I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
As we said the last time, Paul is speaking about what was happening in the church of Rome and quite frankly has been happening ever since. He is speaking about the stronger and the weaker brother in Christ. The believers in Rome were embroiled in battles over nonessential, supplemental issues. They were minoring on the majors and majoring on the minors. They’d lost focus of what really counts! And that was love one for another. If you remember, In Romans 14 Paul is addressing two types of Christians… The weaker brother is straight-laced, and self-righteous. He believes in Jesus, but takes pride in his discipline and his abstinence. He thinks God’s favor is tied to his conformity to outward standards. So he minds his religious manners – never diverges too far from tradition. He’s into rules. Whereas the stronger brother is free from law and tradition. He knows he’s right with God by faith alone. In Christ his compliance to custom is no longer required. His strong faith in Jesus, frees him up to follow His heart. And so now he continues in vs 14.
“I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Take rock music for example. What’s the difference between a “C” note played on a grand piano, and a “C” on an electric guitar? Obviously, there is no difference. What makes any form of music good or evil is the message it communicates, and the spirit in which it is played. Paul is convinced that nothing in the world is intrinsically evil. Whether it becomes good or bad is determined by how it’s used. How it’s used makes a thing moral or immoral. All things are pure to the person with a pure heart. One man can use an object to the glory of God. Another man can become ensnared by that same object. The problem is not the object, but the man.
“Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.” A thing becomes sinful when it causes me to get distracted and fumble away my faith. Or when my example causes a brother to stumble in his faith. Listen to how Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses, “All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus… don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!”
Once a TV repairman hated bringing his work home. As a result he never properly installed the antenna on top of his own house. Even when the arm on the antenna broke off in the storm, he failed to make the needed repair. When a new neighbor moved in next door, he knew he was living next to a TV repairman, so he installed his antenna exactly like his lazy neighbor. After careful study, he even broke off a part of the arm. Foiled by a faulty example! It just goes to prove that we’re an example whether we know it or not. And the same is true in God’s family. A weaker brother sees you exercise a liberty, and follows your example, but ends up falling into bondage. His faith gets sabotaged by your liberty. Instead of being a brother you’ve been a stumbling block – a blockhead. Was exercising your freedom really worth it?
There once was a man who always had a bottle of wine with his Thanksgiving dinner. One Thanksgiving he found himself bone dry, so he bundled up and headed to the corner liquor store. As he walked down the street he heard someone following him. It was his little boy. It stunned him where he was leading his son. He turned around and headed back home. I’ve heard it said, “The shepherd paces the flock to accommodate the weakest lamb.” Let’s remember, we can destroy with our food, a brother for whom Christ died. If you’re truly free it’s as easy to restrain as it is to indulge. Verse 16, “Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
The Romans were upset over diet and days, but meat and drink are of little consequence in God’s scheme of things. What matters in the Kingdom of God are matters of the heart! Phil Taylor grew up in a white church in the Deep South during the 1960s. I can identify. He writes about his experience, “I don’t know how we missed it. While King marched on Selma and an entire race cried out for justice, I heard sermons against rock and roll, the Beatles, mini-skirts, and long hair – but I never heard them mention racism, injustice, intolerance, hatred, and bigotry. Those are the things God hates.” Churches have a penchant for missing the forest for the trees. We fail to see the obvious. God, please open our eyes!
Verse 18, “For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” You’ve confused your priorities if you hurt a brother just to flaunt a freedom or make a statement. Our priority should always be the building up and encouraging of one another. Loving a brother is always more important than proving a point. Verse 20, “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.” God’s mission in the world is to save souls and mature believers, not indulge callous Christians who care more about making a point than helping folks grow. Don’t forget our fellowship is just as precious as our freedom.
The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, used to smoke cigars. For a time he was quite proud of the fact. Once, Spurgeon was questioned about his smoking. He replied, “I never smoke in excess.” When someone asked him what he meant by “excess,” he answered, “Never more than two at a time.” Spurgeon felt at liberty to light up a stogy, until one day he saw a billboard advertisement which read, “Smoke the brand that Spurgeon smokes.” As the story goes, from that day on he laid them down and never smoked another cigar. He didn’t want a believer to become addicted to a vice because of his example.
Verse 20, “All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” Again, two rules apply to our participation in any activity…
1st: does it cause me to fumble away my faith? If I can’t do it in faith, to the glory of God, I’m not free to participate. And
2nd: does it cause my brother to stumble? If it causes a fumble or a stumble I shouldn’t go there. Rather than fumble or stumble we all should be humble! We all need to grow. The weaker brother should grow in His understanding of God’s grace. While the stronger brother should grow in His love for other people.