Weaker Vessel

Opening illustration: When students from Southeast Asia met a teacher from North America, the visiting instructor learned a lesson. After giving his class their first multiple-choice test, he was surprised to find many questions left unanswered. While handing back the corrected papers, he suggested that, next time, instead of leaving answers blank they should take a guess. Surprised, one of the students raised their hand and asked, “What if I accidentally get the answer right? I would be implying that I knew the answer when I didn’t.” The student and teacher had a different perspective and practice.

For the sake of harmony with fellow believers, God urges us to realize that we are all accountable to our Lord, to act according to His Word and our conscience. However, He alone is in a position to judge the attitudes of our heart (Romans 14:4–7).

Introduction: In the days of the New Testament, Jewish and Gentile converts were coming to Christ with perspectives as different as East and West. Before long they were disagreeing over matters as diverse as worship days and what a Christ-follower is free to eat or drink. The apostle Paul urged them to remember an important fact: None of us is in a position to know or judge the heart of another.

When we find ourselves in a position where we disagree with other Christians, it’s good to remember that God has given us room to disagree but not condemn and help for how to handle our differing opinions. We can find such help in today’s text. How has knowing Scripture helped you to deal with conflicts?

How to deal with the weaker vessel?

I. WE ARE TO AVOID FOOLISH JUDGMENT (v. 1-4)

(a) v. 2 We Are Commanded To Recognize Our Christian Brother – Paul speaks of a situation that was prevalent in the early church. There were Gentiles who had been saved out of extreme paganism. These people had turned their backs on idolatry, and would not dare go anywhere near anything associated with that lifestyle. On the other hand, there were Jews in the early church who had been shown, through the Gospel, that they had the liberty to eat meats, even if those meats had been sacrifices to idols. They knew the idols weren’t real and that the meat was just that: meat! (Note: This is an issue dealt with by Paul, at length, in 1 Corinthians 8:1-10:33.) Of course the focus of these verses is the weaker brother, that one who is more easily offended by the practices of another. We are to understand that there are people all around us who see things differently than we do. We need to recognize that fact! In other words, we are not the only dog on the walk, and what others think about the way we live our life matters! Not everyone is going to agree with your standards or mine and that is OK!

(b) v. 1 We Are Cautioned To Receive Our Christian Brother – Some people would like to shun those believers who are weak in the faith. Why? The main reason is that they have all kinds of hang-ups. You see the problem with the weaker brother is this: He has never come to terms with the liberty that he has in Jesus Christ. He is so afraid of getting dirty that he places standards upon his life that are more restrictive than those placed there by the Bible. As a result, he comes to believe that he the stronger brother and that everyone around him should live up to his standards. This causes problems for those who have to live with this kind of person. Paul’s thought here is that we are not to turn the weaker brother away from our fellowship, but we are not to allow his self-imposed standards to dominate our lives. In other words, his restrictions should not be allowed to cause division or disunity within the church family.

© v. 3-4 We Are Challenged To Respect Our Christian Brother – If we are not careful, we will allow our differences to drive a wedge between us. If I think you shouldn’t do a certain thing and you do it anyway, I have to be big enough in the lord to over look it for unities sake! You see, there are some things that are worth dying for, things like doctrine, the Bible, etc. They are worth standing for, even if it makes the rest of the church mad as the devil! However, there are some things that nothing more than mere personal opinion. These kinds of things must never be allowed hinder the unity of the church! Paul gives us two thoughts that will help us in this area.

(i) v. 3 We Are To Respect His/Her Principles – Whether a professing believer agrees with us or not is not the issue! Whatever convictions he may hold concerning some activity of life, they are his and he has every right to them. I may never agree with him or see it his way, but I am not to despise him, (to say he is no account; to hold a lower opinion of), nor am I to judge him, (to make a declaration regarding his spiritual condition.) I may not agree with him, but I am still to respect Him, and give him room to live his life as the Lord leads him!