A NEW YEAR'S... MAKE THAT A NEW DAY'S RESOLUTION - A STUDY ON ROMANS 14 PART 8 OF 11

Saving Castaways by Franciszek Ksawery Lampi

 

How many of you have made New Year's Resolutions? How many have kept any of those Resolutions for the first 38 days of this year? Did I see any hands raised?

Romans 14:13, New King James Version, reads "Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." (Emphasis added).

I think Paul gives us a great resolution. But is this meant to be a New Year's Resolution, which doesn't last long? Or should we consider it a New Day's resolution, one we make every time it's a new day? It's achievable to attempt to keep this for 24 hours, isn't it?

I've seen a couple of lists of verses that encourage judging to counter the misuse of "Judge not, lest you be judge" (or is it to justify disobeying the command Jesus gave us in Matthew 7:1), and I see a lot of verses and concepts ripped out of context. The most common is "Judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24), which in the context it belongs in was actually directed to Pharisees who were judging Jesus for healing on the Sabbath! Do those who make this claim want to be associated with the Pharisees? The most ridiculous is "There's a book in the Bible called Judges." Uh, those judges include rash Jephthah and lustful Samson; are those to be our models as well? But they ignore verses like Romans 14:4 and 14:13, as well as James 4:11-12 (again, is this willful?).

One interesting thing: the NKJV rendering above translates the same Greek word two different ways in the verse. Let me share that verse again, highlighting that word and its differing translations: "Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." 

Am I right in saying we too quick in judging others when they offend us and too slow judging ourselves that we don't offend others? 

As we continue reading in Romans 14:14-16, we see that we should willingly limit our liberties so as not to cause others to stumble. Let me give an example. Let's say an unsaved friend I'm witnessing to invites me to dinner and not knowing I don't drink pours me a glass of wine. I have the freedom to drink that wine (or more likely for me, sip it). However, if a mutual friend is also invited and I know that other friend has either a problem with Christians drinking or is overcoming a problem drinking, then I would refuse that wine, hopefully before the other one has to say anything, for their sake.

This reminds me of something I've heard from John MacArthur. If we have to choose between offending an unbeliever or a fellow believer, who should we offend? Some would, for the sake of the Gospel, avoid offending the unbeliever. MacArthur suggests the opposite, based on Scripture (primarily 1 Corinthians 8-10). One reason is preferring the unbeliever over the believer tells the unbeliever we're more concerned about the unsaved than the saved and diminishes the motivation to get saved.

Of course, when we think of avoiding placing a stumbling block before a weaker brother/sister, we tend to think of smoking or drinking or gambling or tatoos or to some listening to rock music. These apply, but allow me to give another activity that might offend your fellow believers: Heresy hunting.

Some will say "What? How can you say that we're not supposed to call out false teachers and expose errors? Are you saying we should tolerate error?" No, we shouldn't. However, some people aren't merely pointing out false teachers when they see wrong teaching; rather, they are looking for heresies to attack and actually delight in it.

Why do I say heresy hunting (you could call it doubtful discernment, as the Jubilee Bible 2000 translates Romans 14:1, as I mentioned at the beginning of this series) is a stumbling block? Let me ask a few questions.

1. Are they known more for what they're against than what they're for? In other words, are they quick to criticize and condemn and save their rare words of praise for those who share both their negativity and the targets for that negativity?
2. Are they showing a lack of love to those they oppose? For example, do they insult and poison the pot towards their opponents? Do they overlook anything positive or correct that those who disagree with them say or do? Do they (the heresy hunters) act like they're looking forward to their adversaries being judged by God?
3. Are they proud and exalting themselves as the one who knows God's mind? Do they assume that those who disagree with each other aren't studying Scripture or loving God with the same diligence they are? Do they believe they've got all the right answers to debates that have lasted centuries if not millenniums?
   

But am I doing any better right now? Sometimes I struggle determining if an offense to an action is genuine weakness or if the "offended brother" is what one of my Bible College teachers called "Professional weaker brethren." Am I ever guilty of reluctantly abstaining from something I enjoy with resentment toward the one I'm offending?

I have the painting "Saving Castaways" by Franciszek Ksawery Lampi at the top of the blog. Are we being quick to save those castaways? That's what God has called us to.

Are you following Paul's Spirit inspired advice in not judging one another? Is there anything we do that offends fellow believers that we need to abstain from?