The weak and the strong, Part 1
Romans 8v1-6
6th September 2014
Romans 14v1-6
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must
not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the
Lord is able to make him stand.
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be
fully convinced in his own mind.
He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks
to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
It seems the church in Rome included people who held different convictions about some areas of Christian conduct. These differences in conviction probably arose in part from differences in background (Jewish or Gentile, Pagan or God-fearing, etc.). Whatever their reasons, some refrained from eating meat, and some didn't. Some considered the Sabbath - either the Jewish Sabbath or the Christian sabbath - to be absolutely sacred, and some didn't. And there may well have been other areas of disagreement. And they didn't show Christian love and respect to those who had a different view.
Nothing changes, does it?
Paul describes those who feel unable to eat meat or to break traditional teaching about the Sabbath by saying their faith is weak. I'm sure they weren't best pleased when the letter first arrived and they read that. But Paul doesn't direct his teaching to them; he speaks instead to the "strong", telling them to accept the "weak" and not to argue with them about disputable matters. The ESV translates verse 1 "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions".
Some aspects of Christian behaviour are matters of opinion, they're disputable, but it's not always wise to dispute them. We may well waste our time doing so, and we may damage our brother if we argue with him about a "weak" opinion that he holds dear. I can do no better than to quote William Barclay's commentary at this point:
Paul's sympathies are all with the broader point of view; but, at the same time, he says that when one of these weaker brethren comes into the church he must be received with brotherly sympathy. When we are confronted with someone who holds the narrower view there are three attitudes we must avoid.
(i) We must avoid irritation. An impatient annoyance with such a person gets us nowhere. However much we may disagree, we must try to see the other person's point of view and to understand it.
(ii) We must avoid ridicule. No man remains unwounded when that which he thinks precious is laughed at. It is no small sin to laugh at another man's beliefs. They may seem prejudices rather than beliefs; but no man has a right to laugh at what some other holds sacred. In any event, laughter will never woo the other man to a wider view; it will only make him withdraw still more determindly into his rigidity.
(iii) We must avoid contempt. It is very wrong to regard the narrower person as an old-fashioned fool whose views may be treated with contempt. A man's views are his own and must be treated with respect. It is not even possible to win a man over to our position unless we have genuine respect for his. Of all attitudes towards our fellow man the most unChristian is contempt.
Good stuff, Professor Barclay!
Barclay also said this:
Before leaving [verse 1], it should be noted that there is another perfectly possible translation. "Welcome the man who is weak in the faith, but do not introduce him straight away to the discussion of questions which can only raise doubts". There are some people whose faith is so strong that no amount of debate and questioning will really shake it. But there are others who have a simple faith which is only needlesly disturbed by clever discussion.
I pray that we will rediscover the sort of caring, considerate Christianity that Barclay commends.