In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia completes a two-part look at Paul’s teaching in Romans 14:1-15:13 about how Christians should respond to one another over Christian liberty issues. Dave Capoccia outlines the four main ways Christians should respond when convictions collide but focuses on explaining the second main way in detail. Following the apostle Paul’s progression of thought in Romans 14:13-23, Dave Capoccia presents three reasons why Christians must seek to edify one another and not cause to stumble.
1. Your weaker brother needs spiritual protection, not pressure
2. God’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness, not liberty
3. Freedom with stumblings included is unclean, not clean
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some of you may know the story of eric little eric little was a scottish missionary to warchorn war-torn china from 1925 to 1945.
but most of you if you know him probably don’t know him for that reason but you know him for what was depicted in the film chariots of fire you see eric little before going to the mission field was an accomplished track athlete and little was supposed to compete on behalf of the united kingdom in the 1924 olympics as a 100 meter sprinter however a few months before the games little was informed that the qualifying heats for the event would take place on a sunday and little was a convinced sabbatarian meaning he believed that sunday was the christian sabbath and that christians ought not to work or play sports on sunday out of reverence for god little therefore withdrew from the olympic event and chose to instead compete in the 400-meter sprint which was an event he was not as skilled at and little’s decision made international headlines there were many people including christians who not only disagreed with little’s decision but also put great pressure on him to compete in the sunday race little was even called before the british olympics commission and the prince of wales to defend his position we can imagine the kind of arguments put to little something along the lines of eric you know biblically christians don’t have to keep the sabbath why are you making this such a big deal or eric there are a lot of other christians who are competing in the games do you think you’re holier or somehow better than them or come on eric your country needs you you’re the best at this event don’t you think that you’re being a little selfish whatever their arguments little held his ground even though many in his home country condemned him reportedly on the morning of the 400-meter olympic race little received a small note from his teammates and the note said the following in the old book it says he who honors me i will honor wishing you the best of success always little was greatly encouraged by this small note because it was an indication that someone even a small group of people supported him and trying to keep his conviction before god little later ran the 400 meter race and he not only won the race he won the gold but he broke the olympic and world records of doing so it’s a remarkable story but now think for a moment what do you think of little’s decision not to race on sunday it turned out well but what if it didn’t what if because he followed that conviction and he competed in a race that he wasn’t as good at he lost would it still have been the right thing before god or imagine being one of those people around eric little in those days how would you have responded to him would you have tried to persuade him even put pressure on him to compete in the sunday games would you have said nothing when the controversy was swirling around him or would you have actually sought to do as some of his teammates did try to support him encourage him help him to keep his conviction even though it wasn’t or isn’t your same conviction little’s olympic experiences another example of the subjects that we raised last week that is what do we do when convictions collide that the bible gives many clear commands and guiding principles for life some decisions we face do not have clear commands or do not have clear commands for or against in the bible these are decisions that fall under the area of conscience of conviction or of what we call christian freedom christian liberty as christians we can become quite passionate about issues of christian liberty looking down on oh bless his heart so silly or condemning those who don’t take the same stances that we do and this hurts the overall harmony that we’re supposed to have as brothers and sisters in christ especially in the local church but god shows us in his word that while our christian liberty convictions are good they honor god they must be handled in the proper way so that our fellowship remains full so that our brethren remain protected as that our lord jesus christ the master receives his proper honor we’ve been investigating that way together as we’ve seen it spelled out in romans 14 and 15. so if you haven’t yet please take your bibles and open again to romans 14.
this is where we will continue part two of our study i can just briefly remind you of what we saw together last time from this new testament epistle the apostle paul writes to the church in rome partly to address the unity of gentiles and jews in the church this unity has become strained due to a difference over conviction issues many jewish christians who were the minority in the church they felt very strongly about continuing to keep certain jewish traditions that come from the old testament namely food laws about clean and unclean foods and sabbath day observances weekly and annual sabbaths meanwhile the majority of gentile christians in the roman church they rightly recognized that these food laws and sabbath days were perfectly fulfilled in christ and they are therefore not required of god’s people anymore there was conflict over these convictions and the apostle paul rather than merely writing and saying look these guys are right you other guys just get with the program he instead does something much more helpful which is he outlines the proper response that any group of believers ought to have when facing differences of opinion and conviction over liberty issues with another group of believers that’s why we’re looking at the passage because we face similar though not the same issues today in romans 14 verses 1 to chapter 15 verse 13 paul commands four main ways that christians are to respond to one another over conviction issues and we investigated the first way together last week that is romans 14 1-12 welcome one another and do not judge when it comes to conviction issues brothers and sisters we must welcome one another and do not judge christians must recognize that there is more than one right way to answer today’s conviction issues not every answer is correct you heard me say this last week it does need to remain within certain biblical bounds but someone doesn’t have to have your same exact convictions over a particular issue to be well pleasing to god totally accepted by god in fact those who unnecessarily restrict their christian freedom for the sake of following their consciences before god they are just as much welcomed by god as the one who enjoys his liberty to the full again within biblical parameters so we believers today should welcome and include associate with our brethren regardless of their christian convictions on liberty issues and we must not try to judge what’s going on in our brethren’s hearts the only one who has the right and ability to make such judgment is the lord himself and he says leave that to me we instead and we saw this last time we need to be concerned about our own assessment for the lord how did you treat conviction issues and how did you treat those who had differences of opinion but this is only the first main response that christians are to have in our remaining text in this passage paul addresses three other main ways that christians should respond to each other when convictions collide we’ve seen number one welcome and do not judge but number two we must edify one another and do not cause to stumble i’ll give you the other two as well number three please one another do not simply please yourself number four glorify god together and one united but diverse body this is how the teaching goes on from chapter 14 verse 13 to chapter 15 verse 13. what i want to do with you this morning is really just focus on that second main response i will say something about points three and four but to fully explore those would take a number of hours which we don’t have today the teaching in this section is dense very instructive very helpful points three and four really flow out from it so we’re going to focus on command number two a second way that christians should respond to each other when it comes to conviction issues and that is again edify one another and do not cause to stumble like with romans 14 1-12 this second response the second required response which we see in verses 13 to 23 of romans 14. it has a number of reasons given for it as before there were three reasons for command number one now there’ll be three reasons for command number two and so these will be sub points that i’ll give to you as we work through the text today first reason that we are to edify one another and not cause the stumble appears in verses 13 to 15 of romans 14.
this first reason for this is this is point 2 a if you want to take notes your weaker brother needs spiritual protection not pressure look at romans 14 13.
paul says therefore let us not judge one another anymore but rather determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way you may notice here that paul is rounding off his previous teaching with the first therefore statement because of what i just wrote let’s stop judging one another over these conviction issues inappropriately the paul’s use of the word judge in verse 13 sets up a word play later in the verse probably can’t tell this in your english translation but the greek verb for judge and determine as reported in the new american standard are actually the same it’s both the greek verb krino krino can have the sense of judge to condemn but also the sense of judge in making a decision so it’s like paul is saying this let’s decide not to condemn each other any longer but rather you spiritually strong ones you need to decide not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in the brother’s way you may notice the words obstacle and stumbling block are very similar in meaning uh what’s the difference not much obstacle is a cause for stumbling or an offense and stumbling block could also be translated trap or offense but i don’t know about you when i think about those terms i i might think that this is something that’s not a big deal oh just a slight tripping hazard but that is not the sense because if you look in the old testament and the new testament where these terms these metaphors are used for spiritual realities it is always a situation that is quite serious i don’t shouldn’t say always but many times it is a situation that is quite serious some great spiritual damage is about to happen and perhaps even resulting in eternal destruction let me show you a few examples of this isaiah 8 14. isaiah 8 14 and interestingly the greek translation of this old testament passage uses the same two terms that we just noted stumbling block an obstacle but isaiah 8 14 says this in its first part this is about the divine messiah that israel would reject then he shall become a sanctuary but to both the house of israel a stone to strike and a rock to stumble upon the majority of jews in jesus day they could not handle the concept of a humble crucified messiah that became the stumbling block which they tripped over to eternal doom or consider matthew 16 23 matthew 16 23 jesus speaking turns to peter and says get behind me satan you are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on god’s interests but man’s what was happening there peter i just told jesus you don’t need to go to the cross that will never happen to you jesus says you don’t even know what kind of terrible stumbling block you are trying to be to me right now you want to derail the whole mission of redemption for the sake of your own desires you are stumbling block or matthew 18 6 matthew 18 6 this passage doesn’t use the noun form but it does use the verb form of one of the words we just looked at matthew 18 6 jesus says but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea god treats the setting up of needless spiritual stumbling blocks to be an extremely heinous manner worthy of the utmost wrathful vengeance of god you cause one of my little ones to stumble one of those who believe in me i will bring wrath on you for it so when paul commands us to resolve not to put a spiritual stumbling block or obstacle in a brother’s way paul’s communicating the situation is quite serious but you may say but how could my little christian liberty convictions cause such a dangerous situation look at verse 14 now romans 14 14 i know and am convinced in the lord jesus that nothing is unclean in itself but to him who thinks anything to be unclean to him it is unclean this is an explanatory parenthetical sentence that helps tie together verse 13 and verse 15.
paul stops to clarify that he emphatically agrees with the strong in faith when it comes to christian liberty over food no food paul says i know i’m totally sure about this no food is common or unclean in itself common is a literal term but the idea is unclean but paul says there is one situation in which food becomes unclean what situation is that when someone thinks that what he’s eating is unclean to broaden that principle a bit when someone’s conscience tells him that something is wrong for that person to participate in and that person does it anyways that act represents uncleanness and sin before god violations of conscience make an act totally unclean even if it wasn’t unclean in itself but what does this have to do with stumbling blocks look at verse 15 now four if because of food your brother is hurt you are no longer walking according to love do not destroy with your food him for whom christ died do you see the connection that paul is making there paul’s telling the strong believers who understand that they can exercise christian liberty brothers it’s true that you have liberty but you must still walk according to love that’s basically being christian paul’s already talked about it extensively in his book or this letter romans 13 10 for example love does no wrong to a neighbor so brethren if you exercise this is paul speaking if you exercise this liberty in such a way that you hurt or deeply grieve a brother to the point of violating his conscience you are no longer walking in love but you’ve actually exposed him to great spiritual danger you’ve laid out a stumbling block before him over which he might have a calamitous fall notice paul says that you in fact use something like food to destroy a brother they say oh paul that’s a little strong aren’t you exaggerating it is a strong term destroy is again meant to emphasize how serious the situation really is when you entice a brother to act against his conscience spiritually you are luring that believer to unfathomable damage even spiritual destruction and over what food it’s almost comical if it weren’t so tragic the contrast that paul sets up in verse 15 because you have on the one hand food imagine a piece of food steak hamburger piece of bacon you have this on the one hand and on the other hand you have the soul of a person and not just a person but a person who is blood bought by the lord himself for that person jesus went to the cross he suffered the wrath of god for that person’s sins he paid it all off clothed that person with his own righteousness brought them into the people of god what you’re doing paul says when you over a conviction issue calls your brother to violate his conscience you are saying that little piece of food is more important than that brother’s soul you’re trying to undo all the salvation work of jesus and say i want him to be destroyed i don’t care if he’s destroyed can such gross negligence in taking care of a brother ever be tolerated by the master by the father now you’re probably asking but how can these things be first of all how can exercising my liberty be a stumbling block of the character that you describe i can think of at least two ways one way is by verbally pressuring a weaker brother to practice your more liberated conviction imagine this in a new testament context brother you’re free in christ just eat it trying to help you here trying to make you enjoy life more i mean just think of what a better witness you’ll be for christ if you’re not weighed down by this conviction actually i think would be sin if you didn’t eat it because you’d just be indulging in your legalism that would certainly be one way to set a stumbling block before another verbal pressure but another way would be to put the brother into a situation in which he’s very tempted even when he don’t say anything again imagine this in a new testament context you invite a brother to a dinner party you neglect to tell him that the food is not necessarily kosher brother with a weakened conviction shows up and now he’s faced with great social pressure as to whether he’s going to be an ungrateful guest and refuse your food or whether he’s just going to go along with the crowd and just eat it this is made even worse by physical hunger maybe he’s had a hard day maybe he’s a slave he’s been working hard for his master in the field and he was looking forward to the dinner that you were going to put on but now he sees it’s it’s unclean food and pardon says you can’t eat that don’t eat that god will be dishonored but then he says i’m so hungry so hungry i’ve had such a long day maybe they’re right maybe i really shouldn’t worry about this but his conscience won’t let it go whatever the exact situation what paul’s describing is that you put a stumbling block before another brother or sister when you exercise or proclaim your own christian liberty in such a way that it inordinately tempts a brother to violate his own conscience maybe you don’t intend this but maybe it’s just a negligence on your part a quick side note this does not mean that you can never have a conversation with a brother or even a weaker brother about christian convictions you can that’s legitimate sometimes that’s even helpful but it should never cross the line into pressuring or enticing the brother to go against his conscience and note too that this really is all about the conscience some professing believers will try to use passages like this or the one in first corinthians to try and enforce their conservative convictions on everyone else because they say hey your your liberty is offending me i’m upset you’re making me angry bible says you have to give that up for me that’s not actually what this passage is talking about this is about causing a brother to violate his conscience grieving him in that way hurting him in that way it’s all about the conscience here so that may bring up a second question why is violating the conscience such a big deal why is it compared to even spiritual destruction potential spiritual destruction well to answer that question we need to remember what god designed the conscience to do the conscience is like a faithful guard in the inner man that commends you when you do right and warns and condemns you when you pursue wrong god gave everyone a conscience as part of imprinting the knowledge of himself and the knowledge of his law on every person romans 1 and 2 talk about this and consciences are not perfect revelators of god’s will consciences must be trained it must be strengthened they must be informed by god’s truth which is found in the scripture and consciences that have been improperly informed or that are paired with certain weaknesses in faith may report that a good action is actually bad or that a bad action is actually good it’s possible for a conscience to be misinformed that way but the bible but the lord never teaches believers to go and reject or ignore their consciences never to silence your conscience rather your conscience is to be trained in the truth trained to operate correctly according to what god has actually revealed consciences are actually a gift from god that are are meant to help us pursue him and to live holy lives so why would purposefully violating the conscience be so destructive there are two avenues that could a person could potentially walk down as a result one is one reason why this is so dangerous is because violating the conscience teaching someone to reject or ignore the conscience may sear the conscience may deaden the conscience may cause the conscience to become weaker so that it no longer is able to warn you as loud and if you keep ignoring it it’s like you won’t even be able to hear it at all this is why the bible when it speaks about false teachers one of the things that notes is that they are people who have seared their consciences that’s first timothy 4.
it’s like they’ve cauterized their conscience and they can’t feel anything anymore this is an extremely dangerous situation because it means someone can go headlong into sin and feel no qualms about it they go into greater and greater sin that could potentially happen to your brother when you teach him when you pressure him to go against his conscience surely we would never wish that we would never risk that for a brother or sister that’s one possible result but another potential danger another reason why this is so destructive is because pressuring a brother over a conviction may lead that brother to feel unceasing guilt and this can happen at least one of two ways one is because he listens to you it goes against his conscience but then he later comes to himself and feels he has transgressed something so fundamental about following god that he can never be made right with god again i think about these early jewish christians all their lives they have been taught a truly godly person keeps the food loss keeps the sabbath only traitors go against that and then that jewish christian does he’s like oh you know i guess it’s really not a big deal he does it and later he thinks about it he says what have i done what have i done i’m a traitor to god the thing that is so basic and obvious to being a christian i’ve transgressed there’s no hope for me anymore and he may run from god or another way is pressure over conviction issues may convince a believer there’s no there’s no way he can be justified because whatever he does is wrong he’s got believers who have christian liberty telling him no no this is the right way to go this is right before god and if you don’t do it it’s basically sin but his conscience is telling him no this is the right way before god and if you don’t do it it’s sin so either way he’s condemned there’s no right answer for him there’s no safe way and what does that lead to despair and easily despair and unceasing guilt it leads to departure from the faith leave the church leave christ all together so you can see why paul uses the serious language that he does in this passage a violation of the conscience can either deaden the conscience so much so that the person totally departs from christ or kick the conscience into overdrive so much that a person departs from christ both of these represent spiritual destruction now yes not every violation of conscience leads to this but the risk is real therefore we dare not put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother’s way that would lead him tempt him pressure him to violate his conscience and for what mere food well let’s put it in today’s context some of the issues that we face would you entice someone to go against his conscience for a mere glass of wine would you risk someone’s profound spiritual injury just to have them watch a movie with you would you pressure someone into going against his conscience just for one vote in one u.s election spiritual stakes are high when it comes to our weaker brethren what do they need from us protection not pressure this is the first reason we look to edify our brethren and not cause them to stumble a second reason or we should edify our brethren and not cause them to stumbles in verses 16 to 18.
point 2 b god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness not liberty look what paul says in verse 16.
therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil and there’s some debate among interpreters as to what the good thing in this verse is supposed to represent and who the ones are who are speaking evil literally slandering blaspheming my view is pretty straightforward i believe the good thing that paul’s talking about here is what he’s just been talking about rightful exercise of christian liberty the ones blaspheming the good thing are those who are primarily hurt by it wounded believers and even those who’ve left the faith paul is saying brothers your christian convictions are good but don’t use it so carelessly carelessly that people only resent and slander it as evil and why notice a reason paul gives in verse 17 to this assertion he just made verse 17 paul says for the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit see being a citizen of god’s kingdom it’s not about eating or drinking or enjoying any particular christian liberty these are blessings but they’re not the essence of what it means to be a follower of christ what is following god all about righteousness peace joy in the holy spirit that is to say following christ is about certain salvation realities being made manifest in our lives i mean look at each one of these terms you are justified by the righteousness of christ alone but it works out in practical righteousness in your life you should be seeking to live righteously or you experience peace with god because of christ’s work and so now you are to seek peace with your brethren peace with all people as far as you can or you experience the joy of christ and so now you can rejoice with your brethren rejoice and praise god before all men these come to you by means of the indwelling empowering and guaranteeing holy spirit if these are what the christian life is really about then these should come before the exercise of christian liberty hold on to these things not those particular exercises of convictions say it another way you weren’t saved to enjoy christian liberty primarily to just enjoy temporal creative things you were saved to experience and manifest the transforming gospel of the lord and it’s only those who live this way who should have any confidence that they truly belong to god notice what paul says in verse 18 for he who in this way serves christ is acceptable to god and approved my men the word the greek word for serves here is du liu you can hear the word doulas in there slave to serve as a slave if you really are saved and you serve christ as a slave of christ you don’t cling to the exercise of your liberties but you do cling to what christ called you to do which is to love and to build up other people those who do this paul says they are acceptable to god literally well pleasing not that they’ve earned salvation or righteousness no but they manifest that they they have it in christ and instead of generating the slander of men notice verse 18 says they receive the approval of men specifically of those weaker brethren who appreciate how the brethren who are stronger in faith on conviction issues take care of them so let’s ask ourselves a few questions regarding this before we move on what are you known for when it comes to the exercise of christian liberty when people look at you would they get the idea that the essence of christianity is that conviction issue that you have that conviction stance or will they instead see that your conviction finds its proper place and what it really means to be a follower of christ what kind of response does the exercise of your christian liberty generate in the believers around you even here at the church do your good and godly convictions actually generate slander against god and against christian freedom because of how you use it or do people see the humble and different way that you go about exercising your convictions the way you look to edify others first so you are esteemed by your brethren even those who don’t hold to your same convictions my brothers and sisters because god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness and not liberty we should edify one another and make sure that we do not cause the brother to stumble there’s a third reason why we should fulfill this command this is in verses 19 to 23 point 2 c freedom with stumbling blocks included is unclean not clean look at verse 19.
so then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another notice the so then here this is based on what paul just said being a true follower of christ means not clinging to liberties or thoughtlessly laying spiritual stumbling blocks before a brother or sister who are redeemed by christ but instead means living out a transforming gospel and we ought to pursue peace with our brethren and whatever would edify them whatever would build them up spiritually far from engaging in controversy with one another we look to make peace and far from tempting others into sin we seek to protect and bring spiritual benefit to others there’s the term building up i actually used an equivalent term edify it’s an architectural term it’s like god’s people are a building and it’s our job to help the construction help the repairs help the beautification of that building this is our calling and it’s the opposite of what paul says next look at verse 20. first part of verse 20 do not tear down the work of god for the sake of food the greek word for tear down here is another extremely destructive term again emphasizing the seriousness of the situation but it’s also the opposite of the term build up another architectural term when we selfishly pursue the exercise of our own even rightful christian liberties it’s like we’re taking a wrecking ball to the building that god is constructing god has established this remarkable reality in the church which is a diversity of people different backgrounds even different convictions yet made one in christ united in purpose looking to serve and glorify god but in the name of a of a conviction about something so temporal like food we try to tear down this great work of god paul says in 1st corinthians 3 that god will judge those who try to destroy god’s temple i.e god’s people so we should no longer use our convictions to do so in fact paul clarifies that recklessly exercising our christian freedom is not only senseless but is itself unclean now this is very poignant look at the second half of verse 20.
all things paul says indeed are clean but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense this is very similar to what paul said back in verse 14 but notice there’s a key difference before paul said something becomes unclean becomes unclean if someone thinks it’s unclean but here paul says something becomes unclean if the enjoyment of it puts a spiritual obstacle in front of someone else in other words your christian liberty conviction is no longer acceptable to god when it hurts a brother and paul clarifies the extent therefore we should go to protect our brethren spiritually verse it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles brothers and sisters if we were really committed to doing good to our brethren then we need to be willing to sacrifice what otherwise would be a rightful christian liberty for them if it’s necessary to protect them we do it doesn’t matter what it is food drink anything paul’s not saying quick clarification paul’s not saying that this must be done by all people always and at all times that he’s just pronouncing right now all christians must be vegetarian tea totalers forever but in any local situation where it’s clear that giving up that liberty that rightful christian liberty would protect someone else spiritually you must do it it’s just loving a brother and need we fear the inability to express our faith via our christian liberties you’ll notice what paul says in the first part of verse 22 the faith that the faith which you have have as your own conviction before god we don’t have to show everyone all the time the full extent of our christian freedom if we’re strong in faith when it comes to christian liberty issues god sees that god’s honored by that and he’s the only one who really needs to know god will also be pleased when love causes you to hide so to speak your christian liberty for the sake of protecting a brother paul sums up the principles in this section and the rest of verse 22 and 23.
i’ll read those now he says happy is he who does not condemn himself and what he approves but he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith and whatever is not from faith is sin notice paul says happy or blessed we could also translate it is the one who has no reason to condemn himself for the way he handles his convictions this applies to the weaker brother who may be unsure about a particular act but it also applies to the stronger brother who may be unsure as to whether the way he’s exercising his christian liberty might cause someone else to stumble paul says if you want to be happy just stay on the safe side when in doubt don’t under no circumstances should you eat or pursue anything which the bible allows but your conscience does not yet give you full confirmation it’s okay for you to do if you’re still shaky don’t do it because if you proceed when you’re wavering you only bring condemnation on yourself even the chastening judgment of god again whether it’s because you feel like an act is wrong in itself or because you’re not sure whether it might cause someone else to stumble whatever is not from faith paul says is sin so brethren i think you can see why when it comes to christian conviction issues as we listen to the teaching of god’s apostle we not only look to welcome one another and do not judge but we also look to as we’ve seen in this second main point edify one another and do not cause to stumble our weak and brethren need spiritual protection not pressure god’s kingdom is primarily about righteousness not liberty and freedom with stumbling blocks included is unclean not clean so how does this all apply to the christian conviction issues we face today we can’t explore all the specific implications right now but i’ll just try and provide you with a few application examples now remember of course the situations we face are not completely parallel to what paul’s talking about here but the principles are relevant here’s an example you believe it’s okay to read books that feature stories with magic wizards and sorcery that is an acceptable conviction before god but don’t pressure others to take that view and don’t talk in such a way that those who don’t read those books are really missing out on something that’s so good and essential don’t try to tempt them in that way or you believe it’s okay for a dating couple to hold hands and even kiss before marriage that’s an acceptable conviction before god within certain biblical parameters but don’t entice the person that you’re pursuing marriage with to go against his or her own convictions on that issue and don’t carelessly parade your liberty before others here’s another one you believe based on your best understanding of the coronavirus situation that christians don’t need to wear masks and totally fine for us to sing in church without masks that is an acceptable conviction before god and there’s even a place for a conversation about that but take care that you are not pressuring those who don’t take that same conviction and don’t practice that same conviction that somehow they are being cowardly or sinning against god and each of these issues and many others your attitude should be fundamentally not about establishing your own rights or your own view but seeking to protect and build others up even those who are weaker in faith and just as individuals are going to come to good but different convictions in these types of issues realize that whole churches and their leaders will too i was thinking the other day what new testament churches must have done based on paul’s teaching in this passage and similar teaching when it came to their get-togethers because they still have people who had these food convictions in the church so how did they how do they seek to deal with that did they provide both meat based and vegetarian-based food say okay here’s some over here and go over here you know whichever one you you feel best about or did they just serve all vegetarian food hey we’ll just cover all our bases all of us can eat vegetarian i don’t know what the answer was but i would guess that different places did different things especially depending on their congregation and that’s totally okay and isn’t it the same today when it comes to issues like music in church go over to precautions in church other things different churches are going to come to different answers as to what they think would best serve the people in their congregation every church situation is different but again there’s one more there’s more than one right answer before god we must be careful even at the church level about pressuring others with what with what we’ve determined is the best way to serve our congregation but where other churches face pressure to go against their god-oriented convictions even if those convictions are different from ours what should we do we should not judge we should seek to help we should even pray for our brethren there in those churches really on both the church level and the individual level our outlook should be others oriented and not self-oriented really that flows right into the rest of paul’s teaching i told you i’d only briefly say something about main points three and four that paul gives about how we handle when convictions collide and the way i want to do that is i just want to read the rest of the passage and just offer a few comments on it we’ve seen that when convictions collide christians must number one welcome one another and do not judge and number two edify one another and do not cause to stumble but a third way to respond is in romans 15 1-6 which is please one another and do not simply please yourself look what paul writes there now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves each of us is to please his neighbor for his good to his edification for even christ did not please himself but as it is written the reproaches of those who approached you fell on me for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that perseverance so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope and may the god who gives perseverance and encouragement grants you to be of the same mind with one another according to christ jesus so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the god and father of our lord jesus christ notice that the christian’s calling goes far beyond merely trying to protect one another’s consciences but actually seeking to please one another for their ultimate spiritual good your attitude in general but also when you come to church should not be to complain about how all your various preferences and convictions are not accommodated rather you want to ask how can i please and be a source of blessing to others that should be that should be what each one of us are thinking when we come to church oh you know what their music really isn’t my preference but you know what i want to serve others i want to be a blessing to others paul points out that this was christ’s own demonstrated attitude in his incarnation but especially in his passion and is going to the cross jesus suffered in order to please not himself but his father and to do good to us and all to god’s glory and so it should be with us really the end goal of paul’s instruction about these things is not mark this unity and peace that’s not the end goal those are actually a means to the true end goal which is what that’s really point number four main point number four how should we react when convictions collide glorify god together as a united but diverse body look at the rest of the passage verses 7-13 therefore accept one another just as christ also accepted us to the glory of god for i say that christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of god to confirm the promises given to the fathers and for the gentiles to glorify god for his mercy as it is written therefore i will give praise to you among the gentiles and i will sing to your name again he says rejoice o gentiles with his people and again praise the lord all you gentiles and let all the peoples praise him again isaiah says there shall come the root of jesse and he who arises to rule over the gentiles and him shall the gentiles hope and may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the holy spirit god never intended to gather a people for himself who would be completely the same even in their convictions while on the earth but he did intend and he foretold this even in the old testament to gather a people who would be united in one purpose and that purpose is to praise and glorify god forever this if you may note this is ultimately why christ denied himself to serve the people who had the most restrictive law and convictions the jews you see how it says that he became a servant of the circumcision but it was with a goal that encompassed all people he confirmed the promises to the patriarchs and he enabled the gentiles to glorify god for god’s mercy that is a pattern for us seeing a united people not united in all their convictions but united in their purpose and the way they deal with convictions with one another that should be our goal unto the glory of god and what would that take the same thing it took for jesus a sacrificial mindset that says it’s not about me it’s about the lord and therefore it’s about the edification of my brethren jesus welcomed us sacrificially into the glory of god and if you may note in verse 7 it says the same thing accept one another just as christ all accepted you basically we’re to do the same this should be our ultimate goal when convictions collide yes those other things are true but this is the end goal we can’t do this without the power of the holy spirit and so paul’s prayer right there at the end is completely appropriate and it’s the way i’ll close today may the god of hope he says indeed enable you to follow christ’s pattern by the power of the holy spirit and with the hope of what god will do may god make that true for our church pray with me now heavenly father i thank you for this great word of yours again it is a challenging word but a beautiful one to behold your pattern and to embrace it ourselves god not only in welcoming one another and not judging not only edifying one another and not causing to stumble but in also pleasing one another not looking to please ourselves so that all together might glorify you as one that’s what we want although i prayed should help us in this show each one of us lord where maybe we’re not exercising our liberties in a wise way we’ve been really enticing and pressuring others inappropriately but lord help us to be ready to lay aside our christian liberties for the sake of protecting others for the sake of blessing others lord for those who don’t know you may be with us today they don’t know what it’s like to be part of a such a people like that and they live not as one who actually looks to other people but only really looks to themselves or that does not honor you that’s that’s a great sin before you you even say as we rehearse today that those who put a stumbling block before your brethren they’re worthy of the utmost wrath that’s true for anyone outside of you god so i pray anyone who has been living for himself and not living for you i pray that they would repent today i pray that they would turn to the only lord and savior they would trust in the only salvation work that really saves and that is jesus christ and his work on the cross lord i pray to bless this congregation and lord i pray that we would indeed get closer and closer to the ideal laid out in this scripture we need your spirit to do this i pray that you provide it in jesus name amen we’re going to