October 25, 2023 | Be On Mission
A Life Worth Emulating
Scripture: Romans 14(NIV)
1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Devotional
Through Old Testament regulations, Jews were forbidden from eating certain foods. Beef and lamb were in; pork and rabbit were out. Fish was fine; shrimp was not. Sparrow and quail were permitted on the table; owls and hawks were not. Peter’s vision in Acts 10 erased these lines.
In New Testament times, Roman citizens routinely sacrificed animals to idols. They would use part of the meat for their rituals to false gods, then eat the rest or sell it in the market. Some Christians became vegetarians to avoid accidentally eating such contaminated food unknowingly.
Paul also addressed the topic of what food to eat in 1 Corinthians 8 (see Week 26, Day 4, Stumbling Over Freedom). The situation in Rome was similar to Corinth. Since false gods are fake, then the food sacrificed to them is just meat. The problem is not the food itself, but the bad witness that consuming it would have on those who were troubled by it. They were being challenged to live a life worth emulating.
If what you are doing is a stumbling block to another believer, stop doing it. If your choice of food or beverages causes a Christian brother or sister to fall or be distressed, then eat or drink something else.
Paul makes a good point. None of us lives for ourselves. God is not my co-pilot, nor does he take the wheel in my solo life with Him. Rather, He is the Father of a large, messy, complicated family. We agree on some things and disagree on others. We get along with some, don’t really like others, and don’t even know most of the people in the family. Yet we are His family. And He is our Father.
Verse 19 says, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Our job in the family is not to exert our rights in order to become the top cousin in the clan. Rather, our purpose is to honor our Father by honoring the rest of His family.
Poem
Wisdom
In this life
There will be
Disagreements
In this life
The trick will be
Discernment
In this life
Try to live
Hospitality
In this life
Try to give
Generosity
In this life
Learn to listen
Most deeply
In this life
Learn to speak
Most discreetly
In this life
You will face
Other’s rituals
In this life
Recognize
What is vital
In this life
Live with love
Giving favor
In this life
Peace extend
To your neighbor
