Romans 14:1-4 (ESV)
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 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. 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.
Once again the Lord is hitting me right where I need it. Paul is calling out those that want to meet with a fellow believer, who is earlier in their walk of faith/sanctification, to encourage them but then using that time to argue about areas of scripture that require deep study and comprehending the arch of God’s Word about something. In a parenting context, Marianne and I call this “Parenting outside the funnel”.
Paul is encouraging us to 1) have patience and 2) to not overly ‘school’ a new believer. He then moves on to differences in conviction; that depending on one’s upbringing, church history, or exposure to biblical principals, may hold on to a looser stance on something. A good example might be the consumption of alcohol. Marianne and I made a decision almost 15 years ago that we did not want our kids growing up seeing us drink and secondly there was a lot of damage that alcohol had done on both sides of family…we just felt that is wasn’t worth it. That being said there is nothing wrong with the believer who drinks in moderation (God’s word is very clear about not drinking to drunkenness).
There are things in my life right now where it is really easy to look at “how I might handle something” versus “how I am seeing someone else handle something”. I find that I have a fleshly tendency to think critically of a person (especially if they are in a spiritual leadership capacity) who is not approaching and handling something as I would…as I would based on what I believe the Lord lays on my heart in biblical conviction. Every believer is running their own race and some at different stages than others. Sometimes the Lord uses us to further a fellow believer’s understanding of God’s word and others, He is just working on that person’s heart in His own timing.
APPLICATION
I need to keep my heart pure. The evil one would like nothing more than to tear down the internal ranks of God’s Kingdom by Christians passing judgement on each other, holding each other to inappropriate bars, or worse, building resentment and bitterness. I must keep my heart positioned (nestled) into the shins of my Savior…keeping my ear close to His mouth and leaning on His discernment, wisdom, and grace. Essentially, spending more time at the foot of the cross.