Doubtful Things

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Romans 14:1-12 NIV

The weak in the faith are those who have believed in Jesus Christ, but do not yet understand the doctrine of grace. To them, the Christian Way of Life is a matter of dos and don’ts. They are afraid to relax and enjoy a good steak, because perhaps they were brought up to believe there was something sinful about eating meat. Or, if they don’t consider it actual sinning, they think it more “spiritual” to shun certain foods. Some legalistic types will worry about almost any food or drink if it’s something people actually enjoy (“If it tastes good, it must be wrong”) and will judge others for partaking. In the time of this writing, Christianity was new. The Jews were taught to avoid all contact with anything that had to do with idolatry. Almost all of the first Christians came out of Judaism. Rome was an idolatrous nation, where the best meats were offered to the idols and sold to the public for food. The Gentile believers had not been taught to avoid meat offered to idols, so their conscious was not bothered by eating it. Jewish believers were scandalized, if not sickened, by the idea.

There were also the Old Testament laws against eating pork and “creeping things,” so perhaps the sensitive, worried “weak” believer would decide to eat no meat at all, just vegetables. We have folks like that today. They have religious reasons for their dietary restrictions, and there’s no point in trying to convince them to eat something they would feel guilty about. What they need is doctrinal instruction, and if they are faithful to study the Word and grow in grace, they will eventually learn about the grace in which we Christians live. God re-educated Peter about the “unclean” animals in Acts chapter 10. In the Church Age, all foods are permitted. One person will eat whatever is offered and give God thanks for it. The “weaker brother” cannot bring himself to eat unclean meats, or things offered to idols, so he eats veggies and offers thanks to God for those foods.

There are those who regard certain days as sacred, but not others. There are those who know that every day is a gift from God, and every moment of every day is our Sabbath Rest IN HIM. Our work at any time on any given day is rewardable Christian service.

So, what’s the rule? Do not judge one another in these preferences, where there is no specific prohibition in the Word of God. This applies to other life practices which are not specifically addressed in scripture, but different believers have different beliefs and attitudes about. Foods, drink, dress, entertainment, even worship practices that are handled differently by those from different backgrounds and cultures should not be disputed, but each should learn the doctrines of grace and the Christian Way of Life and make personal application to his own life.

When we are tempted to criticize another’s freedom or restriction, verse 4 is the reference: “who do you think you are?” It is not our job to judge. That is God’s job, and He does it well. One day, each of us will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, to give account for our decisions and actions in life. He will reward or not, based on the deeds done in the filling of the Holy Spirit or done from human effort alone.

As grace-oriented believers we do have a responsibility to share the doctrines of Christianity with new believers and those who inquire about our faith. We do not, however, have a responsibility to judge our fellow believers. We won’t answer for them. They won’t answer for us. We each must give account of our own lives before the Lord. It is to Him, the Master, we stand or fall. He’s on our side, brethren. Therefore, we will stand.