contract it.
Covid 19 is just the latest in a series of things that Satan will use to divide the church against each other. And when that happens we violate a prayer request that Jesus made for us that I bet very few of us ever pray…
John 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Jesus wanted his followers to be one.
Later on Paul would define this oneness with other words like family – like a body – that we are somehow in knit together in love.
I have a biological family and we share things in common that nobody else shares. And what we share in common is so strong that even though we are all different ages, and have different jobs, and live in different states, and are at different levels of faith, in different political opinions – there is something that rises above all of that where we will never be torn apart.
That’s what Jesus was praying for – that we would have that!
Let’s get back to Romans for a moment. What is going on in that church beyond the food? What can we learn from them? Take a look at the Scripture and will discover a couple of things;
1. First, it can get ugly when my convictions (or my opinions, or my ways of doing things) become a test of fellowship for others.
What’s going on in Romans 14? What is going on in every church that has had a problem? Romans 14:2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
How it starts is when two different people have two different opinions on the same subject. Now let’s understand that were not talking about some clear-cut Bible teaching that is vital to what it means to follow Jesus. If someone comes along and says, “I don’t think Jesus is the only way to heaven” then were going to have a problem. But I have been in churches where the subject of women wearing pants had been elevated to some kind of exclusive belief and not to believe it there way meant that you were excluded.
The problem in Rome and FXBX is that their opinions about certain things became dogmatic and the only way to see an issue was to see it the way I see it and anything less than that was unacceptable.
In other words, their issues informed their faith when their faith should of been informing their issues. We might say it like this; your politics informs your faith instead of your faith informing your politics.
I’ve heard people say, “how can any Christian vote for a Democrat… They’re not even a Christian.” And I’ve heard it on the other side as well. That is the case of people taking their opinion and elevating it as some kind of test of faith. We have a name for that, we call it legalism - “you must follow my rules or you’re out.” Basically were saying, “my opinions should be your opinions.”
That’s how it started in this Roman church and then it went up a notch. What happened next was this…
2. Second, their opinions turn to attitudes and their attitudes were poisoned with pride.
In Romans 14:1 and 3 we see the attitude. In verse 1 it starts with quarreling or getting into heated debates.
In verse 3 that leads to “despising.” When you despise somebody you belittle them, you set them aside and ignore them, they don’t count anymore.
Also in verse 3 it leads to “passing judgment.” When you pass judgment you are condemning the other side, you have decided something about them, and that they would be punished somehow.
This is how the devil divides the body of Christ. We get on our high horse because we’re smarter, we have more sense, we have more data, we are more scientific, we have more faith, we know Greek, and we begin to look at those who don’t share our opinions and we attack them, we put them down, we may even publicly embarrass them, we post belittling things on Facebook.
By the way, if you want to go one step further in this look at verse 15 because it doesn’t end in judgment… By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. Now it is public humiliation.
Not only is it despising and passing judgment but now it’s destroying. That’s a scary word, “destroy.” This can go so far that we can destroy, or ruin, or wreck the faith of another person.
That’s the feeling of this whole passage of Scripture that there are those who are so married to their opinions that they exalt themselves to a place where they are the judge. He is so sure of himself and what he thinks that he takes the place of God and judges others. And then destroys others.
Is the only way that we can have fellowship is for you to have complete conformity to my convictions? Do I have to live my life in such a way that I have to make you see my rightness all the time?
Now let me just stop for a moment. Why is Paul addressing this? Why doesn’t he just tell all the meat lovers to start their own denomination the “BEEFTISTS” and the vegans can start their own denomination the “VEGICOSTALS.”
Well, let me tell you why. Because if you read enough of Paul in the New Testament you will come to realize that one of the most amazing things that God did was to create a church where all people,
of all colors,
of all backgrounds,
from all over the world,
of all incomes,
of all cultures,
of all sexes,
of all languages,
would be one family, one body, one unit, because we all got in the same way - through faith in Christ, and we would be so deeply committed to each other that nothing could tear us apart.
It was literally what Jesus prayed – that we would be one.
But it’s a struggle.
By the way, knowing what Jesus wants, what would our enemy be interested in? Division – hate – despising - marking – pride – denominations – arguing with one another – spying on one another – creating little tests for who is in and who is out.
So Paul proposes a solution. A solution for hymns versus contemporary worship/meat versus vegetable/Republican versus Democrat/it’s for real versus it’s a conspiracy/
Here it is…
Romans 14:15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died…… 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
His solution is not “tolerate the other person” or “be nice to other people who are different” or “endure their wrongness” but his solution is to walk in love. This is the most inconvenient thing that we could do is to ask yourself, “what does love require of me right now.”
- When they are on the opposite side of the universe politically what does love require of me?
- What does love require of me when they don’t see it my way?
- What does love require of me when I don’t get my way?
What we really want to ask is; what does anger require me, what does self-righteousness require of me, what does my opinion require of me or what do my politics require of me.
Scripture says; if your brother (this is the other person that Jesus died for and believes and is in your family) is grieved (they are hurt, there’s something not right in the relationship) by your actions and you are no longer walking in love.
Two powerful scriptures about love…
John 15:12-13 (MSG)
This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. 13 This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and so we should lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Everything you need to know and about love you can learn from Jesus.
- Love is making the first move just like Jesus did.
- Love is making the first move when you don’t know if there’ll even be received just like Jesus did.
- Love is giving up or sacrificing something in your life for another persons good just like Jesus did.
- Love is patient - responding in a positive way to a negative situation just like Jesus did.
- Love is kind – kindness is a blessing. Kindness means I am good to you and I’m good for you just like Jesus did.
- Love seeks reconciliation, is easy to forgive, and removes the barriers between us just like Jesus did.
- Love is when you place a high value on another person and honor that person. You honor them by protecting them, never joining in to destroy them just like Jesus did.
- Love is your intentional action toward another person for their good without discrimination.
So love is me making a move, or this church making a move that costs us something and causes me to give freely even though I may never get anything in return.
And this kind of love is what sets God apart and sets his people apart.
What does love require of me?
“There is such a love, a love that creates value in what is loved. There is a love that turns rag dolls into priceless treasures. There is a love that fastens itself onto ragged little creatures, for reasons that no one could ever quite figure out, and makes them precious and valued beyond calculation. This is love beyond reason. This is the love of God.”
“Love me, love my rag dolls," God says. It's a package deal.”
Jesus loves people. Does Jesus love make him any less holy? Does Jesus loving people make is truth any less impactful? Does Jesus love make him any less right about everything? Does Jesus love mean that we can get away with sin?
No. Walking in love does not require you to change your opinions or convictions.
But I can tell you this; according to first Corinthians 13, the love chapter, it doesn’t matter if you have the kind of faith that can move a mountain, it doesn’t matter if you can speak some kind of angel language, it doesn’t even matter if you give up your life as a martyr for your principles - because Paul says that if you don’t have love and you don’t have nothing!!!!
ILLUS… I want you to think of somebody that is very dear to your life. For most of you it will be a child, if you have no children it may be your favorite niece or nephew or best friend. And let’s say this person has wandered into the danger zone of life. What happens in your heart? Suddenly you have a deep, intense anguish and broken heart for them. You are literally willing to do anything humanly possible to rescue them from their situation. You will dive in, you will get dirty, you will take a beating, you will go broke and you will risk all just for the sake of reaching them. It is killing you that they can’t see what is happening to them and that they can’t hear what you’re saying.
That is Jesus kind of love - and there is nothing easy about that love.
Jesus showed this extreme love everywhere…
- He did it from the cross when he said father forgive them.
- He did it when he picked Matthew to follow him.
- He did it when he washed Judas feet.
- He did it when he forgave adultery.
We are to walk in love. It’s not just an event, it’s a lifestyle. It’s who we are.
