Service that pleases God
[Romans 14:13-23]
We have already learned, based on Romans 14:1-12, that saints who seek maturity in faith must accept each other. We are taught that saints who are strong in faith must receive saints who are weak in faith, and saints who are weak in faith must also receive saints who are strong in faith. Why? Why should we accept each other? The reason is because God has accepted all of us (v. 3). How can we receive each other when we have different levels of maturity in faith? How can we overcome our differences? Three lessons have been learned. Those three lessons are (1) We should all have a grateful heart, (2) We should do everything for the Lord, and (3) We must all stand before the judgment seat of God and recognize that each of us must report to God all of our own works (including those we have done according to our conscience). With this mindset, we must accept each other by overcoming each other's differences. If we love each other with the Lord's love, we must accept each other. Therefore, we must faithfully keep the unity of the church, which is the body of the Lord.
In today's text, Romans 14:13-23, Paul urges us to serve one another in order to keep the unity of the church, the body of Christ. In particular, he says this in verse 18 of today's text: “because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” In this word, I thought about how we should serve each other as those who serve Christ. So today, I would like to learn three lessons about what kind of service God is pleased with, centered on this word.
First, we are careful not to put any stumbling block in front of our brothers in the service that God is pleased with.
Look at Romans 14:13 – “Therefore 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.” When Paul said that “let us stop passing judgement one another,” he said, ‘Judge what you will not put before your brothers as a stumbling block.’ Both are the same word. However, Paul uses the same word one negatively and the other positively in today's text. The word “let us stop passing judgment” used negatively means that those who are strong in faith and those who are weak in the church do not respect each other’s convictions of conscience and do not judge and condemn each other as if they were wrong, despise, criticize, and judge as irresponsible. Rather than making such judgments, Paul advised them to make decisions with good judgment and take action to see how they can overcome their differences, serve and build up each other, and keep the unity of the church. What is required of us is good judgment. And we must do in good judgment what we know and are sure of.
That’s what Paul did. Look at Romans 14:14 – “As 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.” What he knew and was convinced in the Lord Jesus was that no food was profane (unclean). In other words, there is nothing unclean in the food itself. However, for those who think themselves profane, the food is profane. This word will be especially applicable to the believers who are weak in the faith of eating only vegetables according to the Old Testament food law in the Roman church. The reason is because for them, meat once offered to idols and then distributed in the market was regarded as profane. So did the apostle Peter. In Acts 10, Peter went up on the roof to pray (v. 9). And while he was hungry, in his sleep (v. 10), the sky opened and something like a cloth came down (v. 11). What was the second voice Peter heard then? “Do not call profane what God has made clean” (v. 15). What did God cleanse here, that is, what did Peter think was profane? It was the Gentiles. So God led Peter to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and eventually made him confess like this: “… I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (vv. 34-35). We too must have this realization. God cleansed all the brothers and sisters with the blood of the cross of Jesus and received them as members of the church, which is the body of the Lord. Who are we to judge the brothers and sisters with disdain and not accept them, saying that they are not clean?
What should we do? As members of the church, which is the body of the Lord, we must become steppingstones to each other. Never should we be stumbling blocks to each other. We must be careful not to become a stumbling block to each other in any way. In order to do that, there are things we all need to decide and put into action. It means that we will never judge our brother or sister again (v. 13). Saints with strong faith who can eat meat must resolve not to despise and criticize those with weak faith who only eat vegetables. Saints with weak faith who only eat vegetables must also resolve not to judge and condemn those with strong faith who only eat meat as irresponsible and corrupt. Even if we only eat vegetables instead of eating meat, each of us can eat meat or vegetables because we thank God for the Lord. But the problem is, if a person with a strong faith eats meat because he is thankful for the Lord, and eats meat in front of a person with a weak faith who only eats vegetables, what will happen to the conscience of the person with a weak faith? From the standpoint of those with strong faith, it can be said that they enjoy the freedom of their faith with the conviction that they can eat meat without a conscience, but won't those with weak faith stumble? That is why Paul is saying, “If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love” (v. 15). If we eat meat in front of those weak in faith who are convinced that they should not eat meat just because we have a clear conscience, won't that cause confusion in the conscience of those whose faith is weak? It will be able to stumble those whose faith is weak enough. The true freedom of us Christians is to offer our freedom in consideration of mutual benefit. Isn't this the freedom we are supposed to enjoy in the true Lord, to offer ourselves the freedom given to us so as not to offend each other out of consideration for each other? With this freedom, we must strive to be kind to one another. Therefore, we must be careful not to become a stumbling block to one another. It is beautiful not to do things that stifle each other like this (v. 21).
Second, the service that God is pleased with serves the church from the perspective of the kingdom of God.
Look at Romans 14:17 – “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” One day, I meditated on the word of God under the heading “We all have gone astray” centered on Isaiah 53:6. In meditating on that word, I thought of three causes of gone astray, and the first of them was “wrong viewpoint” (followed by wrong values and wrong thoughts). That wrong perspective is not seeing the beauty of Jesus (v. 2). In other words, our wrong perspective is to fail to see the beauty of Jesus, who obeyed to the point of dying on the cross to fulfill the will of Heavenly Father. We are not attracted to the obedience of Jesus. That's why we disobey the Lord. And when we look at obedience from the perspective of our disobedience, we cannot help but see the beauty of obedience. If you and I obey the word of God given by Paul in Romans 14, so as to preserve the unity of the church, if we do not despise, do not criticize, do not judge, but rather accept each other, then it is beautiful in the sight of God. The beauty of us Christians is to keep the unity of the church because we love each other. In order to do that, we must not cause each other to stumble. Look at Romans 14:21 – “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” What does it mean? Saints with strong faith can eat meat and drink wine without any offense to their conscience. But Paul says it is better not to eat meat or drink wine for the sake of the weak believers. Why does Paul say it is better not to eat meat and not drink wine? The reason is to keep our brothers from stumbling. Think about it. If I eat meat and drink wine, and my brother, who is weak in faith, is put to the test and stumbles, would it be beautiful in the sight of God? Paul says it is beautiful that we do not stumble our brother. Why is it beautiful? It is because we love our brothers by obeying the word of the Lord. And because it preserves the unity of the church, it is beautiful in the sight of God.
Beautiful service in the eyes of God is to serve the church, the body of the Lord, with the perspective of the kingdom of God. In other words, beautiful service in the sight of God is to pursue God's work first rather than pursuing individual affairs, such as eating and drinking according to the freedom of each individual conscience (v. 20). We put God's work first and serve the church, which is the body of the Lord, but we must pay special attention to two things to keep the unity of the church. These two things are the work of peace and the work of building one another up. Look at Romans 14:19 – “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Even if there is no offense in my conscience from eating meat or only vegetables, if I eat meat in front of a brother with weaker faith, or if I eat only vegetables in front of a brother with stronger faith, and we become people who stumble with each other's life of faith, it cannot be beautiful in the sight of God. The reason is because my actions not only prevent me from building a brother whom the Lord loves, but also break the peace of the church. Of course, the freedom of conscience of each of us is important. The freedom of conscience to think that each of us is able to eat because we are thankful for everything is important (v. 16) (Park). However, even with this freedom of conscience, Paul exhorts us to not to be spoken as evil (v. 16). In other words, although each of us has the Christian freedom of conscience, Paul is admonishing us to be careful not to be spoken as evil by the people of the world (non-believers) if we abuse that freedom and judge each other and break the unity and order of the church.
We must use our freedom of conscience within the boundaries of mutual benefit and the unity of the church. So, Paul is telling us that the freedom of conscience of each of us is important. But what is more important is the kingdom of God and the church, which is the body of the Lord. If the order of the church is disturbed and the peace of the church is broken because of our eating and drinking, how foolish would this be? So, Paul is saying: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking …” (v. 17). What is the “kingdom of God” that Paul is talking about here? Paul says that the kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (v. 17). In other words, the kingdom of God is the realm of salvation, where God rules the hearts of those who save (MacArthur). Eating and drinking are not essential there, but (1) “righteousness” in the Holy Spirit. In other words, the kingdom of God is holy and there is an obedient life. (2) The kingdom of God is “peace” in the Holy Spirit. In other words, in the kingdom of God, there is peace in the relationship with God given by the Holy Spirit, and peace in the relationship between brothers and sisters. (3) The kingdom of God is “joy” in the Holy Spirit. In other words, in the kingdom of God, there is joy, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is in the kingdom of God to praise, worship, and serve God with joy in any situation and environment. We must serve the church community, which is the body of the Lord, from the perspective of the kingdom of God. In other words, we must first think about whether everything we eat, drink, and do in the freedom of our conscience reveals holiness not only to each of us individually, but also to our entire church community, brings peace, and brings joy to all of us. Those who serve Christ with the viewpoint of the kingdom of God in this way, thinking about the holiness, peace, and joy of the church, will be pleased with God and praised by men (v. 18).
Third and last, the service that God is pleased with is performed according to faith.
Look at Romans 14:23 – “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” In this verse, we can get a glimpse of how a person with weak faith who had been swayed by a certain food (for example, meat) was confused by two judgments when he saw a person with strong faith eating it: ‘'Should I eat meat or not, I think I can eat it or I think I shouldn't.' This is the eating with doubts that Paul is talking about in verse 23. Those with weak faith who doubt and eat meat in this way are attracted to those with strong faith and eat it believing that it is okay to eat meat for a while. But on the other hand, if they doubt whether it is okay to eat it, Paul is saying that it is a sin (Park). In other words, if we believe that it is okay to eat meat, then we believe it, half believe it and half doubt it. And if we follow a person with strong faith who shunned us with our conscience, then we will be condemned. The reason this is a condemnation is because it was not done out of pure and true faith.
In other words, if we believe that we can eat meat with thanksgiving in Jesus, then we can eat meat according to that faith (v. 22). If we believe that it is right enough that it does not offend our conscience, then we just have to do it. Of course, this only applies to cases concerning the problem of adiaphora (Park). If a person with strong faith is not sure whether it is right or wrong to eat meat, and he eats it in a state of confusion and reproaches himself, that is not eating with faith. Also, if a person with strong faith believes that it is okay to eat meat, but is conscious of the eyes of a person with weak faith who believes that meat should not be eaten, and does not act according to the conviction of his conscience and does not eat meat with faith, this is also a sin against God. That's why Paul is saying, “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (v. 23).
We must walk according to faith. Whether we eat or drink, whether we eat or not, we must do it by faith. Never doubt whether to eat or not to eat, to drink or not to drink, in a confused state of confusion. Whether we eat meat or vegetables, we just have to eat with faith, giving thanks to the Lord. The service that pleases God is performed according to faith. Therefore, when it comes to freedom of conscience, we must never act out of doubt, but out of faith.
We are servants of Christ. While serving, we must be careful not to put any stumbling block in front of our brothers and sisters. We must have good judgment and do what we know and are sure of. We must be careful not to become a stumbling block to one another. Rather, we must strive to become a steppingstone. Also, we must serve the church, which is the body of the Lord, from the perspective of the kingdom of God. Each of us eats and drinks according to the freedom of our individual consciences, and instead of pursuing our own personal affairs, we must first pursue God's work. In particular, we must focus on the work of peace, which is God's work, and the work of edifying one another.
We must serve the church, the body of the Lord, by faith. We must listen carefully to the words, ‘Everything that does not come from faith is sin’ (v. 23). Serving like this is the kind of service God is pleased with.