A Clash of Cultures
(Romans 14:1-23)
A. Many churches are held hostage by SPIRITUAL terrorists who hold the church back in the name of being OFFENDED or claiming to be WEAKER BROTHERS.
1. If a vegetarian joins our church, should we forbid all meat at a church dinner?
2. If one person finds our pew pad offensive because we are too worldly minded and tied to comfort, should we rip them all out?
3. If a new member feels it is wrong to sing with instrumental accompaniment, should we go to acaperlla?
4. Should we allow others to tyrannize us in the name of their being offended?
Obviously the answer is no. Yet many churches are held back and tyrannized in different areas because folks are offended. The offended parties base their right to have their way on Romans 14. But Romans 14 is anything but clear.
C. Factors that influence our understanding of Romans 14
1. Emperor Claudius commanded all Jews to leave Rome in 52A.D. They were soon allowed to return. Since the original Christians in Rome were Jewish believers, they had previously been at the helm of the church. They returned to a gentile-led congregation by the time Paul wrote Romans in 57 A.D.
2. Because most meat in gentile areas was first sacrificed to idols and not killed in keeping with Kosher laws, and because wine was likewise made apart from Kosher specifications, “Jews simply refrained from meat and wine when questionable, ate vegetables and drank water, or brought their own food and wine. Thus, while Jews saw themselves adapting a kind and accommodating posture…gentiles generally saw things differently….The underlying separatism and notable judgment of their lifestyles often offended gentiles…” (Mark Nanos, The Mystery of Romans, p. 57)
3. This is a very difficult chapter to interpret because there are some clues missing.
4. Mark Nanos, a contemporary scholar, interprets the “weaker brother” as non-Messianic Jews and postulates that gentile Christians were participating in the Jewish Synagogues as God-fearing gentiles, something not only allowed in 1st century Judaism, but encouraged. The problem with this is that both the weaker and stronger brothers are said to be “in the Lord,” an expression used of Christians only.
5. Some think the weaker brothers were gentiles who carried some of their Pagan holidays and superstitious practices into the church. But the Gospel demanded that converts turn from their idols to serve the true and living God (I Thes. 1:9, Acts 19:19). The church would not accommodate pagan religious customs.
6. Some think that the weaker brothers were Messianic Jews who continued in Judaism.
But that seems to collide with Acts 21:18-25:
“The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."
7. Some say that the weaker brother is any Christian who feels a certain practice is wrong that is not condemned in Scripture. In our culture, we might say that weaker brothers could be men who think they must wear a coat or tie to church or women who think they must wear dresses; those who think card playing, dancing, drinking in moderation, or using makeup are sins.
8. But that is really taking these verses out of context. Those are not weaker brothers, but individuals whose judgments might differ with ours.
9. The weaker brother in Paul’s description:
· Has an Old Testament basis for his viewpoints; he has been brought up to follow the customs of the Law, so the issue here is not just a different tradition or the way his parents brought him up, but a tradition ordained by God Himself.
· Is not a bully trying to demonstrate his importance by controlling others, but a sincere Jew who cannot fully rest in his acceptance with God by faith in Christ alone; he knows it and believes it, yet he is confused. His conscience is vulnerable to being distressed and ruined.
· Someone who could be intimidated into doing something he thinks is wrong (even though it is not wrong)
10. The weaker brother is not
· A Jewish believer who elects to follow Jewish dietary laws to identify with his people; this believer knows there is no spiritual advantage remaining Kosher, nor is it a moral issue. It is only an identity issue.
· Someone who does not like what others do and tries to stop it
· A legalist who is well entrenched
MAIN IDEA: God wants us to hold one another accountable to His truth, but He wants us to tolerate our cultural differences; He wants us to make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification among believers.
I. Since We Are A Spiritual Family, We Must Get Along by RESPECTING One Another (1-12)
1. Many JEWISH believers would avoid eating MEAT with the gentile believers because the meat was not KOSHER (1-2)
· The issue here is not doing wrong, but doing the UNNECESSARY
· The issue may not have been following the OT dietary laws, but the accumulation of Jewish tradition in how Kosher products were handled…(explain the difference)
· Perhaps the Jewish believers were eating meat in accordance with the OT, but not in accordance with the traditions Judaism added TO the Scriptures…
Timothy Peck (Sermon Central) put it this way:
Let me give you an analogy to help you understand how important this issue of food and Sabbath was to the church in Rome. Imagine a married man named Joe who’s been taught all his life that if he ever takes off his wedding ring he breaks his marriage vows. This belief about his wedding ring--a belief we might consider odd--has been passed down in Joe’s family from generation to generation. You can imagine that Joe would be very cautious about never taking off his wedding ring, because in his mind that means he’s unfaithful to his wife. Now imagine Joe has a friend named Randy who’s never even heard of this teaching. Joe and Randy decide to get together on a Saturday to work on Joe’s car, because Randy is a good mechanic. As they get ready to work on the engine, Randy takes off his wedding ring and puts it in his pocket so it doesn’t get engine grease on it. Can you imagine Joe gasping as Randy takes off his ring? And can you imagine Randy saying, "What’s the big deal? I just don’t want to get it dirty. It has nothing to do with how much I love my wife."
That’s kind of like what the food laws and Sabbath laws were to the Jewish people. The Jewish people believed breaking the food laws and Sabbath laws violated their vows to God. So when the Jewish Christians saw non-Jewish Christians eating non-kosher food and not observing the Sabbath and festivals, they gasped in horror, because in their mind that meant unfaithfulness to God.
· The feelings here would be more intense if Jewish believers ate meat that was not Kosher…
2. The Gentile believers should not feel INSULTED at this, nor should they LOOK DOWN upon their Jewish brothers and vice-versa (3-4)
3. Some (new?) Jewish believers observed special DAYS as sacred; the Gentile believers could accept that every day is ALIKE; there are no HOLY DAYS (5)
4. What mattered most was MOTIVATION (6)
5. Part of getting along is realizing our behavior affects OTHERS (7-8); what matters is that we BELONG to the Lord, whether we are dead or alive.
6. Although we fellowship with others, we answer INDIVIDUALLY to God; this frees us from the temptation to MICRO-MANAGE others (9-12)
II. Since Our Individual Consciences Matter, We Must Avoid Intimidating Others into Doing What THEY Believe to Be Wrong (13-23)
1. Passing judgment here means PUTTING DOWN another over an issue that is not really moral or spiritual (13)
2. The truth is that no food is UNCLEAN in itself, but we have to protect, educate, and develop consciences, not destroy them…(14-18)
3. Verse 19 is the theme of this chapter: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to PEACE and to mutual EDIFICATION.”
· What happens when peace and edification run contrary to one another?
· Suppose someone says, “I am offended at all the Bible study we are doing. I and my friends are not going to put up with it.”
· The purpose of the church gathered is EDIFICATION. Peace is the ideal environment for EDIFICATION. But a peaceful environment without EDIFICATION may be a club, but it is not a Biblical Church
· When we focus on edification, that may ruffle feathers.
· As a matter of fact, many of our best ministries were initiated over protests: AWANA and Children’s Church among them. When I first came to HPC, there were a few women who objected to having church dinners…even though we had that heritage…
· In my mind, clear-cut edification issues take precedent over maintaining the peace…
4. Paul is not advocating that we be BULLIED; He is saying that we need to avoid TEMPTING another to VIOLATE his conscience; avoiding meat or wine is an EXTREME example of how far we should be willing to go to prevent devastating consciences. Since even new Jewish converts did not generally demand this of Gentile believers, simply avoiding passing judgment seemed a small price to pay.
III. There Is An Over-Riding Principle Here: We Should Be Willing to Give Up Our Individual Rights for the Welfare of the Body
1. If it means not eating meat in front of a new believer until he adjusts, so be it.
2. Our attitude should NOT be, “What do I want or like?” The question I should be asking is, “What is in the best interest of the Kingdom of God and this church?”
3. This can entail choosing to avoid practices that will harm ones ministry
(1) example: put down humor
(2) over dressing or inappropriately dressing (counselors at Sermons Science)
(3) Bible version (if you like KJV for personal use, fine; but don’t impose your aptitude for old English upon the masses who can barely handle modern English)
(4) Using vocabulary everyone can understand (Pastor’s Study or Office, Saints or Believers….)
(5) You are within your rights to do any of these things, but if you want to reach and edify people, they have to feel comfortable with you
4. We need to learn to be team players, not loners…
I’d like to share some rules used by public schools to define what it is to be a cooperative team player in social environments. Think about how they apply to church life, and how many church problems are violations of simply courtesy or lack of social skills….
Caring Cooperative Respectful
Classroom •
Being inclusive • Thoughfful, kind• Recognize feelings• Understand others’ feelings
• Sharing • Helping others • Consensus building • Give & take • Accepting roles
& tasks • Listening to others • Wait to respond • Accept the right of others to have
differing opinions * Use appropriate language • Maintains others’ personal space
• Welcomes diversity
Playground
• Feelings • Helping others • Being inclusive • Good sportsmanship
• Help up when hurt • Refrain from yelling • Asking others to play
• Play the rules of games • Share equipment • Inclusive in game
activities • Appreciate others’ needs for space and different recreation
• Following directions • Lets anyone join games
.
Common Area/
Atrium
• Pick up after oneself • Staying in line • Courtesy
(edited from www.seresc.k12.nh.us/cebis/ SMeadow/S%20Meadow%20CCRchart.pdf)
