No. 38. >> Romans 14 appears to be a very important chapter in discussing how we are to live together as fellow believers. In what ways could I apply what is taught in Chapter 14 to the multi cultural ministry at the congregation I'm serving here in New Jersey? >>PROFESSOR DAVID I. M. LEWIS: Eric, I think in a very important way what Paul writes here in Romans 14 would very much apply to your ministry in a multi cultural context. Because there's a good chance that some of the problems that Paul is addressing here do flow from different cultural values and different attitudes about what would constitute pious outward living. And that is the issue that Paul is addressing here. Remans 14 is a little different from the earlier exhortation sections of Romans 12 and 13 because I think you see as you read through Chapters 12 and 13 that Paul sort of gives us a series of short exhortations. And he doesn't really talk about one specific issue for too long. But now we get into a discussion that begins in 14 Verse 1 that actually continues into 15 Verse 7 where he seems to be speaking about the relationship of what he will call the weak Christians and the strong Christians. And their relationship especially when it comes to what I would call external observances. And what I mean by external observances is that different people will choose to live out their faith and to show piety and show their faithfulness to God in different ways when it comes to external observances. Now, notice, Eric, I'm not speaking here about doctrine. As if one person might confess that Jesus rose from the dead and another Christian might confess that he didn't rise from the dead. Paul would never tolerate that disagreement. There needs to be unity in the essential important doctrines of what we confess. Nor is Paul talking so much about things that are immoral verses moral. In other words, one man is faithful to his marriage relationship. But another Christian wants to commit adultery and he should be free to do that. No. Paul again would say -- this would be a place where Paul would apply the Sixth Commandment as second use to condemn this Christian who think he can commit adultery, to condemn him, to bring him to repentance. What we're talking about here are matters of external observance and piety. If you read through Romans 14, what are the issues here? Well, there are some people who believe that as Christians, they can eat anything. Any food that's out there, they are free to eat. While there's other Christians who believe that they can only eat vegetables. Now, what could have been going on in the Roman situation at that time? Well, one issue some people believe is that there could have been Jewish Christians in the city of Rome who would have been scandalized by much of the meat in the marketplace for this reason. A lot of that meat came from the pagan temples. It had been sacrificed to idols. A portion of that would be given to the pagan priesthood. And the rest would go to the marketplace and be bought, sold and eaten by everyday people. And so some Jews because of their piety would refuse to eat that meat and would instead stick to an all vegetable diet. Then some people surmise that there might have been people in Rome who simply believed that eating meat in and of itself was not a good thing to do. And so you get some people in an effort to be pious and to try to please God decide that they are not going to eat meat. While someone else would believe: Well, you know, this meat was sacrificed to pagan gods. But I know that those pagan gods aren't real. I know they are idols. In fact, I know that this meat was created by God himself and given to me by God. So I'm going to buy this meat and eat it. And my conscience isn't going to be bothered at all by any sin that might be attached to this meat. Because to me, it's simply food given to me by God. And so notice that these two people in their external observances are doing two radically different things. One person is abstaining from eating meat. The other person is eating meat. One person is abstaining in an effort to be faithful to God. The other person is eating and giving thanks to God. And what does Paul say? Well, he says: These guys over here eating vegetables, they should not judge the guy who is eating meat and then expect him to follow their standards. But then at the same time the guy who is eating meat, he should not despise these people who have decided to abstain from meat. And so in a sense Paul is very much letting each individual have these external observances in his own way. And then he's saying: Well, you guys may be doing different things but I want you to remain one. And I don't want you to be judging one another over how you decide to live out your life in these external ways. Another issue was drink wine. Some people would abstain from drinking wine. In a sense, again, in an effort to be faithful to God. Other people would drink the wine and give thanks to God for the wine. A third matter that Paul brings up is the observance of days. Some people are observing certain days. And again, it's surmised that these would be Jewish Christians who would still be observing the Sabbath. And maybe Passover and Pentecost and the Old Testament feasts. While there are other people and scholars surmise they could have been Gentiles who were not observing these days. And of course the tendency might be for these people who are observing the days to judge those who aren't observing the days and saying: Well, you have to keep the Sabbath, too. Or the danger for these people over here who are not keeping the days to despise those who choose to observe the days. So what we have here is a matter of external observance. Again, this isn't a matter of what we confess to be true about doctrine. Nor is it truly dealing with what is truly and openly sin. But this is dealing with kind of those pious expressions of faith that people choose to practice in their day-to-day Christian life. See, very often, Eric, how you may choose to live as a Christian may in some ways differ radically from how I choose. And again, I'm not talking about the faith that we confess and teach and preach. I'm not talking about what is sin and what is not sin. I'm talking about external observances. You may get up in the morning and the first thing you fall on your knees, you read a bit of Scripture and you say the morning prayer. I may get up and jump into the shower first, drink a cup of coffee and then when my mind is settled read and pray. Could you tell me well if you were really faithful the first thing you do is pray. And God is not going to bless you because you didn't do that right away. And then I might respond and say: Well, you know but when you pray you just woke up and your mind is not clear. You ought to pray when your mind isn't foggy. Like me, after you've had a cup of coffee. And here we can be passing judgment upon one another really over something that when it comes right down to it is not that important. Doctrine is important. Morality is important. But these external observances of piety just don't merit us judging one another over these things. Now, in a true sense, these are very important to us personally. Saying the morning prayer right out of bed. Or saying the morning prayer once I've woken up fully and starting the day with prayer, that's a very good thing to do. But how exactly we do it, we can actually disagree. And some people believe that this may have been going on in Rome. Or if not, that Paul is addressing a problem that the church is facing universally. Again especially perhaps in the relationships of Jews and Gentiles. There are many Jewish Christians that may still be practicing the mosaic observances as a matter of piety. And many Gentile Christians who aren't doing those things. But nevertheless are being pious and expressing their faith in a different way. And Paul's main purpose here is actually twofold. He's making the first point that: You should not judge each other over these external observances. People differ in how they express their faith in sort of everyday piety. You will not judge each other over these things. You will not hold each other in condemnation over these things. But rather respect one another and live in unity. You want to say the morning prayer first thing out of bed. I want to say the morning prayer once I've had my morning coffee and my mind is clear. You're doing it for God. I'm doing it for God. Both of them then are good, pious expressions of our faith. So when we look at Chapter 14, if we look at Verse 5, this is what Paul says after talking about people eating and drinking in a different way, observing days. He says: Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. And so when you're observing these expressions of your faith, these pious expressions, you should be fully convinced in your own mind that what you're doing is indeed service for God. He goes on with Verse 6: The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord. Since he gives thanks to God. While the one who abstains, abstains in the honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. And none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. If we live we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written as I live says the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Now, again, I make it very clear, Eric, we're not talking about the doctrine that we confess or that which is truly sin. We're talking about these external observances of our faith. And Paul here basically puts forward this paradigm of Christian liberty. That when it comes to how we actually exercise our faith on a day-to-day basis there is a great latitude of freedom in how we do it. That indeed one person could honor the Sabbath if they wanted to. And if they've got the right attitude, that is acceptable, pleasing worship of God. Another person could not honor the Sabbath. And if their attitude is right, that is accepting, pleasing worship of God. One person abstains from meat. Another person eats meat and gives thanks. They both do it for God. Both are accepted by God as pleasing worship of him. So Paul is saying: Don't judge each other over these external observances. Instead what you ought to worry about is whether indeed when you're doing these things, you have the right spirit. That you're doing it for the Lord. Because rather than worry about your brother's faith and piety, be sure that your piety is righteous because that's what you're going to have to answer to when you face God is: Were my pious expressions truly done as worship, in Thanksgiving to my God, my Creator and my Savior. So that's one point Paul brings out is do not judge one another over outward expressions of your religion. Instead, there is great latitude of Christian liberty in how we actually express our faith and piety on a day-to-day means. Now a second point Paul brings out in this section is the relationship of the stronger Christians to the weaker. And now what's going on here is that the stronger Christians are really those who are aware of this Christian liberty that we have. And so Paul here would be talking about that Roman Christian, whether a Jew or a Gentile, who can go to the market and buy a steak and take it home and eat it. And whether it was sacrificed to an idol or not means nothing to him. Because he knows that idol is not the true God. He worships the true God. He has faith in Jesus. And so all this steak is meat given to him by God. And he can go drink the wine. And he can not worry about the Sabbath regulations. He has freedom to do these things. And so he's strong because he knows the full implications of the Gospel for his life. But then there could be another Christian, Jewish, maybe Gentile, who in his heart believes that if he eats meat, he's actually sinning against God. Now in a sense this weaker brother is wrong. It's not really sin if he should eat that meat. So he can't pass judgment on the guy who does eat the meat. However, because he is convinced that it is sinful, it would be sinful for him to do it. Therefore, you could have the potential of a conflict between the stronger brother who recognizes his freedom as a Christian and this weaker brother who has faith in Jesus but nevertheless believes that if he were to eat that meat, he would be sinning against God. And now this is what Paul says -- now you might say the world would say the stronger guy should lord it over him and laugh at him and say: Well, what an idiot. Why don't you grow up already and have a steak? And Paul says: No. This stronger brother needs to respect this weaker brother and know his weaker brother would face perhaps profound spiritual danger if he were to be led astray and led to do something that he was convinced was wrong. So that Paul is saying now to the stronger brother: Neither of you should judge one another. But actually you stronger brothers for the sake of that weaker brother, you ought to be willing to give up the steak one meal. In other words, let's say I'm having dinner with my weaker brother in Rome in 57 AD. I got steak from the marketplace but now I realize that this guy believes that it's wrong to eat this stuff. Then what I ought to do is I ought to serve a salad and skip the steak right now. It's not so important that I have steak this meal. What's more important is my relationship with this weaker brother. And I need to respect his point of view. For him abstaining from meat is the right thing to do. So when we eat together I'm going to abstain from meat. Not because I think eating meat is wrong but because I love my weaker brother and I'm going to watch out for him. And I'm not going to do something to lead him to do something that he thinks would be sinful. This is where Paul in Romans 15 speaks about Christ. Romans 15 Verse 3: For Christ did not please himself. But as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. And so this is the example that Christ has set. That he didn't live to please himself. He lived to do his Father's will and to show love to his neighbors, to all of mankind. Paul expresses this in even greater detail in Philippians 2 where he says we should have the same mind that Christ had. Who being in the very nature God did not think equality with God was something to be grasped. But made himself nothing. Who became a slave and died upon the cross. Who gave himself in self-serving sacrifice to us who did not consider his own interests more important than ours. And so Paul here is speaking to the stronger Christians: Okay. You're right. You've got this Christian liberty. It's not a sin for you to eat that meat. You know that. Nevertheless, you shouldn't be a selfish person living for your own interests. You should be as Jesus and you should keep the interest of your weaker brother in mind. This is how life is lived in the Christian faith. That those who are stronger actually serve those who are weaker. And so don't endanger your weaker brother's spiritual health by leading him to do something he thinks is wrong even if you know that it's not wrong. So these are the two messages Paul gives: Don't judge one another over these external expressions of faith and piety. And stronger brothers, don't lead your weaker brothers astray. Don't use your liberty as a means of giving offense to them. But rather do as Jesus did. Don't live to please yourself. Live to please others. Now, how does this apply today in the church? And Eric, I think that your situation is a situation where there are great implications of this. Because when we consider the cultural makeup of the United States, we will find that we have examples of Christian faith that come from various countries in Europe and Latin America. Africa and Asia. And very often these different cultures have their own unique way of expressing their faith. Of expressing their piety. Of expressing their religion. And it could be very easy for us to fall into that manner of thinking of thinking: You know the way I've done it, the way my family has done it, that must be the right way because that's the way I've always done it. And if you really wanted to please God you would pray the way my family prays. You would celebrate Christmas the way my family celebrates Christmas. You would celebrate Easter the way my family celebrates Easter. The way my people do it. Because I mean this is the way we've always done it. And then I see this other person come and they are doing sort of the same thing but in a different way. And I can say: Well, you know if you're truly faithful you've got to do it my way. So you have to stop doing it your way. And you've got to do it my way. And now this violates the spirit of Romans 14. Where Paul in a sense is saying there's a great latitude of liberty in how we express our faith and our religion and our piety in a day-to-day way. And you will not judge one another over these things. In fact, if you want to be like Christ, you're going to be concerned for your other brother and sister. You're going to be concerned for them. You're going to respect what they are doing. And basically Paul is saying we ought to be willing to live with this great latitude when it comes to how people express their Christian faith. So in your situation in New Jersey, Eric, I think you need to be mindful of these nuances. And you have to remind people when they get perhaps upset at some brother or sister in how they are doing things to say: Well, are they not confessing the Christian faith? Well, no, they are confessing the Christian faith. Are they committing open sin? No, they are not committing open sin. Well, what are they doing? Well, they don't make the sign of the cross at the invocation. I always make the sign of the cross and they don't. Well, okay, that's your expression of faith. And it's a good thing to do but they don't do it. Well, don't judge them for that. You make the sign of the cross. They don't. You shall not judge your brothers and sisters because they are not externally observing piety the way you think it ought to be done. In fact Romans 14 says you ought to broaden your mind and realize that people can live for the Lord in many different ways. One other example that I can think from my own growing up, Eric, had to do with how people will dress for church. And in my hometown it was a lot of business executives and electrical engineers and doctors and lawyers. And our church was made up of a lot of these people. So the standard way for dressing to church was your Sunday best, which would equal something I've got on right now. Coat. Tie. And if you were to see a man come into church who wasn't dressed that way, there were people who would get visibly upset and afterwards talk about it and say: If that person were really a Christian he would have put on his best clothes to come to church. And let's say what if that guy a rancher. He doesn't own a suit and tie. And it's not in his job description to dress that way. Nevertheless, he comes in with a clean pair of jeans, a pair of boots that are, you know, polished and a nice shirt. He's come for the same reason that you've come. To hear the Word of God. To receive the Lord's body and blood in the Eucharist. So sing praise. To pray to God. His heart is in the right place. How dare you judge him based upon how he comes dressed to church. And this was a big issue in my home congregation because there were some ranchers nearby who joined the church. And it became an issue when people say: I don't think they are dressing right. They ought to buy a suit and tie. I knew better because Josh could relate to this: I would spend my summers in Wyoming where in the Baptist church we went with my family there, if you wore a coat and tie, you would have been the oddball and people would have singled you out as the one who dressed inappropriately. They didn't wear coat and ties there. They dressed in a different way. But the point is they were going to church for the same reason: To hear the Word of God and to bring praise and thanks to God. And so Romans 14 I think is a place we find some good practical application in the day-to-day life of the community. And especially in how we choose to express our religion, to express our faith and our piety. And Paul is actually saying there's a great latitude by which we can do this. You ought to be convinced in your own heart that what you're doing is being done for the right reason as worship for the Lord. And then you ought to have a charitable loving attitude towards your brother and sister if they are doing it a different way. Don't judge each other over this. And in fact, those of you who are strong who actually do know better, don't use your strength and your liberty as a means to offend your brother and sister. Rather, out of love serve them just as Christ served you. And this is one way when in the midst of Christian liberty with this wide latitude of how we express ourselves, nevertheless, we can remain one people in our calling and in the work that the Lord has given to us. Eric, I thank you for that question. And I hope that my discussion here will help you read and apply Romans 14 in the situation where you are.