I’m Better Than You Are
Rom 14:1-4
To this day I can’t believe what I witnessed in church 15
years ago. It was a Wednesday evening
and one of our new members comes in for Bible study. Nice shirt and nice dress shorts. Suddenly two of our older ladies pull him aside and talk to him
very earnestly. At the end of the Bible
study we had a devotional and offered an invitation and this new Christian came
forward to repent. What he repented of
blew my mind. Our two sisters had
convinced this young man that he had committed a cardinal sin by coming to
worship in shorts! Can you believe
that? The sin of wearing shorts?
Six months later at another congregation, the church sang a
song during the collection. A man from
another church asked to meet with the elders after services and then rebuked
them for mixing acts of worship. He
told them that God would not have accepted that worship service because of the
sinful behavior in it.
Were these clear-cut sin issues or did people pass judgment
on disputable matters?
PRAYER
I. Disputable
matters
A.
This passage doesn’t say don’t judge
1.
It’s a very popular idea today to say we shouldn’t judge each
other.
2.
In the world, what one person chooses to do is that person’s
choice and I have no right to say they are right and wrong.
3.
In the church we say almost the same thing.
a)
It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in
Jesus.
b)
I don’t have a right to say your beliefs are right or wrong.
4.
That all sounds really good on the surface.
5.
As Rodney King said, Can’t we just all get along?”
6.
But that isn’t what the Bible teaches. Paul makes that distinction here in Romans.
7.
He hinges everything on “disputable matters”
B.
What’s a disputable matter?
1.
In Romans it was eating meat.
a)
Doesn’t really sound like an issue that matters does it.
b)
Who care if a person is a vegetarian or meat eater?
c)
It wasn’t a matter of meat, but where the meat was bought.
d)
The meat that was most readily available and cheapest was
found in the many temples around the area.
e)
This meat had been sacrificed to some God before it was sold
at the temple market.
f)
Many of these Roman Christians had been converted from
paganism and really struggled with anything attached to the idol worship they
had just left.
2.
Many preachers I know who have converted from some denomination
are fanatically against the things their denomination practiced that we don’t.
a)
It wasn’t a matter of practice to them; it was a matter of
salvation.
b)
I have been written up in bulletins because I have preached a
“Christmas sermon” on the Sunday closest to Christmas. Their reasoning is that I am just pandering
to the denominational world and promoting a false teaching that Jesus was born
on December 25.
c)
It was the same way with these Roman Christians.
d)
Eating meat was the same as worshiping the god it was sacrificed
to in their minds.
e)
However, in both cases, they were making a salvation issues
out of something that God had not.
3.
A disputable matter is anything that people argue over, but
you can’t prove right or wrong from Biblical teachings.
4.
Now listen carefully, I said Biblical teachings, not just the
exact situation.
a)
The Bible doesn’t condemn drug use, but it does condemn
altering your mind with outside influences, it does condemn things that are
illegal, and it does condemn things that would cause others to lose their
faith.
b)
The argument that the Bible doesn’t expressly forbid it is a
self serving argument and goes against what Christianity is all about; the
desire to see EVERYONE come to Christ and salvation.
5.
We are told to oppose false teachers and sin
a)
If you look at many of the letter written in the New
Testament, great chunks of them are dedicated to opposing false teacher and
their ideas.
b)
Scripture after scripture reminds us that we cannot accept
willful sin in our own lives or in the church.
II. The
Weak and the Strong
A.
Interesting definitions
1.
It has amazed me that everyone feels they are the strong
mature Christian in a religious debate.
2.
They are the one with the right answer and the other guy is
simply a weak Christian who simply doesn’t know their Bible well enough.
3.
I received an email about a year ago from a brother who was
convinced he understood exactly what a certain biblical doctrine was all about
and I was teaching it falsely. I
obviously didn’t understand it well enough and it was his obligation to set me
straight.
4.
I saw his view as very distorted and missing the whole point
of that doctrine.
5.
We both considered ourselves the strong, mature one!
B.
Actions of the strong brother or sister
1.
Christians today have totally forgotten to practice verse 3
READ
2.
I’ve seen it played out so often lately in the churches of
Christ magazines.
a)
One group treats the other like a little child who simply
doesn’t get it yet. Their writings show
a smugness that would make most people want to smack them.
b)
On the other side are a group of writers that are so mean
spirited and condemning, that you reject them out of hand for their terrible
attitude.
3.
If you want peace within a church, just practice these two
simple commands!
4.
You would be amazed at what it does for church unity.
5.
I thank God over and over that we have a congregation that
does exactly as this scripture teaches.
6.
We can be very proud of ourselves here.
C.
Why should we do these things?
1.
Verses 6-8 tells us why we should practice these
principles. READ
2.
Both groups are really trying to do right by God.
3.
Beyond that, we are all part of one church and one Lord.
4.
So often we want to paint someone who disagrees with us on a
biblical issue as trying to pervert the gospel.
5.
The reality is that is very rarely true.
a)
Most are very honest in their love for God.
b)
They want to do the right thing, and believe with all their
hearts that they are.
6.
The key to growing stronger is to be honest with ourselves.
a)
I should never believe something only because my church says
that’s the way it is.
b)
I need to study scripture and find God’s will not my will or
my church’s will.
c)
In the end, your church won’t be there at your side on
judgment day, your preacher won’t be there to say, “well, this person was just
following my teachings.”
d)
Listen to verses 10-12.
READ
7.
Our job is to teach and admonish – Col 3:16
8.
Not to judge and condemn.