The Beat e147 Do Not Destroy the Work of God for the Sake of Food (leave judgment out of it)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 2 Episode 147 

THE BEAT | Do Not Destroy the Work of God for the Sake of Food (leave judgment out of it)

Quick Take

Hey human, today we make space for bearing witness to each other as believers, the strong to the weak, and the weak to the strong. A witness that leads to peace and mutual edification. We consider God’s work in each of us and why passing judgment is not ours to do. Ever.   e147 Thanks for listening.

Is judgment part of how you witness to others?

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

The book of Romans, written during Paul’s third missionary journey, delivers I such a powerful way. He is writing to people in the Roman churches, the early churches, that, for the most part, he does not know. But many of which he has heard have a strong faith.

It makes sense that he would put his best theological foot forward in this epistle. He lays the groundwork for face-to-face conversations he is so determined to have. He is working toward that trip to Rome. He ends his epistle with chapter 16, a list of people to greet. Some are those he has crossed paths with during his journeys; some he has heard about. It is thought that he was also bringing them together through this salutation, that they would read this epistle and connect to each othe. In chapter 15 he shares that he believes he will now be free to come to Rome. He is careful to affirm in verse 29 of chapter 15 that when he does it will be “in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.”

Throughout this epistle he takes on theological truths with major heft: justification by faith, humanity’s sinfulness, God’s grace and mercy, the role of the Holy Spirit, Jewish and Gentile inclusion and future hope. This letter is considered by many to be his theological masterpiece.

Yet Paul also zooms in on daily life, giving us a strong grip on what love looks like in action. Today we consider chapter 14, subtitled “The Weak and the Strong.”

It ends with this: “everything that does not come from faith, is sin.”

How does he get there? This chapter is addressing spiritual maturity and how we calibrate our witness based on the maturity of the believer we are engaging with. It makes sense that he would remind us that we begin with restrictions on earthly choices and grow into living on higher ground. How we are all living within the context of other Christians growing. At different paces. It is all about our daily testimony that either builds up, tears down, or contributes nothing to another believer’s life.

That’s worth listening to, isn’t it?

Romans 14

 

The Weak and the Strong

 

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 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. 4 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.

 

5 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. 6 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. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 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. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

 

10 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. 11 It is written:

 

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

 

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

 

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

 

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

How the Strong Witness to the Weak, and Vice Versa

Paul starts by using three phrases that lead us to a very powerful insight.

He warns against getting lost in quarreling about “disputable matters.” Having an attitude that comes in full force to right a wrong, correct someone’s behavior. Show someone how Christians should act based on where we are in our faith walk.

Then he goes on to speak to the personal nature of a person’s faith, and the one-on-one relationship we each have with God. That each believer is “fully convinced in their own mind” and we are to stop “passing judgment” on others.

What is going on here?

Paul is defining weaker as the younger Christians who begin with the more tangible ways to live their life in Christ. Of course, they had a hard time leaving behind the Mosaic law the Jewish nation had lived with for thousands of years. Being clean or unclean was a very familiar context for the this nation. How one must act to be sanctified to be in his presence and the presence of those who are clean, Then all of this was fulfilled through Jesus Christ. We are now clean through his righteousness. When we are spiritually younger certain choices could be our downfall, because we are working through spiritual questions, but as we mature, our relationship with God and our salvation in Jesus alone becomes clearer and clearer.

It takes time for God to deal with us, and the matters of our heart.

Then Paul reminds us of the sanctity of salvation. He warns that we not “destroy someone for whom Christ died.” Our goal in strengthening our relationships is to work toward peace and mutual edification. Do not anchor the conversations in disputable matters that are ultimately governed by God, one human at a time.

And this. That encouragement is a two-way street. The weak encourage the strong, and the strong encourage the weak. This is possible through a shared Lord. A Lord who is sovereign.

Do not define, do not build, work on our relationships with younger Christians based on what we think they are getting spiritually wrong. Keep what we may know private, so we do not interfere with the work of God.

Paul says it better: “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.”

Taking this cue is such a beautiful way to turn away from passing judgment. Give God the space to work and do not be a stumbling block because we are at a different place. In this we demonstrate righteousness, peace and joy that is core to our witness. It empowers us to not come into a conversation with a weaker Christian to pass judgment, “fix” their behavior, and set them straight on what they need to know. God will provide the timing for any teachable moment.

Bearing witness about God at work in our lives does not always mean we enlighten the one with anything. We just love, we listen, we encourage, we embrace.

Each believer is a work of God, and if we live a daily life debating disputable matters, we fall short of working toward a Kingdom community. Not to mention that we can learn from and be inspired by a spiritually younger Christian. The passion with which they are growing, seeking, asking questions, and finding God’s way in life is inspirational, and a personalized reminder of what the joy of the Lord does for us.

It is easy to let that young Christian “joy in the morning” slip between our spiritual brain waves as we settle into maturity, but God puts believers of all maturity levels on our path, with impeccable timing.

If Not From Faith, Then Sin

Paul ends with this: “everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

Let me put it this way. Everything that does not come from a personal relationship with our God, from his faithfulness, we should not do.

And let’s leave space for our fellow believers to seek this with the Savior that has redeemed them to eternal life.

So, this week, find the one who is beginning their faith walk. Seek guidance on how to edify them, not knock them down, not pass judgment. Not spiritually hover over them. Sin nature is tricky. We disguise our intent more than we want to admit. Pray about this. Find the moment, the conversation, the one to spend time with that contributes to God’s work.

And seek edification from the one. This will nurture growth. And your witness.