The objective of this lesson: to promote the biblical concept of tolerance among Christians.
It cannot be over stressed that the context has not changed from last week's study. Many Jewish Christians had a real problem with the fact that idolatrous gentiles could become Christians without first going through the process of being Jewish proselytes. [Refresh your memory by reading Acts 15:1,2,4,5.] Also, many gentile Christians had a real problem with the devotion many Jewish Christians held to Jewish rituals, ways, and traditional practices. The first twelve verses of Romans 14 indicate that many gentile Christians had a more accurate concept of faith in Christ's spiritual adequacy than did many Jewish Christians.
Stress that the text today is a continuation of the emphasis in last week's text. The concept and Paul's concern has not changed in today's text. His concern for Christian toleration and mutual respect within the community of Christians continued.
It would be quite easy [and still is!] for Christians of one viewpoint to publicly denounce Christians of a conflicting viewpoint as "stupid believers who cling to a flawed concept of Christianity. Why, if they only knew and understood what I know and understand, they would not devote themselves to such ridiculous practices and reasonings! God's goal and the goal of the church is best served by blasting those inferior people every chance we have! God simply does not need people like that misrepresenting Him!"
Unfortunately, most Christians more easily can cite examples of poor attitudes among Christians producing division than they can cite examples of godly attitudes in the Christian community producing peace in difficult times or at moments of conflict.
From this perspective, it was easy for Jewish and gentile Christians (and for us!) to reason that they had no obligation to Christians who were in disagreement with them. Many Jewish Christians could and likely did say, "If those gentile so-called believers are going to eat that when it was probably sacrificed to an idol, they have no place in the Christian community. We do not know what they are, but they certainly are not Christians even if they have been baptized into Christ!" It would be equally easy for gentile Christians to say, "If those Jewish so-called Christians are going to keep the Sabbath and eat the religious feast of Passover, they are still Jews and not Christians! Yes, they were baptized into Christ, but we do not know what they are spiritually. However we know Christianity is not represented properly by them!"
Conflicts in concepts or practices provide a convenient, quick justification for inflexible confrontation in moments of conflict among Christians. It is amazing to witness Christians who got along wonderfully in times of agreement who become inflexible rivals or enemies because they disagreed.
Remember, an accepted part of the acts of worship in both Judaism and idol worship involved eating a religious feast on special occasions. In the religious world of the first century, eating had an understood and broadly accepted spiritual significance that included (a) what was eaten and (b) where the meal was eaten. That is a significance unfamiliar to most of us. It is also a significance that has led some of 20th and 21st century Christians to come to questionable conclusions about the act and place of eating. Too often we attach our conclusions regarding today's concerns to their 2000 year old problems without bothering to learn what their issues and concerns were.
Many of the problems that exist in the church [past, present, and to come] exist because Christians often are unconcerned about context. Context always concerns itself with (a) the problem being addressed at the time of the writing, (b) the situation at the time the congregation or individual received the letter, and (c) what the writer sought to accomplish by what he wrote. Taking a verse or thought out of its background by saying, "It is all scripture," produces many serious conflicts and gives rise to many personal agendas.
Among Christians, Paul's focus and our common focus of today stand in striking contrast. Paul said the primary issue is not passing judgment on each other's convictions [ouch!], but the primary issue is to refuse to discourage each other when convictions differ [ouch!]. With God, the basic issue in the Christian community is respect for each other, not correctness. Again, refresh your memory by looking at Romans 14:4-6. God is big enough to handle differences that arise from the faith and devotion of the people who are in Christ! God knows and understands when the Christian expresses devotion to Him--in eating certain religious food, in abstaining from the same food for religious reasons, in keeping holy days and attributing to them special significance, in saying that there is no special significance to any day because all days are holy.
Whereas our concerns focus on "correctness" expressed in our concept of "conformity," Paul's concern about the conflict among Jewish and gentile Christians in the city of Rome focused on respect for each other as differences in expressing faith in Christ existed. Sometimes in the smallness of our disagreements we fail to remember how huge God is in His mercy and grace. Too often things that trouble us deeply in our culture are of no concern to our God who transcends all cultures.
How can that be? (a) God accurately knows the believer's motives--we don't! (b) If we conclude that something that disturbs us about others who are in Christ of necessity disturbs God, we err because we cling to a poor [and possibly incorrect] view of God. When we become intolerant of other Christians, God's tolerance shown in His mercy and graced does not live in us. (c) God called us to be servants, not judges of someone's devotion to God. As servants. Christians are devoted to respecting those who give themselves to Christ, not to confrontation with those who give themselves to Christ.
A critical understanding the Christian must have about God is this: God is not a human and does not look at people or situations as humans do. Refresh you memory of this fact by considering Isaiah 55:6-13; 65:1-12; Psalms 103:6-14; Jeremiah 10:23-25; and Proverbs 16:1-3. As you consider these scriptures, ask yourself, "Would even good people show such compassion when they are unjustly hurt?" God commonly responds in ways that even the best of humans would not consider.
The objective of every Christian is not to "tear down the work of God." Unless Christians have an accurate understanding of God's work, they can find themselves tearing down instead of advancing. This same Paul told Timothy, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. . ." (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul told Titus, "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. . ." (Titus 3:5). Jesus said of himself, ". . . Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). He also said of himself, "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13). Or, "And hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" (Mark 2:17). Or, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). Jesus said of God's work in him, "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:17). Until Christians understand God's commitment to saving sinners, they will find fault with and reject others whom God has forgiven.
Christians often fail to grasp the significance of God's enormous concern for sinners. Passionately, God wishes to forgive.
Forgiveness is 100% for any sinner who enters Christ. However, though each forgiven sinner has been totally purified by Jesus' blood, each forgiven sinner begins his/her new relationship with God and other forgiven sinners at a different starting point. Thus differences among forgiven sinners always will exist. The challenge facing the more spiritually mature always will be to not discourage the weak or cause them to stumble.
Too often Christians discourage a struggling Christian that God gave Jesus' suffering and blood to grant forgiveness to him/her. Should the forgiven discourage the someone God forgave?
Thus the supreme spiritual value always will be love. What kind of love? The standard of Christian love: God's love which purified the sinner! Thus mature Christians do not exist to "prove I am right and you are wrong" to elevate their spiritual significance. They exist to be an example of those who pursue righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as they dedicate themselves to things that will "build up" (encourage, mature) other Christians. Among Christians, being "right" is insignificant in comparison to being caring! A Christian will not be "right" at the expense of spiritually destroying another Christian for whom Christ died!
We must always measure our love and our motives by the love and motives of the God Who sent Jesus Christ.
The spiritually mature care rather than control! They are examples rather than intimidators! It is much simpler to intimidate than to be an example!
We extend God's love and outreach revealed in Jesus' cross and resurrection. Commonly, that love is revealed in caring, not in confrontation.
For Thought and Discussion
The discussion should include a focus on God's desire to forgive. While there are certainly times to denounce values and behaviors [consider Ephesians 4:25-32], Christians must be cautiously discriminating about their acts and motives [consider Galatians 6:1-5].
The discussion should include this fact: Simply because someone in Christ disagrees with you does not mean you alienate him/her. That approach would eliminate growth through learning and growth through maturing.
Paul's primary issue was not passing judgment on another Christian's conviction. It was on refusing to discourage another Christian when there were differences in conviction.
God's work is primarily extending forgiveness to both the saved and unsaved.
The discussion should include this fact: God's love demonstrated in (a) Jesus Christ and (b) forgiveness always will be the standard for measuring Christian love.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 10