This morning we pick up on the second part of the application that Paul is making of the principle of owing everyone a debt of love. Last week we saw that we shouldn’t allow our own practices and preferences to affect the way we view other believers. I said last week that I was going to likely leave you with some questions. On the one hand, we saw that those who have built up these strict traditions and wisdom around themselves to keep from falling in sin, they should be careful not to judge others by with the strictness with which they live. But, that doesn’t tell us anything about those who don’t live so rigidly. So, for the one who tends to throw off tradition and wisdom and live in liberty, what is the debt of love that they owe to their brothers and sisters? To answer that question, let’s read Rom. 14:13-23 together. From this passage I want you to consider two points: Love forbids Hindrances and Examples of Hindrances.
First, let’s consider the principle that love forbids hindrances from verses 13-19. Before we can understand this principle, we need to get to just what Paul is talking about. So, consider three clarifications about this passage. First, we need to clarify these two types of believers that Paul is referring to. Back up in verse 1, he says that we should welcome the weak in faith. What he means by those designations is different from the way we might think. See, I think when we hear of someone who is “weak” in faith, we probably think of someone who has no morals, can’t resist temptation, and so on. And, when we hear of someone who is “strong” in faith, we might think of someone who is very strict in his adherence. Maybe he doesn’t eat or drink certain things, doesn’t go certain places. You know, the whole, “I don’t smoke, chew, or date girls that do” kind of person. But, what Paul means by these designations is more of a difference in immaturity and maturity. When he says “weak”, he actually has the strict person in mind. Why is that? Well, think of it this way: the rules that we tend to put on our religious practice, the traditions we adopt, the social mores we enforce, they are kind of like training wheels. When a little girl is six years old and learning to ride a bike, training wheels are expected. But, when that girl is 16, they are no longer expected. In fact, if you saw a 16-year-old girl riding a bike with training wheels, you’d think something was wrong with her. Not only that, but those training wheels become restrictive to her experience of riding a bike. When she’s 6, they enable her to participate with other people who ride a bike. But, when she’s 16, they prevent her from doing the same thing. In the same way, the strict traditions and rules that we place on ourselves can keep us on the road of faith when we are first starting out. But, as we grow as a believer, those same rules might prevent us from fellowshipping with other believers, participating in meaningful worship, or going somewhere we can be a witness.
Second, we need to make sure we understand the issue Paul is dealing with. He says, in verse 13, that we should “decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” The issue is that we don’t want to allow our liberty in Christ to become a reason for someone else’s doubt or sin. In 1 Cor. 8:9, Paul says, “take care that you don’t allow your right to become a reason for someone else to stumble.” Yes, it is true that we are free in Christ, and no one else can be our judge, but that doesn’t mean that we are free from obligation to our brothers and sisters. Now, there is an important point of clarity here. Paul is not saying that we should be concerned about making anyone and everyone stumble. Some take this passage to say that we shouldn’t do anything to affect our witness – the idea being that we should avoid certain events, substances, or content because an unbeliever might see us, and it might give them reason to reject the Gospel. But, that’s not what Paul has in view. He is referring to how our actions affect other believers, not how they affect nonbelievers.
Third, we need to clarify how our freedom in Christ can become a hindrance. In verses 14-15, Paul says that it is true that nothing is unclean in and of itself. What he is referring to is the “cleanness” laws of Leviticus 10-15. These were very specific practices the Jews were to observe regarding everything from animals they could eat to how to handle wounds. Those laws make a distinction between a state of “cleanness” and “uncleanness”. Now, when we read those laws, we tend to confuse them with sin – as though, when a woman has a baby, she is in sin for eight days while she waits to be purified. But, the laws on “cleanness” aren’t dealing primarily with sin, but with the holiness of worship. In fact, the word “unclean” can also be translated “common.” In the OT, God wanted to establish the truth that he is holy, which means he is totally other, totally set apart. To do that, he made these laws on cleanness that distinguish between those things that are common and those that are reserved for worship. To be unclean didn’t mean that you were separated from God, but that you needed to prepare yourself by setting yourself apart for worship.
So, when Paul says that there is nothing that is unclean, he is getting to the heart of the gospel. Jesus, in his resurrection and ascension, has brought us near to God. If you are a believer, the Holy Spirit now resides in you, so you are never separated from God. You have been made perpetually holy through Jesus’ blood and the presence of His Spirit. So, nothing outside of you can make you unclean. There’s no disease that you can get, no food that you can eat, no place you can go that will make you unclean before God and unworthy to worship him.
But…, Paul says in verse 14 and 15, even though we know that nothing can make us unclean, there are still weaker brothers and sisters in Christ who might be affected by what we do around them. To go back to my biking analogy, I would never take my 8-year-old daughter down a mountain bike trail with her training bike. Can I do it? Sure! Is she missing out by not going with me? Yep. But, it is better and safer for us to stay on the pavement and coast around than to take that risk because to do so might do irreparable damage to her. In a similar way, we might lead a weaker believer to sin by enjoying something we are totally free to do in Christ.
So, now that we understand the principle of love here, let’s consider examples of hindrances from verses 20-23. Paul says that we should not, for the sake of eating the food we want, destroy the work of God. Then, in verse 21, he gives two specific examples of freedoms that might cause someone to stumble. First, let’s consider “eating meat.” In the south, this isn’t so much of a challenge for us, but even here there are some people who religiously adhere to certain diets. I know of a few people in our community who hold to strict dietary practices (don’t eat carbs or are vegetarians) for religious reasons. They often quote 1 Cor. 6:19, which says that our bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit, as justification for these practices. So, if I know that about my brother or sister in Christ, I should be mindful of how what I eat might cause them to stumble. If I invite them over for dinner, I might make sure that I have a vegetarian option for their sake.
Second, let’s consider “drinking wine”. Again, I want to remind you of those distinctions between wisdom, tradition, and law. Does the Bible counsel against drinking? In some cases, yes. For example, Prov. 23:29 warns against being addicted to strong drink. In other cases, though, wine is viewed as a blessing. In Isaiah 25, well-aged wine will flow at the wedding supper of the Lamb. Psalm 105:15 says that we are to praise the Lord for “wine that makes glad the heart of man.” Jesus’s first miracle in John 2 was to turn water into wine, and his last supper involved wine. So, again, this is an issue of wisdom. It is not sinful to drink, but it might be unwise. And, more to the point, we shouldn’t do it if it might cause our brother to stumble. So, if you have a brother or sister in Christ who avoids alcohol, and you decide to have the next men’s Bible study at a bar, then you might risk causing your brother to stumble.
One final note about these examples. Paul is not arguing here for total abstinence from anything and everything that could offend. Notice, in verse 22, he says to “keep your faith between you and God.” Paul makes this same argument in 1 Cor. 10 about meat sacrificed to idols, and there he says to avoid offending the weaker brother who thinks eating sacrificial meat is a sin, but when you go to the market, buy your meat and don’t worry about where it came from. So, Paul’s rule of love deals with specific offenses, not any and every possibility.
There are hundreds of other ways to apply this (anger, shows we watch, music, parties), but the important principle we have to remember is that we owe our brothers and sisters in Christ a debt of love. We need to think more highly of them than we do ourselves. So, our first reaction around our religious vegetarian should not be, “I’m going to eat my steak extra rare just so it will get at them”, but rather, “I’ll have steak tomorrow.” We do this because we want them to grow and mature in Christ, and we want to remain in good fellowship with them. May we be mindful of the ways we affect the faith of others, and may we be willing to sacrifice so that they might grow.
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