Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: October 23, 2005
Dealing With Diverse Opinions in the Body
by Dan Trygg
“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Eph. 4:1-3
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Prov. 27:17
“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Heb. 5:14
“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God…. 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 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. 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.” Rom. 14:10,12-14
One of the issues we must face in attempting to walk out our relationships in the Body of Christ is the fact that people come with an incredibly wide range of opinions and theological perspectives. It is easy for us to find areas of disagreement, which can rapidly degrade into arguments, mocking, hurtful comments, and division, if we do not guard diligently our relationships with one another. If love is to be the outstanding mark of what Christians are to exemplify, our attitudes and actions toward one another are extremely important.
In Eph. 4:1-3, the apostle Paul exhorts us in this very area as the first practical matter of application to come from his heart, having laid the theological foundation in chapters 1-3. When you think about it, the so-called "practical sections" of the epistles have virtually nothing to do with laying out a strategy of world evangelization. They focus primarily on teaching us to learn to live together in love. The reason Paul felt it necessary to spend so much time and attention on this area was not only because it is crucial in order to give a credible witness concerning the truth of the Gospel, but also because it goes so much against the grain of our self-centered human tendencies. Without focused, clear admonitions, instructions, and reminders, we would tend to naturally fall into patterns of relating to each other that would be destructive, "distancing", and counter-productive.
Some quick observations on Eph. 4:3:
(1.) As Paul's exhortation points out, there is a unity (literally, a "one-thing-ness") of the Spirit which has already been established by the work of Christ. In Romans 12:5 he puts this same idea into a different word picture. We are like limbs or parts of a body. "...we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another". Note that he did not say, "we need to act like one body", or "we need to become a body". He stated an established fact. At least on a spiritual level, we already are joint-members one of another, limbs of a larger, spiritual Body of Christ.
(2.) Our responsibility is to keep, guard, or maintain that unity. The word translated as "preserve" also implies that this unity is in danger of being lost, stolen, or sabotaged in some way. We are to watch over it, protect it, and keep it from whatever threatens it.
(3.) We are to earnestly, diligently devote ourselves to this end. The word translated as "being diligent" is an ongoing participle meaning "sparing no effort, working hard, doing one's best with great eagerness and urgency". It definitely communicates the idea that exertion will be required.
(4.) The "bond of peace" Paul referred to is a ligament of relationship established by the "binding together of both sides". Cf. Col. 3:14. It is the outworking of peace. Beginning as a "cessation of hostility", it can grow into "harmonious interaction" with the investment of relationship.
With this foundational background in mind, let us examine Paul's words to us in Romans 14 and 15. The first verse of 14 states the apostle's exhortation: "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." In this context, Paul mentions that there are some who have certain scruples about how they ought to express their faith. Some felt it was important to keep certain dietary laws, while others felt that they were free in Christ to eat anything. Some kept certain days of the year as holy days, days to be celebrated with certain traditions or ritual customs. Others felt that every day was the same, i.e., every day was to be lived in dedication to the Lord. Religious customs were not necessary, and in fact felt confining. They strongly felt that their liberty in Christ freed them from the ritualism of religion in order to enjoy relationship with God. For them, these old traditions felt stiff and restrictive, so they chose to not observe them out of their sense of freedom in Christ.
In I Cor. 8 & 10, there was another issue, one that virtually every believer at that time and place may have had to face. In the pagan idol worship, parts of the sacrifice were offered to the so-called deity, and the remainder was either eaten in the courts of the idol’s temple, or was sold. This was part of the worship. The adherents believed that when they ate this meat, they actually partook of, or communed with, the god to whom it had been offered. Many people bought this meat, because it was cheaper than other meat sold in the marketplace. (Note the law of supply and demand – endless free supply drove the price way down.). For Christians, this created two dilemmas. First, if they were invited to someone’s house, they may be served meat that had been purchased from an idol’s temple, and they were faced with the problem of eating this meat, or possibly offending their host. Secondly, some believers were actually going to the pagan temple courts to eat meat, or to purchase meat, because it was cheaper. They knew that the old pagan religions were false, and they knew that eating “temple meat” was not going to mess them up, spiritually (Mk. 7:19). Others, who had more recently come out of those religious traditions were confused by this, and felt that these others were compromising their faith by participating, …or they were encouraged to join with them, even though they were unsure of their own convictions. They still were dealing with some of the old superstitions, which meant that they were not operating in Spirit-led faith and freedom, but from self-motives. Consequently, their participation opened them up to feelings of confusion and guilt, which the enemy was able to exploit. In fact, because they were not obeying the leading of their hearts, their actions actually led them into sin. Furthermore, Paul warns of the danger of falling back into idolatry (I Cor. 10:7), or getting seduced by the demonic (vss. 19-21).
As you can see, there are great differences of opinion on issues like these. Oftentimes, these beliefs are also very passionately held, and very meaningful to the people who hold them. Disputes on these issues can quite easily ignite into arguments, hurt feelings, bitter comments and a rift in relationships in the Body of Christ. Again, in spite of these differences, there is an underlying unity in the Spirit between all believers in Jesus. It is up to us to diligently guard and protect that unity. There is much to be gained by listening to and accepting one another. Even if we do not agree fully with another's opinion, we can often begin to appreciate their heart and their motives in what they do, ...and we may even find an aspect of God's nature that is emphasized more strongly by their observances than by our approach. Paul does use the language of "strong" (15:1) and "weak in faith" (14:1). There is a better theological basis for some beliefs, in comparison to others. May I suggest, however, that the strength of one’s faith may have less to do with how a person perceives and practices his or her own beliefs in matters like these, than it does with having a sense of confidence, flexibility, and tolerance of others who "do it differently".
How should we handle such matters? Going back to Rom. 14 and 15, we can make some observations:
(1.) Reach out to one another. "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." The word translated as "accept" literally means "y'all (for yourselves) take to yourselves". It is a strong word of acceptance, of taking to one's inner self. It is in the middle voice, which means that we must be intensely involved in this action, or that to do this will somehow limit us, or modify us, in some way. It will cost us something to do this. It is obviously a relationship word. Note that up front Paul says their must be no strings attached. We don't do this on the surface in order to attempt to change this person's mind. (The word translated as "passing judgment" literally means "an argument, disputation".) No. We reach out to them and "take them to ourselves" just because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Period. No hidden agendas.
(2.) Do not judge or despise. Acceptance is further defined in verse 3 by pointing out that the one with freedom should not look at the one with scruples with contempt, nor should the one who observes a custom judge those who do not. He continues to discuss this through verse 13.
Briefly he says,
(a.) It is not your job to judge the servant of another;
(b.) He is accountable to God, not you;
(c.) God has accepted him, shouldn't you?
(d.) What he does, he does to the Lord. That should be respected, honored and valued.
(3.) Determine not to put a stumbling block or snare in someone's way. These are interesting words. The "stumbling block" (Gk., proskomma) is literally "something against which a person would bump his or her foot and trip or stumble". The word "snare" (Gk., skandalon) is literally "that part of a trap to which the bait is attached; a trap-spring, or a snare". Both of these words are used metaphorically in two ways: (a.) Causing someone else to stumble, or be entrapped, into sin. This is what Paul is referring to in vs. 14, and in I Cor. 8:7-13. This is where they see your freedom, and try to be like you, but their conscience bothers them. (b.) Flaunting your liberty in a manner that is offensive to others. The trap or stumbling block, then, is that we instigate feelings of anger and bitterness in others by our disregard of what is important to them. An example would be I Cor. 10:23-33.
(4.) Pursue what makes for peace and the building up of one another -- 14:19.
(5.) The strong ought to bear with the weaknesses of the weak, and not just please themselves -- 15:1.
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