Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Romans 14:4-8 – Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?  It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.  And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.  Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike.  Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.  Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord.  Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.  We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. (NRSV)

It seems to me these words from Paul are pretty clear.  You wouldn’t think a preacher would need to add much to them.  And yet, we’re not all that good at following them, are we?  Churches have split and split and split again over the centuries because of differences in practice.  “Let all be fully convinced in their own minds,” we say, adding “just don’t make me do it in the same place as THEM!”

Disciples have tried to live into this tolerance of diverse practice since our early days, as part of our understanding of our call to unity.  Sometimes, we have leaned into it even further than Paul instructs, growing fearful of questioning anyone or anything, even when their practice is doing damage and clearly not honoring God.

But Paul himself clearly saw boundaries on the various practices of the early Christian communities.  We need look no further than I Corinthians 11 to see him scolding the saints in Corinth for doing communion wrong.  Were they saying the words in the wrong order?  Doing it on the wrong day?  Stale bread?  It was none of that which crossed the line, from Paul’s point of view.  He was angry and could not “commend” them because they were ignoring the reality of their own community: that some were living as gluttons while others were going hungry.

Once again, we see that the gospel standard is love.  Judgment can be deadly.  But if it’s always measuring against the standard of love, it can be an important way to determine if something is really honoring God.  God cannot be honored by practices that harm our fellow creatures.  Of that, I am fully convinced.