Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Unity in Diversity, Part 21 of 33
GUEST: Jeff Manion
TEXT: "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died" (Romans 14:14-15).
IDEA: If we really love other people, then it is our duty to evaluate an action, not only by whether or not we think it is right, but by how it affects other Christians.
PURPOSE: Shouldn’t Christians live by their convictions?
A small boy went to his father and asked, “Dad, what is a Christian?” His father described a Christian in glowing terms and, when he was finished, his son asked, “Dad, have I ever seen a Christian?”
Two questions:
What is a Christian?
What Is a STRONG Christian?
One ingredient is that we know what we believe and why. We act out of principle.
Can two Christians look at the same activity and come to opposite conclusions about whether it is right or wrong? How and why?
Paul writes about this in Romans 14:14: “I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself.”
A great many activities are neutral, and I am free to enjoy them. But what about a Christian who feels differently?
“But to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Paul is not saying that there is nothing good or bad morally, but that “thinking makes it so.”
Paul is not writing about moral conduct, but about resources in the world available for our use.
Paul is clear that a “strong Christian” is someone whose conscience has been informed by the Scripture and this enables the person to act out of biblical principle.
Is that enough?
Paul says that while we must act out of principle, we must also act out of love.
In Romans 14:15 he warns, “Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.”
“Grieved” is more than an emotional “upset” [though that is important]. In this context, the action of the strong Christian can lead to the destruction of another person’s integrity as a Christian. He is led either by example or social pressure to deliberately violate what he believes is the will of God. That can easily lead that person away from God.
It is possible by my actions to bring about the spiritual ruin of another person. If I do that, then I despise the work of Christ who died for that person’s benefit.
