The Wandering Shepherd

Do you remember the television show “The Flying Nun”? The unlikely setting for an American sitcom was based on a 1965 book called “The Fifteenth Pelican”. The series starred Sally Field and ran on ABC from 1967 to 1970 – all 82 episodes. For the young and perhaps unenlightened, the story was about a young and tiny (ninety pound) nun initiate who wore a large habit that made her able to fly when the winds were high enough at the convent. I know… that description makes you want to start searching for it on Amazon Instant Video or Netflix right away.

Remember, those were simpler times. If that sounds boring, remember that people were flocking to Woodstock by 1969 claiming the establishment had become interminably “dull”. Perhaps it had something to do with unimaginative television. In any case, when Sally Field played a young hesitant nun, you got the feeling her character was unsure of virtually everything – her message, her presentation and sometimes even her calling. Because dogmatism was often seen as a weakness in our culture, uncertainty has been carefully bred into our ethical barometer. Moral and theological clarity is often not our strong point. Yet, we need to be clear about our service to Jesus – what it is all about, and how we should do it. Let me ask you truthfully: “Have you ever felt uncertain about how to serve Jesus and share Him with people in your life?” As you reach out in love for the Savior and your lost friends, there are two things that will be essential.

• First, you will need to know your team.
• Second, you will need to become increasingly sure that what you are doing is what God called you to do the way He commanded it be done.

This lesson is about those two ideas – team and message. They tie together in the simple truths found in Romans 15…

Key Principle: God has a message for the world around us, and has left us a pattern for how we should bring that message to them.

How we bring Jesus to the world matters. What we say matters. Who we team up with to say it matters. We need to be sure we follow the pattern God gave us so that we aren’t wasting our opportunities as He supplies them… because the lost around us need what the Savior we have to offer them (even when they don’t know it).

Go back to beginning of Romans 15, and observe how Paul made the point that we need to team up with people to be obedient to God’s call in outreach.

What kind of team should I choose to be a part of following Jesus with?

Paul offered important words..

I need a team that teaches the team is important.

Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.

Ball hogs know they are good with the ball. Their play is about their ego, not what is best for the team. Good team players watch for other players. We coordinate. You cannot come to a fellowship of believers simply to feed yourself and play the game alone. Paul wanted every believer to look out for the young and weak – not merely come to grow strong themselves.

Visualize the other believers in town, and those in your local church as your team for the Gospel. If that is true, we need to walk into our church with a different attitude. We are not simply coming to “tank up and take off”. Our church is less a spiritual drive through and more a platform to develop a caring attitude toward others. The same truth extends outside of Sunday meetings, into the daily walk of life. I must temper my allowed liberties by understanding that some around me are much weaker in their Biblical world view (i.e. “faith”) and will be pulled off track by following my example.

We must look at the others on the team, assessing what they need and how we can help them. Focus on solutions, not just their issues. Don’t settle on “that is just how they are” – but ask “How can I help?” Start in your church, then move to the Christian community at large. It is easy to get paralyzed by problems and not focus on what CAN be done to help someone.

I need a team that builds others; it doesn’t simply please them.

Romans 15:2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 15:3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.”

The text explains that I am to “please my neighbor for his good, or edification.” At the same time, I dare not misread this. In my desire to care for others, I must not be driven to measure myself by their happiness. What should drive me forward in life is my Heavenly Father’s expectation of me, not those about me. I am to do what will help them GROW in faith, not simply what will make them happy.

Let me say it this way: If what they need is a bowl of soup; that is simple enough. If what they need is help paying the rent, they probably also need help on how to spend money properly and how to order financial priorities. That may be less comfortable. If we provide the rent and don’t provide the instruction, we enable them to be irresponsible – and that isn’t edifying to them even if it makes them happy!

We must do what will long term help fix the underlying problems with people, not just the fashionable and be easily seen as the “flashy” thing. Look past the outer problem and see if you can identify a root stress that you can relieve.

I need a team that trains me in constant direction and encouragement.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

We harm them when we teach a pattern that does not develop right habits, but brings them to US for encouragement. The Scriptures will do that. We are to equip people to understand them and to use them. Following the marked trails of the people found in God’s Word is VITAL to the success of your mission to live a life in close intimacy with God. We need more than INSTRUCTION – and the Word provides more than that. We need more than RULES – and the Word offer much more than that. We need to be INSPIRED and LIFTED by the resolution of the dramas of others; we need to be touched by the depth of their poetry. We need to be brought to tears with their pains and hear the cries of their lamentations – all so that we can understand that we are NOT ALONE in the struggles of the walk.

Let me kindly ask you to dial back “counseling” people and try helping them whenever possible by walking them back to a deep and meaningful encounter with God in timely portions of His Word and prayer. People will come with a problem that prayer and the Word could help them resolve. We are quick to relieve the pressure on their heart, but God may well have put it there to draw them back to an intimacy with Him that He deeply desires. Don’t become a substitute for God in their life. When we do, we become like the doctor that gives them a vitamin supplement, but does not insist on a healthy diet.

We need to be encouragers; that is certain. There is also a place for counseling in the body. At the same time we need to be careful that we are not relieving God pressures that were placed in the believer’s path to help them develop appropriate growth mechanisms – like intense prayer and hungry searching in the Word.

I need a team that admits there is no mystery to unity.

Real unity comes from prayer for one another (inviting God’s work in us), and deliberate acceptance – a choice to work together for God’s glory. It isn’t a mystery – there is a process to staying together and on track. Paul reminded:

Romans 15:5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Look at the terms “same mind”, “one accord”, and “one voice. They all lead to the words “accept one another”. The way we stay together as a body is not some mysterious and spooky force – it is the deliberate choice of the will while applying a process God instructed. God gives, in the text, perseverance and encouragement. In the context, it comes from deeper learning of the Scriptures.

I think if you ask people about the modern church, the notion is just the opposite. Most believers think of the word “encouragement” as coming from the “small group” or “brother or sister in the Lord”. I challenge you to look again. The text says the primary place for the encouragement of God is from the Scriptures. Yes, there are other passages that balance that with helping and encouraging one another. I am simply making the observation that many of us aren’t taking into consideration that Biblically illiterate believers will constantly need encouragement from OTHERS when they don’t know how to draw it from GOD through His Word.

We need to CHOOSE to walk together. We need to CHOOSE to worship and glorify God with voices tuned to one another. They were going to need to CHOOSE to accept one another, just as Jesus accepted us. At the same time – we must make the understanding of the Word a top priority or we will have those who perpetually need US to lift them. Is it possible that you are spending longer looking at the problems of the world than the solutions found in the Word? That might be the reason you are feeling the way you are!

I need a team that remembers God keeps His promises – always!

God is good for His promises. That is one of the reasons we teach and ardently support the literal understanding of the Word. Paul argued that Messiah came to serve the Jewish people (the circumcision) because that is what God promised in the prophets. He wrote:

Romans 15:8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,

Here, Paul instructed believers, once again, to believe the Word and take it seriously. Mark my words, every Christian group that attempts to water down the literal presentation of the Word of God in one area will eventually defect on key truths related to the historic faith in Christ. It may take time, but it will happen.

About two weeks ago a Christian college president who is part of the evangelical alliance of schools – the kind that claim to hold true to the Bible – told me directly: “I believe the vast majority of the Christian colleges in the US, even those who are a part of the evangelical alliance, have departed from the belief in a literal Creation, a literal Adam and Eve, and a literal beginning to Genesis.” He isn’t kidding. Groups like Biologos are developing this on Christian campuses. Here is Dr. Falk, who writes for BioLogos. Listen carefully to his words:

“Will we ever be able to show the followers of Albert Mohler, John MacArthur and others that Christian theology doesn’t stand or fall on how we understand Genesis 1 or the question of whether Adam and Eve were the sole genetic progenitors of the human race? These are extremely critical issues to many and the task of showing in a convincing manner that evangelical theology doesn’t depend …whether Adam was made directly from dust will likely take decades before it will be convincing to all.”

Why do I mention them? If you look at their website quickly, you will assume they offer mainstream Christian resources. You will see popular speakers you know pop up – some on platforms from youth conferences. Now they are showing up in Christian books, Christian campuses and Christian literature as a way to “bring together” the two world views. They bring together science at the expense of God’s Word being literally true. That may comfort some, but it should send a chill up our spine. We are about to be flanked in the next generation’s educational process. Once again the Bible will suffer at the hands of its friends in academia. We get to hand off two thousand years of defending the truth of the Word to those who know better because they have discovered the truth is found in science. Roll over Gospel, the story of the “Fall” is just a myth. We used to call that liberalism, soon it will be called mainstream evangelicalism.

Here is my point. Our message needs to be clear to the world. What God says, He means. The Bible claims Adam was an historical human being, the Fall was an actual event. From the Biblical perspective, something happened to Jesus Christ just as much as something happened to Adam.

Consider some selected verses from 1 Cor. 15:20 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Paul believed that death entered creation through the act of one man. For Paul, the Fall and redemption are both actual events – you cannot have one without the other. What else would Paul mean when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:45 “So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

Toss the origin story and the rest unravels – we can’t really know when to take the narrative seriously. In much of Europe they went this course. Now their churches are empty and their people searching for an answer that science will not and cannot provide.

It is our future if the church folds here on this point. Mark the point. We aren’t moving. We can’t. Truth is often the first casualty of popularity. If the Bible is filled with cleverly devised myths, we should shut down right now and get off the cultural stage of western history in embarrassment. Why? Because God, if He exists, cannot be trusted! He can make one quintillion stars, but publishing a book that was an accurate account of His labors was WAY too hard for Him.

Let me say it straight: if you aren’t on a team that trains you to take the Bible seriously and literally – change teams. Do it NOW.

I need a team that knows God’s promises extended to the whole world.

God had promises to the Jews, but He also had prophetic promises to the rest of us that many Jews paid little attention to. Paul reminded:

Romans 15:9 “…and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.” 10 Again he says, “REJOICE, O GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE.” 11 And again, “PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM.” 12 Again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.”

In three verses, Paul mention the “Gentiles” – a term for the non-Jewish rest of the world – six times. All were in the context of promises. Our churches are filled with those, once estranged from God – now vibrant in faith. This was always part of the plan of God, though for generations it was ignored by many of His followers.

I need a team that understands the true source of joy and peace.

What robs my peace is ignorance of God’s promises, mistrust in His Word and A WRONG FOCUS. My team needs to be pushing me to spend time, face to face, with Jesus. Paul wrote:

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Look carefully at verse 13.

First, we see that God is a God of hope (elpís from Greek word elpō: “to anticipate, welcome”) – properly, expectation of what is certain). Certainty is found in Him.

Second, God is the source of our joy (chara: gladness). This word for JOY is not the one we have defined as “the resolute assurance that God has neither lost interest in me, nor the power to deal with my problems.” Though it fits here, the word actually should be translated as “gladness”. If I am confused, upset and perplexed – I can find gladness in time with HIM.

Third, God offers us to settle us with peace. There is a catch, however. He wrote that such gladness and such peace are available from God, but not automatic. They are accessed by BELIEF. God’s power makes my peace POSSIBLE, but my BELIEF makes it happen.

“Believing” in the context of verse 13 is from the word pisteúō, derived from the word peíthō, to “persuade, be persuaded”. This “active assumption or conviction” becomes the foundation of actions. In other words: God has offered sumptuous expectations that thrill my heart and settle my soul if I take them seriously and make them the foundation of my life’s choices. The team I choose should push me to do that!

We looked at the team and what it should be like. Take a moment to look at the message we should offer the world:

Paul pressed out in the closing verses of Romans 15, what the message he shared was – and what it should be as believers share Jesus with the world”

First, it is a message of confidence in God’s work (in them and him).

Romans 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Paul knew that he didn’t make believers mature. No shepherd or Bible teacher does. We don’t preach because we believe God needs us to do this work. If you know Jesus, He IS at work in you to change you. Some are squelching that work, wrestling to keep their old life as Jesus pulls you to change. Our teaching is to AID the change by ECHOING God’s Word in your ear.

The point is that we, like all believers, function in our role. We work according to our gifts (15:15b) and with a desire to serve those God sends us to (15:16a). We are to seek to make God’s Word clear to you – that is our primary function!

A mother often spoke to her little girl about Dr. Harry A. Ironside, the late pastor of the Moody Memorial Church, Chicago. She told the little girl that he was a great preacher. One day the little girl attended one of the preaching services of Dr. Ironside. He spoke simply, as he always did. As they left the church, the little girl said to her mother, “Mother, I thought you said that Dr. Ironside is a great preacher. Why, Mother, he’s not a great preacher! I understood everything he said.” (Steve Shepherd)

More than just teaching, shepherds are to stand as a priest offering the justification message (15:16b). We have a goal of presenting people to Jesus (15:16b) as mature and acceptable to God. We don’t do it by teaching them to follow US, but by following Jesus. I heard this story last week that reminded me of that truth:

A guy went out and toiled wearily to catch trout and caught none. His equipment was excellent but he was unable to catch any fish. When he came upon an old fisherman whose sack was full of trout, he asked him how he was so successful. The old fisherman answered: “There are three rules to follow in trout fishing: first, keep yourself out of sight; second, keep yourself further out of sight; third, keep yourself still further out of sight.”

We need a message that leads people to God not guilt, to rescue not reform, and to living for Jesus not trying to earn justification. The confidence we have in our message is NOT in the messengers – but in God Himself.

Second, our message must be centered in God’s Work

Paul was clear about the center of the message:

Romans 15:17 “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…19 … so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Our goal must be to magnify what God does (15:17). We should know we are not the story (15:18a) and we should recognize the work is something God entrusts to us (15:18b). We need to recognize it is God empowering our work (15:19a) and we must be able to measure when we are accomplishing the work (15:19b).

The center of the message is God’s work, not OUR ability. We boast of what God can do in a broken life, but we know that our abilities don’t cause God’s transformations. You can be a part of everything we do in our local church setting, but if you don’t know Jesus, your life won’t change from the inside out. Our message is this: We cannot change you, but we can show you One who can – and will – if you let Him!

Third, our message causes us to ache for the unreached.

Never let us be settled on making the saved smarter or more theologically capable. We have the Gospel that rescues the lost! Look at Paul’s example:

Romans 15:20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; …28 Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

It is a great privilege to reach into the lives of lost people (15:20a).

In a 1998 article in Christian History magazine, Rodney Stark said: “In a world lacking social services, Christians were their brothers’ keepers. At the end of the second century AD, Tertullian wrote that while pagan temples spend their donations “on feasts and drinking bouts,” Christians spent theirs “to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined to the house.” These claims concerning Christian charity were confirmed by pagans as well. The pagan Emperor Julian complained, “The impious Galileans (Christians) support not only their poor, but ours as well.”

To reach people, we need to look beyond doing what everyone else is doing and see the needs with different eyes (15:20-21).

Former boxing writer Harold Conrad visited a women’s prison with heavyweight fighter Muhammad Ali. “All the inmates lined up,” wrote Conrad. “They were ooh-ing and aah-ing as he went along. There were some good-looking ones. But he kissed only the ugly ones.” After they left the prison, Conrad asked the fighter to explain why he chose to kiss only those women. “Because no one ever kisses ’em,” responded the man who called himself The Greatest. “Now they can remember that Ali kissed ’em!” Every human being needs to be loved. Surely the church should be the one place where love is evidenced by warm affection for one another. (From a sermon by Freddy Fritz, Final Greetings, 5/25/2012)

We need to reach people, but we must recognize we cannot do it all with empowering. We must concentrate on what God places in our lives to do with all our strength (15:22-24). Our ministry should be linked to the gifts and work of many others (15:25-27). We need to wait until God opens doors to do each work (15:28).

We dare not build a program so tight on discipleship, that we do not see lost people all around us. When I first went to see the Bible college where I began my studies, I noticed how many drunk and destitute people were living in the shadow of my school in center city Philadelphia. I wondered if the training inside the building had much to do with the hurting outside the building. It is still something I wonder about most churches.

Finally, our message requires a prayer team.

What can I do to make it clear to believers that prayer is not a preamble to a meal – it is the lifeline to ministry? Paul wrote:

Romans 15:30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.

Our work stands together by prayer (15:30)

A number of years ago in Canada, a little two-year-old girl wandered away from her neighborhood. It was a cold, winter day. Her parents alerted the neighbors and they saw some tracks in the snow, but there were a lot of other tracks, so for several hours the searchers went in all different directions calling her name. They didn’t find her. A little before sunset one of the men said, “Instead of all working separately, let’s join hands and form a long line and walk through the field together. That way we cannot miss a square foot.” That’s what they did. They joined hands and together walked as one long line calling that little girl’s name. Tragically, they found her frozen body curled up. One of the men said with great anguish, “Oh, if we had only joined hands sooner. (From a sermon by Bob Joyce, Like Lucy, 8/4/2011)

There will always be opposition (15:31). Paul pointed to specific needs and said: Romans 15:31 “…that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints…” Our response must not be anger, it must first be prayer. This is the refreshing work we can and should offer each other as Paul made clear in 15:32 “ so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

Romans 15 reminds us of two ideas that we must be clear about – our team and our message. Why?

God has a message for the world around us, and has left us a pattern for how we should bring that message to them.

How we bring Jesus to the world matters. What we say matters. Who we team up with to say it matters. We need to be sure we follow the pattern God gave us so that we aren’t wasting our opportunities as He supplies them… because the lost around us need what the Savior we have to offer them (even when they don’t know it).

I keep getting these annoying calls on my cell phone from different numbers that are essentially advertisements. One begins: “Don’t hang up this phone! I have a message for you that will change your life.” I don’t know what it is. I hang up every time and block that number. I wonder how many are doing that with the message God gave us. They do it because they don’t believe it is about their rescue – they believe we want them to join US and help US. Let’s make the goal bringing them to Jesus, not bringing them to US. Let Jesus grow our team, and let’s seek to bring Him to them without strings attached. He’ll take care of us… He always does!

I walked into the café and read the sign. It said: “Seat yourself!” I walked over to a booth and sat down. “You can’t sit there!” a waitress barked. I turned to look, and she said, “I just cleared that booth and I have some men coming in to take it.” I smiled and got up. I wasn’t in a particular hurry because my flight was running behind a bit. I said: “That’s fine. Do you have another seat I could have?” She looked at me and saw my smile and said. “I am sorry. A lady just yelled at me and another guy took me apart this morning at breakfast, and I have just had it with today. I shouldn’t have taken in out on you!” I looked at her and could tell by her uniform, her face and her hair that she had seen better days. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll stand here for a bit and you check for a place when you can. I have a few minutes.” About two minutes later, I got the nicest spot in the place by the window, looking down on the runway. “There is a plug below this seat in case your laptop is running low,” she said. She was looking out for me, and I could see it in her service. A smile and a little patience makes the difference.

Am I always that way? No, not at all. I keep busy, and I don’t always see people right in front of me. Yet, I know that isn’t the right way to treat people. I could have acted as badly as that waitress any day of the week. Is that true of you? Do you get so busy, or so self-focused sometimes that you don’t see others clearly? We might all need the refresher from the middle of Romans 14, where we left off in our study. We might need the reminder that…

Key Principle: Real Christians are those who “serve Jesus by serving people”.

Without being mind-numbingly repetitive, let’s set the discussion of the text in context.

First, we can split the letter to the Romans in two parts:

• Romans 1-11 was about what God did for people – His saving work that would made our yielding of heart a reasonable demand on His part. If God stood up to my rebellion with love and drew me in, why wouldn’t I want to follow Him?

• Romans 12-16 was designed to describe what a yielded life of a follower of Jesus should look like.

Second, in the second part of the letter, the discussion on a “re-shaped life” had a specific progression – it made sense:

• In Romans 12, the life of the Christ follower is an inspected life (12:1), resistant to the world’s molding (12:2), a servant of God’s people (12:3-8) and one who walks in practical ways to show we are growing to be like Jesus (12:9-21).

• In Romans 13, the life of a follower of Jesus made them a more responsible citizen.

• In Romans 14:1-3, following Jesus meant that each of us learned to be Biblical in our walk, but gracious is relation to preferences.

Paul left an overriding principle that clarified how we choose life actions in public places as he summarized the problem of the weaker brother that could stumble due to our preferences:

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

How do we learn to live together in a “team first” mentality and a “me first” culture? How do we become servants in an age where we are taught to demand others to serve us?

The place to begin is the church – where instruction on servant-hood can be taken into the home and into the world. In order to make a grace environment that will help people grow and be grounded we must do this: Watch one another for cues as to what help is needed, not for the purpose of becoming another’s judge. There are two important implications of Romans 14:13.

• We must hold the Word of God as the highest standard in each of our lives: When an action is Biblically defined as incorrect, you are not judging a fellow believer, the Bible is doing that. The issue isn’t what is LEGAL, but what God says in His Word. The issue isn’t what our CHURCH says, but whether or not we can see the principles taught clearly in the Word in proper context.

An old professor used to begin class with a question like: “Do you honestly believe what Colossians 2:4 teaches?” Invariably one student would ask: “What does it say?” The teacher would reply, “Is that what matters as to whether or not you believe it?” He made his point. If you are Bible-believing Christian, the Word in its proper context is the standard.

• When the Word allows individual judgment, let circumspect love be the rule. It simply isn’t Christian to be of the “what’s in it for me” mentality – since that isn’t how Jesus taught us, and that isn’t what He modeled.

Continue following Paul’s discussion as he offers four principles to set the stage for “Serving Jesus by serving people” thinking:

1: Things are not “all relative” – even when they are not Biblically prescribed. Even something allowed for others can be absolutely forbidden to you.

We will call this the “Guilt” Principle: Though something can be amoral on its own, the context of its use can determine its sinfulness in the life of a participant.

First, we must be sure that we all understand the terminology of the problem. The Bible poses God’s mandates, or His instructed and encouraged behaviors as “MORAL” – which means “that which conforms to God’s desired behavior for us”. When the world uses the term “moral” it is normally used in a flexible sense; they mean that which is currently considered “acceptable” by the majority. When the believer uses it, the term should be framed by Scripture, and can be called “RIGHT” behavior only if it is deemed so by God’s revealed Word set in the context to the people to whom it was delivered. Behavior that violates God’s Word or even His stated principle intent is what we call “IMMORAL” behavior. Such behaviors hurt the participants, and if tolerated by society can even harm the very fabric of the community. A third type of behavior is termed “AMORAL” behavior – actions that are not intrinsically right or wrong.

There is no Biblical way to comb your hair, to sweep your front walk or to eat a sandwich within those actions themselves. At the same time, if your parent told you to sweep the walk and you did so with a heart of complaint, the WAY you did it moved it from AMORAL to IMMORAL – because you did it with a wrong heart for a wrong reason. You and I eat sandwiches all the time, but when the Earl of Sandwich first “constructed” the sandwich, it was for the purpose to allow him to eat while gambling away his fortune. His was an immoral sandwich, mine was just a peanut butter and jelly. The bottom line is this: context can change something AMORAL into IMMORAL. Doing something that is not intrinsically wrong can be a violation of moral boundary if the context warrants it. Here is an important truth from God: it is easier to violate morality by taking an action than by abstaining from it. It is called by the world: “If in doubt – don’t” precept. That doesn’t explain everything, but we should hear it and ponder its meaning.

Follow further as Paul makes the note:

Romans 14:14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean…Later he wrote: Romans 14:22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because [his eating is] not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

It is a WRONG behavior…If it violates God’s conviction in my heart.

In this case, it is wrong because it violated the simple context: “Did the Spirit give instruction to me about this?”

You may ask: “Why don’t we all agree on how the Biblical principles fit together and apply to each case?” Often the problem isn’t intrinsic to the practice or abstention of it – it is in the perception of a brother who doesn’t see what God has shown you. God may allow you to do something because you have no negative history with it, or because it has demonstrated no particular power over you, though someone else associates their past with that practice or behavior. Consider the verses:

If we are honest, we will admit that some of us have been guilty of “closet judgment of another’s liberty”. Did you ever look on a social media site and see a brother or sister doing something you “didn’t think” they would (or should) do? Maybe they went to a play or movie you wouldn’t have seen. Maybe they were with people you wouldn’t have felt comfortable around. Maybe they had on their plate or in their glass something and you thought: “Hey, I didn’t think they would do something like that!” You weren’t going to slide backward in your walk – you just wouldn’t have done what they appeared to be doing, and don’t know why they would be involved in such a thing….

Consider this: You don’t know the whole story. The drink in the picture may have been poured for them, but they weren’t going to touch it. Someone else posted the picture, so they had no choice about it being public. The person they were with is ungodly, but they are building a specific and prayerful relationship with them to serve them in the name of Jesus. The play they saw was about being supportive to a lost friend, not about their entertainment. It is easy to think you know WHY someone is doing something you wouldn’t do – but I am going to ask you to deliberately set aside the time you would like to spend discussing other’s choices unless you have some forced reason to weigh in on their behavior. It is very possible you don’t have all the facts – since we seldom do.

Let’s say it this way: If your observation of a brother or sister in Jesus leads you to fixate on some behavior that could cause you to stumble, you are a weaker brother. If that behavior raises concern that you care to privately discuss with the person, you are probably a mentor and “discipler”. If you just want to share your observation about someone else’s behavior with another unrelated party, with no attempt to fully understand it or even perhaps privately correct it, you are a gossip and may be a budding legalist. The problem isn’t “the play” they went to see that bothered you as much as what the enemy is “playing out” through your lips.

Two other facts must be noted before we move on.

The first fact is this: when Paul wrote in 14:14 that “nothing is unclean in itself” it was in the strict context of the behaviors he was addressing in the passage. He wasn’t saying “everything is amoral – all neither good nor bad”. He was saying that practices which are not specified in Scripture cannot be judged as inherently evil to everyone in all circumstances.

The second fact is this: A critical standard for transgression of “clean” or “right” behavior (not specified in Scripture) is the violation of the participant’s conscience. The Spirit of God inhabits our mind, transforms us over time, and works within the frame of our conscience. That is not static – our mind grows and changes with different experiences and the introduction of new facts.

We need to grow in our walk, and that means we will change as the Spirit leads us to drop once acceptable behaviors, or opens the door to once unacceptable ones. Can we not simply admit that some things change as we age? My parents taught me many dangers in the use of credit cards, and are now avid accumulators of “cash back” rewards on their card. They don’t buy with money they haven’t yet made, and neither do I (at least not for many years now). I grew up in a home where fixing the old car was better than payments on a new one – until I found out that often the fixes were wildly expensive and caused much “down time”. Now I don’t mind payments as long as I own more of the car than the instant turn in value of the vehicle. I grew up hearing that I should live in a “cash only” payment scheme, but now I pay my mortgage without feeling the need to repent of sin because I borrowed to get into the system. I understand the down side of each of these practices, and I have carefully considered each as I believe God would have me do.

If you don’t change your mind when confronted with new information or experience, it normally means either you were right about what you thought in the first place, or you are simply a stubborn person that refuses to grow in that area. I plead with you to take special care as a follower of Jesus not to equate a stubborn character with true holiness prompted by the Spirit of God. Holiness is a personal and sharp conviction of heart, formed from the Spirit of God at work within us; Stubbornness is a judgmental spirit that comes from enshrined prejudices. The first constantly beckons us from deep within to walk in ways that please our Father; the second cries out at the very least to seize the attention of others, and at most to gain control over their God-given choices. While It is true that holiness requires stiff resolve, it is led by God. True stubbornness is borne merely of the desire to have both God and man bow to our understandings and requirements. Servants of God must be holy, but cannot be stubborn.

It is WRONG…If it exercises liberty without proper care for the weak.

Romans 14:20b “…All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense.”

The Bible makes a clear point to all of us – as believers we called to think “team first”. Before I choose a liberty in a public place, I must consider who will watch and what they will see. Before I say something out loud, I need to consider who will hear it and what will they hear. Before I post it online, I must ask, who will read this and what will they think I said. It IS critical that I think of others in my deportment – so critical that I am deliberately repeating the principle multiple times in different ways.

In the guilt principle, we have highlighted the negative side of the argument. At the same time, there is more to it. Yes, we need to follow the Spirit in things unspecified by Scripture. Yes, we need to keep an eye on what could cause another believer to go backwards in their walk. We also need a third practice: we must grow past looking at others for the directions of God’s Spirit in our lives. The guilt principle addresses the one considering the DOING of something – not the one watching. A little later in our lesson, we will address the “other side” of this argument, that is, how to grow past being so easily affected by another’s practice.

2: Our life choices are not about liberty but more about real love.

To emphasize the point, let me call this the “He Ain’t Heavy” Principle: All true love places demands, as all real relationships do.

Romans 14:15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

The Bible teaches that true love for my brother places demands on my life:

If you keep reading the passage, you will note that Paul makes clear when the behavior is optional and choice oriented, our desire should be to choose with our brother or sister in mind – because that shows real and mature love.

Love demands that I not allow any liberty to divert my brother’s growth:

Remember Romans 14:15? “…Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

The question behind this statement is clear: “Is my brother more important to me than my liberty?” This is a critical question for Americans, as they tend to LOVE CHOICE. In fact, if we have any one national value that we all share, it is the value of having our own personal choice. It is the reason public transportation doesn’t work as well in our country as in Europe – we love our cars because they offer personal choices that are more difficult by metro or bus. It is the reason our supermarkets are larger than in many places – we need so many kinds of the same thing. The problem with an Americanized version of Christianity is this: we can hold as Americans the right to choose, but that right is trumped by a demand to love a brother more as a Christian. I don’t think it is an exaggeration for us to admit that many believers in our country are better at being a “rights-oriented” American that a “brother-oriented” Christian.

Love demands that I build a positive testimony as much as possible:

Romans 14:16 “Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil…”

Self-reliance, when it means living in a way that doesn’t depend on others to care for your God-mandated responsibility is a good thing. Yet, often we can re-shape that idea and come to believe: “It is no one else’s business what I choose to do.” In a sense, that is a natural thought to those who aren’t asking you to pay for their choices. At the same time, it isn’t a Christian view at its core. God calls a believer to CARE what another person sees in their personal behavior and attitudes. God placed His Spirit within you, not simply to transform your life, but so that He may be on display through the store window of your behavior. Don’t forget! You are a display of God’s creative and transformational workmanship as Paul reminded:

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [h]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

The believer is the “poem” (Gr: poema) being crafted by God as He works through our life. The idea of a poem is to pain a picture in words, and draw the reader into the scene. Part of God’s work in you is to become a display of life changed when touched by the Master’s hand.

Love demands that I recognize the value of the Kingdom is greater than the value of any individual freedom:

Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Despite the number of hours church people spend in dinners, luncheons and banquets – the Kingdom isn’t primarily about FOOD – but that wasn’t what Paul was getting at! What he was making clear was that the Kingdom is not about CHOICES OF LIBERTY which leads to self-focus, but RELATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS which draw people together – like righteousness, peace and joy – all executed at the direction of the Holy Spirit. Look at these traits:

Righteousness is the word dikaiosýnē, a Greek law term that meant “a judicial verdict, the verdict of approval” or in the NT, “God’s approval”. The idea is simple; it is a practice that is approved in His eyes.

Peace is the term eirḗnē which comes from the verb eirō, or “to join or tie together to make a whole, to bring God’s gift of wholeness to”. Peace binds and completes the package; it brings a wholeness to the group.

Joy (in the Holy Spirit) is a term used in a number of senses. The most common is the “resolute assurance of God’s care”. Here, the sense is a bit different. The term “xará” is a form of the root which means to “extend favor, lean into a proper awareness (of God’s) grace. One lexicon suggested it is “grace recognized”. This is a relational idea about the common Christian experience with one another, as opposed to our individual confidence in God. It isn’t as much about understanding that God “will be there for me” as it is a marveling about “How God has done so much for all of us”.

The point of the verse is that my focus CANNOT rightly be on myself. I must care about living in a way that demonstrates God’s approval, brings wholeness to the community of faith and reminds us all of how good God has been to each of us!

Two other principles are corollary and do not require much depth of study to make additional sense:

3: Believers must always keep their eyes on their testimony.

The “Testimony” Principle is this: Acceptable service to Jesus includes recognizing I am always on display. It isn’t only if we are doing something allowed that matters, but if we are doing it with a view toward the weaker among us who may be watching.

Paul reminded:

Romans 14:16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who in this [way] serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

4: Believers must watch everyone on the team for opportunities to build the team – because the issue is about pursuit of a stronger body.

The “Brother” Principle is this: Your brother’s well-being is always more important than satiating your desire. That is the true meaning of “other person centered”.

Paul noted:

Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food… 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or [to do anything] by which your brother stumbles…

As believers, we have many priorities. We don’t always think through whether we are intentionally building a safe haven for our new and weak brothers – but we should!

Here is an important question: “Are there ways to avoid conflicts and wounds among brothers?”

Yes, there are. Paul continued to offer principles that help us stay together as one today! In Romans 15 he wrote:

To the Strong he wrote:

Learn to think in circumspect ways and keep your eye on the brother that can “buckle” under the load or be diverted by a challenging example. Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”

In addition, we who are strong need to learn to defend the weaker brother above any personal liberty, and learn to do it almost as a “muscle reflex”. Let the weakness and frailty of another easily offended believer become your opportunity to grow to be more like our selfless Savior today. Romans 15:2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

To the Weak he wrote:

Learn to follow God’s Word, not other brothers – so you can quickly outgrow the offense stage. That is why he told us in Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Learn to probe the Spirit about your direction and application of Scripture, and take your daily encouragement and marching orders directly from your personal engagement with God. That is part of the point of Romans 15:5 Now may the God [b]who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one [c]voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Please, know that you won’t get it right all the time, and will need to adjust your thinking along the way. Hopefully, that will keep you humble. Followers of God for generations didn’t see Jesus coming to save Gentiles – they had no clue. 15: 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, And I will sing to Your name.” 10 Again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.” 12 Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

Don’t become a professional “weaker brother”, because that is usually a veiled excuse for being a legalist. Remember, a legalist often complains to gain control, and weaker brother doesn’t complain, they fall from a walk with God in obedience.

Finally, let me ask you to honestly consider; “Are there only certain things that your faith allows you to eat?

Many believers can’t find anything wrong with anything. They don’t follow the Word or the Spirit, they follow an unregenerate conscience and a cobbled together morality. That won’t reach anyone, and it won’t please God.

Someone wrote: “According to a recent article I just read on nutrition, they said eating right doesn’t have to be complicated. Nutritionists say there is a simple way to tell if you’re eating right. Colors. Fill your plates with bright colors. Greens, reds, yellows. In fact, I did that this morning. I had an entire bowl of M&M’s. It was delicious! I never knew eating right could be so easy.”

When you make up the rules – it IS easy…but it is also wrong.

We spend a tremendous amount of time and energy on our preferences and hide them in theological concepts that SEEM important. Most of the things we spend time on don’t matter to the lost world, and don’t make an appreciable difference in the saved one.

In my own fellowship of churches, I watched as America was walking into naturalism and destruction of the family, while we were continually finding a new time and place to study in committee and discuss our history and traditions. We are all good men and women, but I think we may not understand the lateness of the hour sometimes…Among the towering discussions was how often someone should be dunked in a tank to declare their allegiance to Jesus and whether our corporate celebration and worship songs should come from a book or be projected on a screen. While we did that – America marched by and redefined critical parts of the culture.

Don’t misunderstand me. How we worship matters. How we baptize communicates a specific set of truths. At the same time, they don’t warrant the amount of time we spent, or the strong defensiveness with which we argued about such things. The dark night approaches in which our work will become impossible. We all know it. Why waste our time re-defining and re-stating things that won’t get us very far.

I am ready to publicly admit that I like where I have come from, and don’t want to change it. I am also ready to admit that we do what we do, largely based on our best understanding of Scripture. Our leaders search the Scriptures daily and seek the Lord’s face in prayer continually. If you want to follow God, I am confident they provide an atmosphere that allows you to do that. If, however, you want to argue incessantly about details that are speculative at best, you aren’t going to be comfortable in the coming days of the church in America. The time for picky Christian squabbles is over. The monks need to forget how many angels can dance on the head of the pin because the front door of the monastery is on fire. Let me be clear: If you are a believer, you’re soon going to need your Christian friends – all of them. The country is morally tottering on the brink, and this is the time for heroes of the faith.

I want to call out heroes in our public schools that will live for Christ without gaining an attitude against the authorities of their school who are in the middle of a changing climate and can barely breathe with all the things beings tossed on top of educational objectives. I want to call out heroes who will take cookies to their neighbors who move in, regardless of whether they are properly married or living in immorality. We aren’t going to slip into some sinful redefinition because we show love to people who need love. We will cling to the text, even as we face a broken world bravely.

This is a time for quiet champions of the Word and calm “embracers” of the Spirit to drop to our knees and ask God for more time to reach our neighborhood. It is a time for stiff personal discipline but public love and winsomeness. If we waste our opportunity tossing insults at the lost world, they will face an eternity without the knowledge of God’s love and never reach out for the door of forgiveness – and we will bear some of the responsibility for it all.

Real Christians are those who “serve Jesus by serving people”.

A “red card” is a penalty card used in many sports as a means of reprimanding a player, coach or team official. They are usually used by referees to indicate that a player has committed an offense. I mention that, not because this is a sports lesson, but because there are times when it seemed appropriate to the Apostle Paul to raise a “red card” to some of the people in the church of the first century, because they were acting in ways that needed to be “called out”. It isn’t unloving to call out bad behavior, though it can be done in an unloving way. In fact, the basis of much of parenting is doing just that: letting a child know what behavior will not be accepted as they journey through life. In this lesson, we are going to watch as Paul pulled a “red card” out of his toga for instruction during a service in the growing infant church of the first century. They were doing something wrong – and it is something we need to take another look at as we pass through this letter.

If you will allow me, I want to begin this lesson in an unusual way – with a story that is both NEGATIVE and PERSONAL. I won’t end there, but I am choosing to do this because I believe it will help us understand the passage of Scripture we are about to study together – both the specific features of the text and how emotionally deep the issues involved truly are even in our day…

A couple of years ago I got a phone call from a young woman who was very upset with a leader in the church where I was serving. She reported to me that she was in a public place in town and she saw one of our church leaders at the time ordering a beer with his sandwich at a vendor’s stand. Even worse (in her mind), that leader offered to buy a beer for the guy that he was going to sit at lunch with, but the man declined because he didn’t drink. It turns out, the man the leader was sitting with was a friend of the woman who called, and he was a Christian who grew up being taught that any consumption of beer was a sin – a violation for any Christian. Though he thought it was terrible that anyone who confessed Christ as Savior would drink a beer, much less offer to another brother a beer, he didn’t tell the church leader that he was offended at the purchase and offer, but rather took his offended spirit to the young woman who called me. She was indignant when she brought it to me.

I think she thought she knew how I would respond – and I didn’t live up to her expectations. I know that because she was so deeply offended that she left that church and verbally shared her disappointment with others in the Christian community. In fact, four others left that fellowship – never to return to the best of my knowledge. They left primarily because their expectation was that I would strip the man from any leadership position and that our church would publicly apologize to her friend for his “sin of participation” in alcohol consumption. I honestly tried my best to respond to her kindly, but because I didn’t do what she wanted, she left and took her friends with her.

I wasn’t hurt because she chose to leave the church where I was serving – I try not to let that be a problem to me. Over the years I have come to recognize there are many reasons people may be led to move from wherever I am to another place. God is at work in people’s lives, and I believe my voice is just one among many. I truly know many who do this work well and I admire them, and feel privileged every time you take the time to walk back in and sit down for another hour together. I did hurt when she left, though. I hurt because I enjoyed her company when she was with us. She brought a great testimony for God. I hurt because she didn’t mind defaming a whole room full of brothers and sisters she once called her “spiritual family”.

The Bible makes distinctions about three kinds of behavior, and different passages address each. Sometimes, the passage we read is encouraging an appropriate expression of the faith by a Christian – it is a GOOD behavior. Other times, the passage is explaining why God put limits on a choice and how we should not pass by the fences He placed – that is a BAD behavior. Still others, like the ones we are going to look more closely at in Romans 14, are behaviors that God neither forbids, nor encourages – they are PERSONAL CONVICTION behaviors. The passage we want to examine is very much about things that different Christians view in different ways. These are passages that often confuse people that don’t know God, as well as immature believers, who read nothing more than “you don’t get to judge others” and conclude they understand the Bible.

Let’s be clear: the same Apostle that wrote what we will study today also told a church to remove a man in sexual sin from a congregation of believers in 1 Corinthians 5 – because that was a BAD behavior. Later when he repented, Paul told them to “let him back in” and stop forbidding his participation – because that was GOOD behavior.

Despite what people say, the Bible doesn’t say that real believers make no value judgments about behaviors.

You can’t raise a child without making judgments about who they should, and should not spend time with. That is part of good parenting. At the same time, there are choices that each believer is privileged to make with the Spirit of God that are not another person’s choice to make for them.

Because you love Jesus doesn’t mean you must be a Republican or Democrat – that is your choice, and it is based on how you grew up, and who you believe has a better vision, in general, for the country. Your Christianity isn’t wrapped in whether you like the new healthcare legislation. We don’t run campaigns in the foyer, and we don’t try to speak for or against every piece of new government legislation – though even our staff has personal opinions, I am sure, about many of the news headlines. You can agree or disagree on whether our country should be pressing to make an agreement with Iran this month – or not. Let me say it plainly: You may have many very passionate ideas and beliefs that are truly are rooted to your best understanding of how to apply God’s Word to daily life – but that doesn’t mean that you are right. It also doesn’t mean you have the right to expect to win the argument even in a room full of Christians. In fact, your argument may be wounding other believers… so we need to talk about it.

I know we need to talk about it, because God prompted Paul to write about it in Romans 14 (and 1 Corinthians 8-10), and our study in Romans will be where we place our attention for this lesson. Here is the point…

Key Principle: Believers must be taught not to harm those who are weaker in their Biblical world view with things the Bible allows individuals to decide between them and God.

The idea is summarized in the beginning of the passage…Paul warned the Roman believers: “Include those who are not mature in their faith (ability to see what God says is true), whose Biblical worldview is limited. Include them to help them, not simply to judge their condition (and control by your preferences their choices)”. (14:1).

There are two points we must recall before we can embrace the passage and truly understand it:

First, none of the things we will discuss are explicitly WRONG (as defined in the Bible).

These same principles DO NOT APPLY in cases where the Bible is explicit about what must be done or avoided. Two believers who are engaged in a sexual relationship outside of marriage are violating Scripture and committing sin – and that isn’t what we are talking about. A man who is breaking into your car is stealing. If you find out about it, you needn’t worry that you are being judgmental, you can just call 9-1-1 and let the police worry about that. We ARE allowed to stand against sin that is called such in Scripture – in fact we are commanded to do it. When people want to persuade the public that they should be able to do something the Bible calls sin, we have every right as a American to object, and every duty as a Christian to live inside the text – no matter what the world accepts as their ever-changing moral standard.

Second, believers are all at different points of growth in their journey to follow Jesus, so we must learn to distinguish between what is WRONG and what WE BELIEVE someone shouldn’t do.

As much as we may hesitate to admit it, they aren’t an identical list. When people aren’t doing what we think they should – we have a tendency to mislabel them. Sometimes we can’t tell if the person in front of us is really a rebel or just a confused person who doesn’t know enough about God’s Word to really understand what we are saying. If we treat a searching or immature Christian as a rebel, we can wound them badly, and perhaps push them from a proper walk with God. Their hurt can become Satan’s playground to hinder them from growth – so we need to be careful.

Let’s get into our study of Romans 14, and set it in the letter Paul wrote, as he moved his thoughts from Heaven and God’s work to earth (Romans 1-11) to the believer’s daily experience (Romans 12-16). Certainly both Heaven’s work and earth’s testimony are important. Certainly the first one affected – and even made possible – the second. The fact is, though, believers need to know more than their position – they need to know what being a “believer” means in practical terms. How does an eternal relationship with God affect a Tuesday in July? That is what the second part of Romans is all about.

Romans 12: The Transforming Believer

In Romans 12 set the stage for the section, in three simple facts.

First, we are not our own, and therefore must recognize God has the right to inspect and correct our behaviors (Romans 12:1-2).

Second, we were empowered to serve one another, not simply saved to change our eternity (Romans 12:3-8).

Third, God set the parameters of proper attitudes and actions (12:9-21). He offered a series of them:

1. Authentic love (12:9a).
2. Life choices that stand against evil and for what God calls “good (12:9b).
3. Showing Deference: A “my brother first” deferral that puts away selfishness (12:10-11).
4. Good attitudes: A hopeful voice, a patient spirit and prayerful decision making processes (12:12) and even a kind gentleness (12:16).
5. Inviting: A loving spirit toward people (12:13).
6. Forgiving: Blessing one who has tried to smear our reputation (12:14).
7. Supporting: Coming beside the hurting to be a refuge of tears, or celebrating with party hats one who is rejoicing (12:15).
8. Confidence: A tongue that tries to make peace without compromise (12:17-18) a heart that quickly regains peace when wounded (12:19-20).
9. Outreaching: We should do what it takes to be renewed to the task of constantly peering into the painful darkness – not to curse it – but to rescue those lost in it (12:21).

Romans 13: The Good Citizen

In Romans 13, Paul took a few moments to leave the relationships between believers in the church, and addressed how a follower of Jesus should be a good and obedient citizen if it was at all possible. The important point we acknowledged when we looked at Romans 13 is that we are entirely unable to “pull off” the Christian life in the flesh – but NEED the Holy Spirit to empower our lives and convict us when our choices begin to “wander off the rails”.

He didn’t linger in that thought, but turned back to relationships between believers to continue his points from Romans 12, as if certain behaviors were necessary to address right away – and it appears they truly were. People were hurting each other in the circle of believers, and what was worse – they thought they were right in doing so. Let’s look closer. Paul began by introducing someone:

Romans 14: Meet the Weak Believer – where we all began our journey.

Romans 14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.

The weak in faith are not, in the context, those who don’t know God. They are clearly followers of the Lord Jesus based on how he described them in the remainder of the text. They are apparently those who are still unstable enough in their walk that they will stumble if someone’s behavior drives them off course. They probably don’t know the Word very well (though they may not know they do not), and clearly aren’t strong enough to grasp on their own what God allows and what God doesn’t.

In my experience, they are often compassionate people who accept out of love those who are walking in sin and are dangerous – but they love them and cannot see danger in both their closeness to them, and their inability to answer of the hope that is within them clearly. They may be those who continue to think in un-Biblical ways because God has not yet begun a transforming work in them in some area and they may not understand the critical thinking path that allows a more mature believer to see the issue with the greater clarity and context that comes from years in the Spirit and the Word.

Two Test Cases

Look at the description of the “weak in faith” person, and note the problems they enter the room bearing (consciously or subconsciously). The Apostle offered two distinct issues that plagued their thinking. One of them related to the mundane world of food and its preparation. The second related to the spiritual demands of corporate worship and its timing.

Look at the first case – what appears to be a dietary issue:

Romans 14:2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 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.

Here is the key: The case of the food is not simply about “carnivores” and “vegetarians” – it is about people who perceive the dangers of “unholy affiliation” (14:2-4).

Jews who were scattered throughout the provinces in the Roman period had very specific eating requirements based on Leviticus 11 and other passages of the Law. Unless they had access to both a kosher butcher, and a rabbi who was recognized to be able to declare foods kosher under the law (in terms of their origin and preparation) – they had to eat vegetables alone. Some of them came to Jesus and yet were still Jews, so they ate restricted meals, and their faith in Messiah did not mean they could simply buy the local ham or  improperly bled beef.

Add to that, the meat that was available in the marketplace was often associated with pagan offerings as described in 1 Corinthian 8-10. Gentile born believers knew well the pagan associations with meat “offered to idols” before it hit the market (often at discount prices). Some believers associated the meat with the idolatry – especially if they had been involved in that kind of cultic life before they came to Jesus. It felt like a deep regression into the power of the occult to have that burger – and they couldn’t in good conscience do it. Other Gentile born followers of Jesus grew up in small villages, and it simply never had that connotation in their mind – so they didn’t care.

With all that as background, here is the problem: some Jews associated meats with improper standards of preparation, while some Gentiles felt a cultic influence was creeping into the life of a believer if they bought meat offered to idols. In short, some people associate certain practices with a part of their life before their walk with God. In their minds the practice is inextricably linked to the evil foundation in their mental association. It can’t be right, because it was a part of the life of darkness to them…they believe all followers of Jesus should see the purity of their thinking and stop a practice based on their logic.

They were likely tempted to lean into two opposite extremes as a result:

Contempt:

The one who eats meat is not to belittle the one who is so concerned they refuse all meat. (14:3a) It is often the temptation of those who have a broader perspective to look down on those who restrict their behavior but seem somewhat legalistic.

Here is the problem with the partaker’s line of thought – they don’t see the depth of passion and strength of heart the Kingdom gains by having someone like an abstainer among them. They can easily lack appreciation for the amount of time and energy the abstainer put into making their walk with God a very pure behavior. It takes discipline and work to walk with God, and they may not be correct at all their conclusions, and may even be overly restrictive – but that doesn’t mean they are trying to be a pain – they are working to sharpen their walk and help us all be the spotless bride that Jesus deserves.

The more liberal mind often has grasped more information on a subject, but that doesn’t justify less respect for a brother. We live in times when the simplest problems are being obscured by complexity. Rather than take all week to read the details of an Iran treaty, why not ask a simple question like: “Is it right to deal with people while they are actively seeking to destroy you and your interests in their speeches and support of terrorism?” All the complexity of what IS and IS NOT included in an agreement gets clarified by the contextual question of whether we should negotiate with people actively and openly engaged in terrorism on an international level. Regardless of how you feel about the agreement, my point is that it is easy to end up befuddled by complexity and lose the simplicity of any right and wrong anywhere. Everything becomes a relative grey because you are so educated – you no longer can call evil what it is. Can we not agree that blowing up children on a bus to make a point make you inherently uncivilized? Can we all agree that supporting such actions should keep you from sitting at the table of civilized nations?

Judgment:

The one who abstains should not judge the one who eats the meat. (14:3b). It is natural that those who believe something strongly enough to discipline themselves to keep from it will tend to see those who participate as “liberal” and “less dedicated” to the truths that they have experienced.

Here is the problem with that abstainer’s thought – they aren’t as consistent as they think they are. The days of the week in our modern English speaking culture were named after the classical planets in Hellenistic astrology, according to a system introduced in Late Antiquity. The Germanic tribes added to the terms, but all were thoroughly laced in a pagan system of celebration. For instance, the term Sunday came from the Old English Sunnandæg meaning “sun’s day” and a Germanic myth of a goddess who gave birth to the other days. We could go on and on, speaking of names of months, holidays and the like. In other words, no one can cut all that pagan influences out of their life and still function in the world. Paul wrote Scripture in a Greek language with words heavily laden and often derived from pagan mythology. He didn’t tell people to learn Hebrew before he would give them the Gospel.

Be careful with what I am saying. I am not arguing that because we have a little paganism in our culture you should dive into the deep end of the pool. I am simply making the point that purists only see the parts of purity that bug THEM, and not the total picture… it is perhaps more complex than they like to realize. Therefore, two things are essential: we must remove from our lives the things God speaks into our heart about, and we must be gentle toward those who do not – if it is not specified in Scripture. We can pray that God will show them something, and we can lovingly discuss their view – but we have no right to even THINK of ourselves as BETTER because we have a particular view on a preference. If the Bible doesn’t say it, it isn’t dogma – and you don’t have the right to be dogmatic about things that aren’t dogma.

A Warning to Both Sides of the Argument: Don’t argue!

Paul offered these words to the “hyper-careful vegetarians” and to the “liberal thinking carnivores” – stop arguing and don’t hurt one another. Why? Listen to the word:

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

In other words, it isn’t the menu that is a problem – it is the attitudes and treatment to one another that are problems. Both responses are wrong (14:4), because neither is to live comparing their walk to the other, nor are they to attempt to control others who serve God. They are to call on their Master for personal direction and live according to the conscious presence of the Master in their lives.

The Second Case: The case of Christian corporate celebration isn’t only about which days to worship, it is actually about inappropriately forced application of God’s Word (14:5-18):

Take your time with this one, because it can be hard to follow, and it is critical. In Romans 14, Paul wrote:

Romans 14:5 “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike.”

Some people have been deeply blessed by practices that God commanded them to keep. They know what God did in their lives through obedience, and they cannot understand their limited application – how a believer could live without that practice that is so meaningful to them…Some of my Jewish believing friends fall into this camp – but mostly it comes from people who weren’t born Jewish, but insist that all followers of Jesus must follow the practices given specifically to the Jewish people. They essentially are forcing what God commanded a specific group onto the whole of those who would follow God.

Let’s say it this way: God commanded that some people were to keep particular days (Jews and Sabbath, Holy Days) but others had no such command, and weren’t a part of the context at the time the Scripture command was given. Some people began, already in the first century, to try and enforce these prescribed days and celebrations on all believers in an effort to make all one (14:5a). Still others tried to make the case that although some believers were not commanded to keep those unique Jewish markers, still they would benefit from keeping them.

Paul outlined principles for three proper behaviors:

Conviction:

Since God is in charge and God created communication, we can safely leave some things to the Holy Spirit (smile) – like giving believers direction in areas not specified by Scripture. Keep reading:

Romans 14:5b “…Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Each believer that was not specifically commanded by God’s Spirit to celebrate on a certain day or in a certain way was free to choose, but needed to consciously consider the choice (14:5b). Each of us serves the Lord Jesus – and when His Word hasn’t clearly told us what to do, we have His Holy Spirit within to do that.

Let’s be clear: Legalism kills the work of the Spirit, because it allows someone else to play the role of the Holy Spirit in leading God’s people. It stifles conviction and rests control in the hands of men, but God didn’t put that decision in the hands of men. Legalism is thwarted by people of conviction speaking out against “lowest common denominator” faith.

Why didn’t God tell us everything? First, He offered principles to virtually every area of life I can think of. Second, it occurs to me that these disagreements opened the opportunity for the Lord to develop backbone in the family of faith. By developing thoughtful reasons for behavior, we consciously choose to live for the Lord instead of obediently following the dictates of human institution!

Acknowledgement:

Every believer must remember that Jesus will judge our behaviors and performance:

Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

We must ever be mindful that Jesus is the Righteous Judge, and He alone must be pleased by our walk. He is perfectly capable of righting what is wrong. Don’t skip over 14:12, because it is critical to understand. I will not be standing with you at the judgment of your works. Jesus was judged for your sins, but your works are open for inspection NOW and when you stand before Him – and you will do that ALONE. You will need to explain to Jesus why you chose to do things His Spirit told you not to do. Your mom won’t step in an explain your “special case” – this one is all on you.

Commitment:

Finally, Paul made clear that we must do everything possible to avoid causing another brother to stumble into sin because of our behavior. (14:13).

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

It is possible the best way to avoid any possible offense may be to participate in some behaviors only in private – but that is for the second part of this lesson. In the next lesson, we will talk about the “avoiding all appearances of evil”. For now, it is important that we make sure we understand that we can be WRONG in attitude even when we are RIGHT in practice.

Believers must be taught not to harm those who are weaker in their Biblical world view with things the Bible allows individuals to decide between them and God.

I cannot close this without finishing what I told the woman with the complaint about the church leader, or I know what mail I will receive this week!

I asked the woman to meet with me, and asked her to bring all that she could find on what the Bible said about ordering a beer at a vendor stand. In addition, I asked her to read Matthew 18 and answer this question: If you or your friend were offended at the leader’s behavior, did you take the time to tell him that? Why or why not?

When we met, I asked her if the Bible said that any alcohol consumption was sin. She said, “No! I believe drunkenness is a sin.” I asked her if the leader acted as if he was intoxicated, or consumed anything more that would make you believe he had been intoxicated at that or any other time? She said, “No! But I was offended!” I said, “Do you have the right to dictate his behavior in an area where the Bible does not?” She said, “If I am offended, he shouldn’t do it!” I said, “First, he doesn’t know you are offended, because you didn’t tell him – you told me. Second, the Bible did not give you the right to dictate the work of the Spirit in an area where you agree the Bible does not specifically call out the proper choice.”

Then, I stopped. I could tell she was hurt, and I didn’t want that. I tried to share about this passage and the one in 1 Corinthians 8-10. She agreed in principle, but was just sure that because she felt so strongly about it, it must have been a “God thing”. I told her the same Spirit at work in her was at work in that leader. I asked if she prayed for him. She said, “No! I want him to step down!” I replied: “That’s fine. My question is, does Jesus want him to step down? You’ll only know if you take the time to talk to Jesus about that, and then sit and talk with that leader directly.” She left, took others with her, and never returned. She missed the lesson.

You see, I know that leader. I know he would never touch another beer in public again if he thought it would genuinely cause someone to stumble. She didn’t stumble. She tried to dictate legalism, and when she couldn’t make the rules – she left to spread her sense of righteous indignation elsewhere.

Despite what our culture says, you have no divine right to walk through life without being offended at another person’s choices.

Let me end with this: You will never fix broken things by making up your own rules. Jesus told us how to act with one another, and He is the Master.