Monday, July 15, 2013
Unity in Diversity, Part 9 of 33
TEXT: "Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or fails. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4).
IDEA: We will give an account to God for the living of our days.
PURPOSE: Why shouldn’t I separate myself from people who don’t hold my convictions?
Christians who would fight to the death for the reliability of Scripture don’t take seriously that they are not to have a falling-out with other Christians about matters that are “gray.”
I. Why do Christians have differences with other genuine Christians?
They have different gifts and different ministries.
They have doctrinal differences: Luther and Calvin disagreed about the Lord’s supper. Baptists disagree with many other Christians on the issue of baptism.
They differ in the way they worship: some respond to a formal worship service; others appreciate informality. There are Christians who appreciate liturgy while others prefer free worship.
They differ in matters of conduct. Some Christians—and, in fact, entire denominations—feel that they can enjoy wine with their meals; other Christians insist that drinking any alcoholic beverage is sin.
II. Are these issues important?
Of course they are. Paul writes in Romans 14:4 to tell us how to handle them: “Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.”
Paul gives us two important principles here as we deal with divisive and explosive issues:
We are not to judge other Christians as to whether they are truly Christians or pleasing to God. We may differ with them, but we are not God to other people. We dare not play God.
We are to have our own convictions and live with those convictions about these matters. We will “stand or fall” to God ourselves. Paul is not saying these matters don’t matter. He is saying that we are not to argue over these matters. We will give an account to God for the living of our days. There will be no hiding in that day [Romans 13:11-14]. For example, some Christians may claim they abstain from eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages in order to please the Lord, when actually they are merely trying to impress others with their “spirituality.”
Other Christians “eat and drink” in the name of liberty, but secretly believe they are doing wrong.
Other Christians live very restricted lives, but they have lived that way because they were convinced that it pleases the Lord. That person will receive God’s approval because God gets “to the heart” of the matter.
Still other Christians may have lived with freedom other Christians label as sinful. Yet they do so, convinced that God has given them the liberty to do what they do. They will “stand,” not because of what they do or don’t do, but because our standing before God rests on what He has done for us.
