Can’t we all just get along? We asked this question last
week and began to answer in the affirmative by looking at Romans 14. There Paul
teaches how those within the body of Christ really can learn to stand each
other long enough to build itself up and provide a compelling witness to the
world around it. The first step to this end involves respect. In Romans 14:1-9 Paul
discussed how to exercise respect in two different kinds of situations: 1. when
people allow themselves to endorse varied, yet permissible behaviors, and 2. when
people hold differing views on peripheral issues. Remembering that the gospel
of Jesus Christ and those doctrines implicated therein are the only hills worth
dying on goes a long way in this endeavor. However, often in these and other
scenarios, it is condemnation, not respect, that is demonstrated. In order to
get along, one must put on respect AND shrug off his/her natural tendency to
judge others. How do we do this? Paul provides the answer in Romans 14:10-18. Today
we are going to look at TWO COMPONENTS of Paul’s teaching on overcoming
condemnation in the context of the church from Romans 14:10-18.
a. THE PRESENTATION
OF THE ULTIMATE JUDGE-14:10-12
Paul begins by highlighting how ill-fitting it is for
brothers and sisters to condemn each other. He accomplishes this by asking a
couple of pointed questions in verse 10-“but you, why do you judge your
brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?” A more
wooden translation of this would read “why are you condemning your brother? And
again, why are you despising your brother, believing that he is of no value?”
It is obvious by the pairing of verbs here that a particular brand of
“judgment” is in view. Paul is not calling for believers not to exercise “sound
judgment” that is able to distinguish between good and evil (see Prov. 3:21;
8:14; Rom. 12:13). He is questioning those who take the added step of playing
the part of judge and jury and attempt to somehow sentence those around them to
some sort of punishment. It is this kind of judgment that Jesus Himself
condemns in Matthew 7:1—“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
It is obvious that there were too many judges in the church
in Rome. Paul calls those who are quick to condemn their brothers and sisters
to ask themselves why they are doing this? Who appointed them to such a post?
What qualifications render them suitable to such a task? The repetition of
“you” and the addition of “you again” makes sharply point Paul’s inquiries to people
who are eager to strike their gavels.
Paul reminds self-appointed judges “For we all will stand
before the judgment seat of God” (14:10b). “’Judgment seats’ were common in the
Greco-Roman world; official like Pilate…would make their judgments from such a bema…God judging all people before his
throne was a common image in Jewish portrayals of the end.” Though a bema seat served as the place where
people received judgment in the first century, in the 21st century
we are more familiar with a “bench” that the judge sits behind and defendants
stand before. All believers, Paul says, will stand before the one true Judge
and receive His verdict.
Verdict on what? Salvation? No! That verdict was already
rendered at the moment of conversion in light of Jesus’ completed work of
redemption on the cross. Then what is God judging when believers stand before
Him?
2 Corinthians 5:10-“We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive that is due him for the
things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
When it comes to believers, God will judge their works (Mat.
16:27; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 22:12)–i.e. “the
quality of his or her life” (Mounce, Romans,
254). In other words, God judges what people do with their faith—how they
choose to use their freedom/how they choose to live in light of their beliefs.
By drawing attention to the only legitimate judgement seat
(only reputable bench), Paul wonders “what business do you have (believer) for
executing judgment on others if you yourself have to stand before the Judge?”
To bolster his presentation of the one true Judge (and in an
effort to dwarf would-be judges among the brethren) Paul directs the church’s
attention to Isaiah 45:23 (and possibly Isaiah 49:18)—“For it is written, ‘As I
live says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give
praise to God.’” In and around this Old Testament passage, the prophet predicts
a time in which God delivers Israel and calls the nations to account before Him
so that they acknowledge that He is God (Keener, IVP BBC NT, 452). The matchless authority of God over the entire
world uniquely qualifies Him to serve as the ultimate judge of all and soundly disqualifies
all others from serving behind this unusually lofty bench.
Paul concludes this presentation of the ultimate judge by
drawing attention to what would-be judges ought to be most concerned about—“so
then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (14:12). “Since
this is true, it is highly questionable, to say the least, for us to be
involved in judging one another. Judging is a divine prerogative. To take up
that role is to usurp the place of God himself” (Mounce, Romans, 255).
b. THE PRESCRIPTION
FOR CONDEMNATION-14:13-18
Though identifying the one true judge is one important step
in maintaining proper unity in the context of the church, not falling prey to
dawning the robe and picking up the gavel oneself proves very difficult. This
is why Paul goes to great lengths in verses 13-18 to provide a prescription for
the nasty and lingering cold that is condemnation. This prescription is
highlighted by six “best practices” that believers should endorse in the faith
community. The first of these involves making the right choice. Paul states
“Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore” (14:13a). Again, the kind of
judgment that Paul prohibits here is the condemning sort that labels a person
guilty and calls for punishment. Believers ought to cut out this activity
entirely from their daily routine.
In its place, believers are to spend their energy making
sure that they don’t “put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way”
(14:13b). The word for “stumbling block” (proskomma)
refers to any obstacle that might cause a person to trip. Given the context,
Paul was concerned about beliefs concerning peripheral issues and permissible
activities that stronger and weaker brothers were either being ridiculed and judged
for. If condemnation among the brethren is to be circumvented, members of the
church cannot go around and legislate what is right and what is wrong from the
bench that they are not to occupy in the first place—especially in matters
where the Bible provides freedom and/or is unclear. To enact new ordinances in
this way is to place stumbling blocks before others that they will trip over,
causing spiritual and relational injury.
In an effort to remove many of the stumbling blocks that
others were placing around people, Paul provides the following consideration—“I
know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself”
(14:14a). Paul’s statement—that this whole classification of clean vs. unclean
is no longer literally relevant—would have put him in agreement with many of
the Gentiles and philosophically-minded Jews (most of which never kept such
food laws). However, it would have surprised many others who continued to uphold
such regulations. That said, Paul repeats the same principle elsewhere.
1 Timothy 4:4-“Everything God created is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”
This statement is complimentary to Jesus’ own teaching when He
said that it is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean but
what comes out (see Matt. 15:10-11, 16-20). For both Paul and Jesus, it is the
heart that matters most.
However, Paul does make the following concession—“but to him
who thinks anything to be unclean to him it is unclean” (14:14b). “Although no
food is unclean in itself, if someone regards it as unclean, then for that
person it is” (Mounce, Romans, 256).
F. F. Bruce comments that “defilement is located in people’s minds, not in
material objects” (Romans, 237).
After making the right choice and adopting the right
consideration, one must place the right limits on his/her activity as dependent
on the situation. Paul says, “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you
are no longer walking according to love” (14:15a). If a Christian brother that
is unable to enjoy the freedom that you enjoy is bothered by your actions and
you persist in that activity, you are no longer acting in love toward your
brother. In such cases, certain freedoms may need to go unperformed so that
love and unity becomes the reigning principle.
Put another way Paul says, “Do not destroy with your food
him for whom Christ died” (14:15b). “Precisely because foods do not matter, one
should be willing to forgo eating them for the sake of what does matter:
preserving the unity in the body of Christ” (Keener, IVP BBC NT, 452). Paul employs dramatic language here as he
compares the activity of influencing others to act against their conscience to
personal destruction. To force someone or even tempt someone (especially a
brother or sister in Christ) to weaken their own moral structure by behaving in
a way that undermines their integrity is egregious in Paul’s ecclesiological
ethic. After all, Christ died for the weak and the strong alike. So should the “strong”
go out of their way to love and edify their “weak” counterparts?
Exercising the
right limits (in view of Christ’s great love for all) when it comes to freedom
means holding off on what one is free to do so that someone who doesn’t believe
they are free to do the same doesn’t stumble (isn’t destroyed). Though this
directly pertained to the food that people ate in the first century church (see
14:1-9), this is applicable to other behaviors that some believe they are free
to choose that others may believe are off limits.
Paul generalizes the point by highlighting the right
practice in verse 16—“Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be
spoken of as evil.” By now it is clear that though people may be free to do all
kinds of things, if their freedom turns into a stumbling block for those around
them, what they may have permission to do becomes somethings that Paul calls
evil. Though there is nothing inherently wrong with eating pork, if eating pork
becomes a problem for others in a particular situation, then eating pork is a
problem for everyone. The same might be applied to drinking or any number of other
things. Though there is nothing inherently evil in drinking, if in drinking
another stumbles, then drinking in that situation becomes a problem. When it
comes to what one is free to do, liberty becomes transgression when my freedom
hurts those around me.
Bringing this all together Paul works to help his audience understand
how these principles foster unity when he reveals the right perspective in
verse 17—“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” For members of the church to get along they
must value the fruit of the Spirit over making the most of their Christian
freedom all the time. Doesn’t righteousness matter more than food? Doesn’t
peace matter more than drinking? Yes! If so, then sacrificing food or drinking
or whatever else to promote unity is a win for everybody and a concession that
the strong ought to be willing to make. All of this is made possible by the
same Holy Spirit that drew all kinds of different people into the body of Christ
to begin with. The same Spirit that brought us together is the same Spirit that
keeps us together and helps us get along.
When the right choice is made, the right consideration is
adopted, the right limits are kept, the right practice is executed, and the
right perspective is maintained, the right consequences will follow. Paul concludes
the passage by saying “for he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to
God and approved by men” (14:18). The hierarchy of our interest is subtly
identified in this short verse. What ought to matter first is what is
acceptable to God. It is acceptable to God for His people dwell in unity (Psalm
133:1-“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!”). When believers are living lives
that are acceptable to the Lord, they will be approved by each other. One
necessarily leads to the other in the context of Christian community.
So What?
Brother and sisters in Christ ought not condemn each other (judge
each other unnecessarily). Remembering who the ultimate Judge is and following
Paul’s prescription for the awful and lingering cold of condemnation will go a
long way in rooting this out. Interestingly, in Romans 14:10-18, another
helpful tip in getting along in the church involves keeping the main thing the
main thing. This is similar to what was suggested last week. In Romans 14:1-9
we learned that the gospel of Jesus Christ (deity, death, and resurrection
along with their corresponding implications) matter more than varying degrees
of allowance and differing views on peripheral issues. This week we learn that
the fruit of the Spirit (things like righteousness, peace, etc.) matter more
than me always getting to do what I’m free to do. We ought to care more about
our brother or sister than getting our way. This will help us shake off condemnation
within the body of Christ and get along to the glory of God.
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