Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. (Rom 14:1-3)The passage always made me laugh ... primarily at myself. He starts with accepting those weak in faith and goes on to say that vegetarians are weak in faith and my first thought is, "See? I knew it!" ... meaning I'm judging them. Oops! Okay, so let's back off and see what he's saying.
First, it's not about carnivores versus vegetarians. They're examples of a principle. What, then? He's talking about matters of "opinion." The Greek word is dialogismos and is clearly connected to "dialogue," so he's talking about things we are discussing or considering. He's talking about doubtful issues ... disputable matters. Now, Paul had no problem with "disputable matters" (as some translations put it) in things like the gospel (Gal 1:6-10) or sexual sin (1 Cor 5:1-5). He believed some things were worth defending and required real correction. He's talking about things that are disputable as opposed to things that are in dispute. Not things like "Can women lead over men?" (1 Tim 2:12-14) or "Is homosexual behavior a sin?" (1 Cor 6:9-10) because those are clear. He was talking about food issues (in his example) or "It's wrong to smoke" or "It's wrong to drink alcoholic beverages" that aren't covered. There are absolute essentials for salvation that aren't even close to "disputable" that are not up for dispute. He's not talking about those. It's not "matters that are being disputed." It's matters without clear biblical answers.
Paul says to accept them. Don't pass judgment on them. When Scripture says not to divorce and that the one who is not bound (1 Cor 7:15, 27-28) may remarry, don't make it an issue. When Ted says it's a sin to drive a car because it's bad for the environment, don't be judgmental of Ted. Take care of Ted ... and all the rest. Strive for unity. Show love for each other (John 13:34-35). And don't require them to violate their own conscience (Rom 14:23). We need to be better believers ... for God's glory (Rom 15:7).
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As an aside, I would like to point out that "accept the weak in faith" does not mean "agree with" them. That's the modern version of "accept," but not the idea here. This is to embrace them without necessarily embracing their ideas.
4 comments:
A perfect example of why it is so important for us to be in the Word daily, so that we can know when a subject is important or unimportant.
Of course, there is clear teaching in Scripture on many things, but some matters of practice are ones of personal liberty--i.e. they might seem to be “debatable” but actually ought not even be debated, as either side of the discussion is equally acceptable. I try to move those “gray areas” quickly to their proper place in my mind (i.e. either “black” or “white”); then I can live with a clear conscience and seek to judge well between “right” and “wrong”--and allow others to do likewise.
That's why most commentators list the "disputable matters" as "essentials" versus the peripheral matters. I can see that. And I know I don't separate from, say, a person who believes in sprinkling instead of immersion for baptism.
In preparing my comment about “gray areas,” I re-read your “Black and White in a Grayscale World” posts/comments (in the interest of not repeating your insights in my comment). All I could think after reading those posts was, when it comes to personal convictions, “I am quite the polka-dotted person!”
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