In my scripture reading today, God gave me a good laugh and a good lesson. There should be little doubt how I feel about vegetarians. While I admire their self-discipline, I can’t help but think that if God didn’t want us to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them out of such delicious meat.

Today I read Romans 14…

vs. 2 “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.”

While that verse was good for a laugh (and may well end up on my white board) the next verse stung a little.

vs. 3 “The man who eats everything must not condemn the man who does not, for God has accepted him.”

Oof.

This is a great passage about judgment and as judgment has been a topic of this blog a few times, I’d like to share what this verse taught me.

There are those who would jump on this verse (taking it out of context) and say that it is wrong to judge anyone for anything. That is simply not scriptural. The Bible is very clear that, as Christians, it is our responsibility to lovingly and compassionately help brothers and sisters in Christ to see and overcome their sins. What Romans 14 warns against is petty legalism.

Case in point: There are those in the Church (including the pastor of my church) who believe that alcohol is so dangerous that it should be avoided entirely. The Bible does expressly forbid drunkenness. But Jesus himself drank wine. (Yes, I’ve heard the arguments about how it was only grape juice, not alcohol. Buy some Welch’s, put it in a clay pot and set it out in the sun for a couple of weeks. Then tell me it’s not “strong”.)

So is it wrong to drink wine? Am I sinning if I have a margarita on a hot summer day? The Bible is not clear. What Romans 14 is telling us is that, in such matters, follow your own conscience and don’t judge other Christians for following theirs. If you can not point to a chapter and verse in the New Testament that explicitly forbids or allows something, don’t impose your conviction on others. Simply follow your heart and let others follow theirs.

By the same token, if you are with someone who has a strong conviction which you do not share, be the bigger man and don’t temp your brother to go against his heart. It would be wrong for me to have a margarita while eating lunch with my pastor because he has a strong conviction against alcohol. This is not hypocrisy, rather politeness, showing respect for his convictions. However, if I did not know about his convictions and ordered up a cold one, it would be equally wrong for him to judge me for drinking as I clearly would not have the same conviction he has. Out of respect, he should politely decline to drink without delivering a fiery sermon.

One last thing on Romans 14. (This is the part I struggle with most.)

vs. 22 “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. …”

In other words, if someone has a conviction that you don’t share, don’t strike up a debate on the subject. I loves me some scriptural debate, but in these cases, I must keep it to myself. Aww nuts.