September 1, 2020
Turkey, Football, and Fights that Matter
Romans 14:1-12
Laura Helms
Central Truth
Each person should be fully convinced of what he or she believes and why. Some beliefs are essential to our salvation and spiritual health, and some beliefs are opinions. We should read God's Word to know the difference. Not everything is worth fighting about.
Key Verse | Romans 14:1
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Romans 14:1-12
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master 1 14:4 Or lord that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For 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. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess
2
14:11
Or shall give praise
to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Dive Deeper | Romans 14:1-12
All things autumn are around the corner: leaves, football, and pumpkin-flavored everything. In my family, there were many years when carving a turkey was synonymous with fighting. I grew up in a family represented by two very different Christian denominations. Romans 14 makes me stop and ask, "What are the things that we can overlook, and what are things worth addressing between the mashed potatoes and pecan pie?"
There are some things that are essential to our faith and worth fighting for clarity on. The essentials start with the fact that we are all sinners in need of God's grace. Jesus was both God and man. He lived, was crucified and buried, and then raised to life again (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Salvation is a free gift through faith in Jesus and His atonement for our sins (Ephesians 2:8-9). Other beliefs are convictions that deeply impact the health and direction of our Christian lives and churches. They are not essential for salvation, but they play a huge role in declaring who God is and how we respond to Him. Things like the character and nature of God, inerrancy of Scripture, and sanctity of life and marriage are worth having hard conversations about.
On the other hand, some beliefs fall into the category of "opinions on how we live out our faith." There are traditions we love, but they ultimately do not impact our salvation. One person loves red carpet in the sanctuary, and another prefers morning prayer meetings. We may have very different ideas on how to serve God, but we are able to agree on what ultimately matters.
God calls us to speak boldly about who He is and what He has done. So let's talk about who Jesus is. Let's talk about the reality that we are all sinners, but we have the extravagant and unearned grace of God shown to us through the cross. Let's talk about how that grace impacts our relationships with others as we read and understand God's Word.
So pass the sweet potatoes, and let's talk.
Discussion Questions
1. Think about someone you know and have a relationship with who probably disagrees with you on what is essential to faith in Jesus. You may disagree with him or her, but what is an opinion that you can overlook and choose not to fight about?
2. Because you have a relationship with this person and care about him or her, what is one topic that is essential to a healthy relationship with God that you should talk about and address together?
3. What is a belief that you are holding onto tightly that may be an opinion—something that is important to you, but that is ultimately not something that affects your spiritual health or salvation?