Be Still - January 31, 2023

Romans 14: 1-22 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. . . . Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. . . . Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. . . . and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (NIV)

[Read the entire chapter.]

If grace is so amazing, why don’t Christians show more of it?*

In the fourteenth chapter of Romans, Paul discusses some matters that were a test of fellowship for some and no big deal to others. Perhaps some of the dos and don’ts and don’t matters resonate with you. It all leads me to reckon that if the lost aren’t repelled right up front by all the rules, they surely begin their new life in Christ laden with the fear that they will never be able to remember what a Christian can and can’t do.

There are plenty of behaviors that Christians should avoid. Sin is always sin. But you don’t tell a newborn baby that he needs to get up and walk on his own two feet, and you don’t tell a newborn Christian that he should immediately be an expert in living a life of obedience. Those who have passed the toddler stage themselves should come alongside their baby brothers and sisters and help them learn to walk by faith.

While the analogy of the baby Christian is fitting, we must keep in mind that new Christians are often adults who not only have a lot to learn – they have a lot to unlearn. The examples in this chapter illustrate what happens when people join the community of believers loaded down with the baggage of their backgrounds and experiences. From knowing nothing, to believing false doctrine, to returning to the fold after a long rebellious period, each newcomer to the church is at a different mile marker on the road to salvation.* Where they go from there is what matters. As Paul said, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Verse 12) And that applies to all of us. We will answer to God if we have been judgmental instead of making every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.

Show him the way by the way you respond to Jesus.*