October 23, 2000

Get more information about Bible Study for Texas here.

Nov. 26 Lesson

A fear of diversity can rob us of God's rich gifts ___Romans 14:1-4, 13-19; 15:1-7 ___14:1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disreputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ... ___13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. ___19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. ... ___15:1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." ... ___7Accept one another, then, just as Jesus Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

___By Carol Younger
___For more than half of my lifetime, Baptists have been at war with themselves. The labeling and judging which have become par for the Christian course have been costly. Many children who saw their parents wounded in Baptist battles are now adults choosing to avoid denominational commitment because it hurt the people they loved. Many have steered away from a commitment to the church itself. Most have had higher hopes for the church than they saw visualized.
___But because of the grace of God, there are those times when the vision for God's people that Paul writes about in Romans 14 and 15 becomes real. Those times can renew our hope and light the way for us. Those times often involve people who have found themselves so loved by God that they deeply love others in spite of the different ways they may express their faith.
___Childhood trips to visit my grandparents in Austin always meant visits to their church. As superintendent of the Sunday School, Granddad never missed a beat--or a Sunday or a Wednesday. I grew up assured of the rhythm of their weekly choir practices, song services and nightly Scripture readings. Eventually, when the Baptist quarrels grew louder, and I grew more educated about the controversies, I recognized there were differences between my home church and theirs. We had interesting discussions over family meals. But we never questioned the love we each had for God or each other. When I went to seminary, it was with a deeply ingrained love for faith and for family.
___My grandparents cherished their religious heritage and gave their lives in service to their church. In cherishing the Baptist distinctive of soul freedom, they instinctively taught us to be true to what God wanted us to do and be. When new Baptist groups formed, my grandparents blessed my involvement with them in the form of plane tickets so that I could go to the meetings. Such action from these staunch Southern Baptists spoke volumes to me.
___Diversity calls for love
___Christians differ in their backgrounds, their dispositions and their places along the faith journey. Such diversity can both enrich the church and cause difficulties for it. Paul had witnessed problems in other churches he had started, and he saw potential problems for the church at Rome. In Romans 14 and 15, he writes about the relationship between strong and weak Christians in the church.
___The Christian community in Rome had two factions: the majority, whom Paul refers to as strong in faith; and a minority, whom Paul terms the "weak in faith." The majority was hesitant to welcome the "weak," because they did not fully appreciate their freedom in Christ. Still bound by a pre-Christian legalism, they insisted on following rigid dietary restrictions and keeping holy days in the traditional way. Believers who were strong in faith recognized that they had been liberated from this legalism. Not bound by rules or rituals, they viewed the practices of keeping them as insignificant. The weak, however, could criticize the strong for their lack of respect for the formal and traditional requirements of religion.
___Paul warns of the danger of either side standing in judgment of the other. The church, he explains, is to welcome those who are weak, "but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions."
___The church must be an accepting fellowship and an inclusive community of love in which a commitment to Christ is the basis of fellowship. Those strong in the faith must not offer conditional acceptance, offered only as a means to persuade others to think just like they do on all matters. Just as they have been welcomed by the grace of God, they are to welcome others by that grace.
___Paul accepts the "strong" position of faith in terms of his personal religion. He proclaimed Christ as the source of his freedom. But Paul finds a higher purpose for this freedom than just freedom from unnecessary religious rituals. Paul has experienced a joy and meaning that comes only when freedom is used for a purpose greater than oneself. He respects the conscience of those who hold views other than his own, such as those who believed in the pre-Christian practices of not eating meat that had been offered to idols. Though he does not agree with their viewpoint, he will not let this difference disturb the fellowship of the church.
___Helping Christians envision this higher use of their freedom is an important theme in many of Paul's writings. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul explains that though he is free, he has chosen to serve. "I do it all for the sake of the gospel," he wrote, "so that I may share in its blessings" (9:23). When we give ourselves for the sake of others, we experience the unsurpassed gift of the authentic Christian life.
___Pursue what makes for peace
___In 14:13-19, Paul offers a principle for those who are willing to love and uphold the body of Christ. He frames this principle in terms of what not to do and what to do. He urges, "Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another" (verse 13); and "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding" (verse 19).
___Christians "pursue what makes for peace" by respecting the freedom of every person before God. This means being willing to limit our own personal freedoms if that will strengthen a weaker Christian. This may be the most difficult aspect of love to accept and apply.
___Paul offers the illustrations of not eating meat that had been offered to idols and of observing the religious rituals related to special days. Remember that Paul was not asking Christians to compromise their freedom on central moral issues. He was concerned with conflicts that centered on minor religious practices. Paul reminds the stronger believers that there is more joy in building the kingdom than in indulging in personal freedoms. The higher values of righteousness, peace and joy take precedence over any of these issues.
___Most churches have some story of a tense business meeting in their history. At one such meeting, after a secret ballot on an issue about which church members were clearly divided, a woman whose side lost turned around to a woman seated behind her and said, "I guess you're happy. I know how you voted." The woman winked at her and said, "I'll bet you don't." The woman began to explain that she had intended to vote one way, but then she began to look around the room at the faces of so many on the other side who loved the church as much as she did. She thought of how her vote would hurt the many good people of faith who saw the issue from an entirely different perspective. Love transformed her own perspective and she voted differently than she had planned. Years later, the story is still a beacon for that first woman, who sees it as one of those shining times when love lit a way that would help the church move toward higher ground.
___Christ will give us strength to limiting our personal freedoms and let love transform us. In 15:1-7 Paul continues the theme of mutual upbuilding as the goal of Christian fellowship. In this task, Jesus' life is our example and we are to continue in the spirit of the incarnation. Because Christ limited himself for the sake of others, followers of Christ, both weak and strong, must share that same spirit.
___Celebrate the diversity of Christ's family
___Sometimes a dislike for what is different keeps us from experiencing Christ in new ways. One year, a group of college students in Waco planned a unique Christmas gift for their church. They decided to present a modern-day re-enactment of the Christmas story, using their talents for art, costume design, mime and interpretive dance.
___They spent weeks preparing this gift. Finally, the costumes and the characters were ready. No words would be spoken, but the music and movement of the students would tell the story. This did not look like a traditional manger scene. Characters wore masks. The guiding star was in ballet attire. The students timed the presentation so that just as the doors of the church opened and people were leaving they would be surprised by this parade of players acting out the story. They imagined it would be a time of joy for the congregation.
___What actually happened was that people leaving did not recognize what was going on. They shielded their children from what seemed like such a strange-looking troupe. The cast wanted to stop everything and shout, "Wait--we know you! This is a Christmas gift from us." A few watched and realized what was going on. But because it was so different, most of those for whom it was intended missed the gift of it.
___A fear of diversity keeps us from experiencing the rich gifts that Christ offers when we relate to Christians who differ from us. History has a long list of differences that have segregated Christians, differences such as race, ethnicity, gender and age, and differences that range from which worship style we like to what politics we espouse to which priorities we think the church should emphasize first.
___Who have we written off or neglected because they seem too different to share community with us?
___Imagine what it would be like if the only guiding principle for fellowship in the body of Christ was sharing the love of Christ.

For thought and discussion
___ What minor issues are capable of causing major disruption in the church? Make a list of issues and practices on which people of good faith disagree. What might happen to the total fellowship of the church if some limited their personal freedoms in terms of these issues and practices for the good of the church? How far should Christians go in limiting their own freedom in personal conduct for the sake of weaker members of the body of Christ?___
___ When have you experienced acceptance by Christians who may have disagreed with you on certain subjects? What did such acceptance mean to you? How does the practice of welcoming those with whom we differ enhance the body of Christ?
___ According to Church historian Claude Howe, and based on his study of Baptist history, Baptists are better known for fighting than for peacemaking. What could remedy this?
___ After any discussion of conflict in the church or in the world, my grandmother would conclude the conversation with the question, "Why can't people just love each other?" How would you answer that profound question? What would church life be like if the only guiding principle for fellowship in the body of Christ was sharing the love of Christ?
___ How accepting are you of people who practice their faith in Christ differently than you do?
___ What does it take to identify the ways in which we are judgmental toward fellow Christians. What would it take for us to put such attitudes aside?

Get printer-friendly version of this story


Send this story to a friend

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!