The gospel faith that unites us in a new relationship to one God unites believers in a new relationship of love to one another.
We are one kingdom family, brothers (Romans14.13,15,21), and 'God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit' (5.5). The hallmark, the characteristic family trait we all share, must, therefore, be expression of this love. We are to 'love one another with brotherly affection' (12.10), and to 'owe no one anything, except to love each other' (13.8).
'Love', of course, has become a very threadbare term these days, evacuated of any real meaning in the soppy slush of our frivolous and shallow age. But not in the Bible. Love, for the Christian, is not an anaemic sentiment, but a dynamic determination. It is something you do, not just what you feel, to do with self-discipline not self-indulgence. 'Genuine' Christian love is concrete, expressing itself in a pervasive selfless attitude that puts others' needs before our own in a host of tangible ways (12.9-13.14). Even the great liberating freedom believers have in Christ (8.2ff) must not obstruct this love, for it is a freedom not for license but for loving, not for pleasing ourselves but for pleasing others. Christian love and Christian liberty are not enemies.
Therefore, having challenged Christians in Rome to stop condemning and despising one another and, instead, to welcome warmly all fellow believers united by the gospel of Christ, in 14.13-23 Paul now advances the argument to another stage. It is not enough merely to desist from this negative behaviour; evangelical believers are to invest positive mental energy in resolving to ensure that whatever they do in life, they will not hinder one another's spiritual progress. This, says Paul, is what it means to be 'walking in love' (v.15).
The right kind of judgement
The section begins with an unequivocal command: 'Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather' (v.13). The KJV best preserves Paul's deliberate pun, which serves to highlight his demand for a complete redirection of energies: away from flooring one another with criticism at every opportunity, and towards the opposite, namely engaging all our critical faculties so as to avoid putting any 'stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother'. Once again, the familial language stresses the point. Just as children grow at different rates and develop differently, so in God's family maturity and understanding of the faith, and particularly its practical outworking in ethical decision-making, is reached variously. We cannot coerce our apparently remedial brethren beyond what their conscience presently allows, but must be patient. Indeed, the mark of the maturing brother is that he stops knocking down the building blocks of his frustrating younger sibling, and begins to patiently help him build.
Just so with you, says Paul. Stop knocking down, and learn to start building up. He proceeds to give a practical explanation of exactly what this means framed in both negative (vv.14-16) and positive (vv.19-21) terms, resting everything on the key principle of the centrality of the gospel (vv.17-18), and ending with a conclusion that once again brings to the fore the priority of faith in Christ, which must not be threatened by anything, or by anyone, whether exercising excessive freedom or undue scruple (vv.22-23).
Don't trip one another up by pleasing yourself
And first of all, 'love does no wrong to a neighbour' (13.10). So, if by the exercise of the freedom you know to be yours in the gospel, you please yourself, but put a hindrance in the way of a fellow believer, you are flatly denying the very gospel of love that has delivered you into such freedom. 'For if your brother is grieved' by your behaviour (in this case by eating something he thinks is 'unclean' for a Christian) you are 'no longer walking in love' (v.15a). That such a trivial matter as eating unwisely could be significant at all seems extraordinary to us, and must have seemed so to Paul's readers, especially given that he has placed great emphasis in his letter on justification by faith alone, and not by works of law, (no doubt with things like food laws particularly in mind). How can this be? The reason, says Paul, is that although he is absolutely clear in his theology of grace, and fully 'persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself'(v.14a), nevertheless, if another brother has scruples about something, then for him it not only seems unclean, 'it is unclean' (v.14b). So, to eat in this way would cause him real spiritual harm (v.13) by violating his conscience. Worse, for you to insist on exercising your freedom to eat in a way that impinges on him means you will be guilty of inflicting real and painful violation upon his conscience, so causing him to stumble.
But, he goes much further than this! Your action may well be so damaging that you actually 'destroy the one for whom Christ died' (v.15b). Your thoughtless behaviour, he is saying, may even now be endangering the very salvation of a fellow Christian who is so scandalised by your actions that he is tempted to turn his back on Christ's church altogether, leading to subsequent spiritual ruin. Not only that, but the wider injury to the reputation of Christ and his gospel could be equally ruinous. Such conduct jeopardises all that Christ has died to win for you, by causing this wonderful gospel of freedom to be 'spoken of as evil' (v.16) - literally blasphemed-and all because of you. This is the same devastating charge spoken through Isaiah and levelled by Paul against unbelieving, apostate Israel, in 2.24.
At the very least, this ought to cause us pause for thought before we brush off with irritation the scruples of others, and insist on exercising our freedom to the full. Have we really considered the consequences? A young Christian once attended the wedding of a pastor and was seated next to another minister who, throughout the whole reception, noisily bewailed the absence of wine, while castigating teetotallers for their insufferably immature beliefs. Knowing there would be many such at the reception, the couple (though wine-drinkers themselves) had wisely determined to provide only soft drinks. The graciousness of the hosts, compared with the graceless rudeness of his ministerial table-mate, was not lost on the young man, nor on the mixed company in the vicinity. Indeed, that experience had an extremely negative impact on me, at a time when I was personally struggling with many issues of faith. Who knows what effect it had on others.
We must realise that whereas our actions cannot liberate others and make them 'strong', they can destroy both individuals, and indeed the wider work of God (v.20). Are we really willing, for the sake of insisting on our freedom, to pit ourselves against Christ himself, scorning not only his brethren but his own precious blood? If so, we have to ask ourselves whether we really have nearly such a good grasp of the gospel as we think we do.
Remember the gospel: have a Kingdom perspective
So Paul calls us back to the gospel itself, to insist that we see the big picture, and orient all our thinking from a truly kingdom perspective. This kingdom, into which we have been brought through the gospel, 'is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit', he declares (v.17). Once again, reminding us of the big story, he takes us back to the great consequences of the justification of God, that having been declared righteous we have peace with God, and are rejoicing in the hope of glory of God, through the love of God poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (5.1-5). At the same time he points forward to the fulfilment of God's purposes - all nations, along with Jews, rejoicing together in the Messiah, to the glory of God (15.8ff). 'You need a true kingdom perspective', he is saying. 'Get a grip of the staggering reality of what has happened, and what is happening, through the gospel - of what God has done in Christ, of where it is all going, of the wonderful, inexpressible cosmic fulfilment in eternity! This is what you are part of now. How then can you possibly be taken up with the chaff of mere eating and drinking?'
The message is clear. See the kingdom priorities, and seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6.33). Live with this as your absolute priority and you will truly 'serve Christ', and at the same time be clearly 'approved', recognised as the genuine Christian article among men (v.18).
Build one another up by pleasing others
When we grasp this, we see that the primary consideration is never 'the gospel has set me free, so why should I not exercise my freedom', but rather 'my freedom comes because I have been caught up into this wonderful, glorious plan and purpose of God, and made to share in his kingdom of love, joy and peace by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this kingdom must take precedence over everything, and especially my own individual desires'. And the arena of 'Serving Christ thus' is the realm of the nitty gritty of intra-church and inter-church relationships. In the New Testament, the joy-filled Spirit life is never vague and numinous, but extremely practical and down to earth. Here is the 'mystical union with Christ' in the day clothes of normal life; it turns out not to be about warm sensations, and all about doggedly pursuing whatever 'makes for peace and mutual upbuilding' of the whole church, 'the work of God', rather than its destruction (vv.19-20). This is always what love is interested in: building up God's church, as opposed to merely puffing up ourselves with loveless knowledge about freedom (cf 1 Corinthians 8.1).
None of this should be thought to be easy. Throughout his letter Paul has spoken of the two powers doing battle in the flesh of believers, the rule of grace and the rule of sin. There is a ferocious and constant war being waged, so that even 'when I want to do good, evil lies close at hand' (7.21). But we are to 'abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good' (12.9). We sometimes think about 'spiritual warfare' in rather rarefied terms, but the truth is that the battlefields on which the heavenly warfare is played out are often very mundane. Here is a clear instance of what this looks like in the cold light of day. 'It is evil for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble' (v.21). What a battle it can be for us to just allow the weak to be weak, never mind to curtail our own liberty, sometimes drastically, for the sake of love! But this is what a kingdom perspective demands. This, indeed, is the very essence of 'spiritual worship' (12.1): not aesthetic, mystical experiences, but the simple commitment to living sacrificially, often at real personal cost, for the sake of peace and mutual upbuilding.
Enjoying freedom the right way
But lest it could be thought that through all these concessions to weakness, the real freedom at the heart of the gospel were in danger of being snuffed out, in closing his argument he turns once again to the pre-eminent theme which must never be compromised by anything: faith. There is real and unfettered freedom for the believer, despite all he has said, and it is received, and enjoyed, through faith. Speaking now to the individual, he reiterates that 'the faith you have' is a deeply personal relationship best kept 'between yourself and God' (v.22a). And, as with marriage, it is within the intimacy and privacy of that relationship that our greatest freedom may be expressed. In this situation 'blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgement on himself for what he approves' (v.22b). This could mean that he is blessed because he has not caused another to stumble, but more likely Paul is wholeheartedly endorsing the joy of a clear conscience that is genuinely untroubled by scruple, and free to enjoy full gospel liberty. You mustn't allow the obligation of love to your brother to make you feel guilty about things you know to be good. No, they are yours to enjoy, in the right place, with God.
This is how to enjoy freedom the right way, where it will not harm another. I know a pastor who loves nothing more than to relax occasionally in a hot bath, smoking a good cigar. His conscience is clear, and he draws on his fine panatela with thanksgiving and joy to the Lord! He wouldn't dream of doing this in public, nor publicising his inclination, for to some in his congregation it would surely be a stumbling block. But he is the Lord's free man (though no doubt he shouldn't inhale!) For a more 'spiritual' example, I know a preacher who speaks and prays in tongues, but is likewise discreet and private, keeping it between himself and the Lord. For him to exercise his freedom in his fellowship would not make for 'peace and mutual upbuilding', and so he wisely, and graciously, refrains. He is walking in love.
There is no hypocrisy in this, nor is Paul advocating a public/private morality divide. Far from it. The doubter is not to think that he may overcome his genuine scruple simply by going private; he 'is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith' (v.23). The main point is clear: faith is the absolute priority in all things, so that 'whatever does not proceed from faith' - whether it be eating or abstaining - 'is sin'. Once again Paul brings us back to the heart of the gospel. It is faith (5.1) that brings us into the righteousness, peace and joy of the kingdom, and unites us in one family. Grasp the big picture, then, and live with a kingdom perspective. Faith in Christ, both yours and your brother's, is what really matters. So love one another: in everything live so as to build up the family of faith, for whatever does not proceed from this motivation, is sin. Now that is a challenge, is it not?
Is your church fellowship characterised by this determined mutual up-building, or by a spirit of hindrance and stumbling? And relationships within the wider evangelical constituency - what insight does, say, the EN Letters page give us into that? No doubt we all need reminding: it's not tripping up, but building up, that is 'acceptable to God and approved by men'. As one writer helpfully sums it up: 'when both weak and strong seek to live on this higher plane, harmony on a much deeper level than was possible before will result and, paradoxically, both love and liberty will increase.'
Copyright W.J.U. Philip, 2004
