Romans 14:1-12
14:1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. [1]
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What’s striking in today’s passage is Paul’s statement in verse 4 “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” Paul is calling on the Christians of Rome to accept one another as fellow servants of Christ, despite their diversity in how they live out their servanthood.
The church in Rome consisted of Jews and Gentiles. For some (Jews), continuing to adhere to the traditions concerning the Law of Moses was an important part of their devotion to God. For others (Gentiles), these traditions, not essential to the Gospel, were never part of their spirituality and so were irrelevant. Paul is calling on them to look beyond these different expressions of faith to the one Christ they both sought to follow.
His point is clear. There is more than one way to worship. There is more than one way to honor God through your diet. There is more than one way to celebrate special days. There is more than one way to fast or not fast. Christians should never be looking down on one another because of the different ways in which they are expressing their devotion to Christ.
I find it mind-boggling to consider the diversity within the body of Christ today. Consider that two days ago, the resurrection of Jesus was celebrated all over the world. It was celebrated with ancient chants and incense. It was celebrated with tribal drums and dancing. It was celebrated with hands lifted high in some places, and kneeling in others. It was celebrated with hymns a thousand years old and with songs written last week. It was celebrated with full orchestras and choir, and celebrated with unaccompanied congregational singing. Worship was led by officiants in cope and miter as well as hipster jeans. It was celebrated with responsive readings, and with spontaneous shouts of prayer and praise. It was celebrated with sitar, recorder, bagpipe, pipa, gong, kudu horn, and didgeridoo. Somewhere it was probably celebrated even with a kazoo. And at the throne of heaven it is all one shout of praise: “Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”
This diversity within the body is not to lead to judging, as though one expression is more honorable or worthy than another. Instead our attention is to be on the Christ we serve. This is true on the global mission scale. It is also true in the local congregation.
So my prayer is for unity amid the diversity in the body of Christ – globally and in my own congregation. I pray that Christ be honored by all in the unique ways in which He has called forth from His creative people.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 14:1–12). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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