Church is a gathering place for all kinds of people.
Due to that, the appearance of faith is different from one and another.
Therefore, there can be conflict at times.
In the Bible, we can see that these conflicts also existed in the early church.
In the case of the Corinthian Church, it was divided into several groups, depending on which spiritual leader they liked.
Also, because of their gifts, especially from those people with the gifts of tongues.
In the case of the Galatian Church, internal problems arose due to theological problems.
In the case of the Philippian Church, conflicts arose because of two female leaders, namely, Euodia and Syntyche.
The Roman Church also had conflicts.
There were two groups of people in the Roman Church which made it difficult to be one.
One was the Jewish believers and the other was the Gentile believers.
The Jewish believers are those who have been of the Jewish tradition for a long time, and the Gentile believers refer to those who have come to believe in Jesus without a Jewish background.
These two groups of people had many conflicts.
Especially the problem of eating meat, which caused a major conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman church.
At that time, in the Roman society, most of the meat sold on the market was only meant for an offering of idols.
So, whether they could buy meat to eat or not became a conflict of the Christians in the Roman Church.
The Jews had a tradition of eating unclean food thoroughly.
The Jews had a very precise tradition of not eating the food sacrificed to the idol.
Christians with a Jewish background naturally retained this tradition.
But on the other hand, the Gentile believers did not care about anything and ate well.
Gentile believers said, "We are free people who believe in Jesus and are saved. There is no reason to worry about what food to eat. Why does it matter what food you eat to go to heaven? Does this affect your faith in Jesus?"
Then they looked at Jewish believers and criticized.
Conversely, the Jewish believers blame the Gentile believers and criticized saying, "No, do believers have to eat anything? Believers should have devotion.”
This is to blame and criticize each other.
Paul wrote in Romans 14 and 15 how to graciously deal with the conflicts between these two groups.
What does Paul teach in this situation?
Let‘s look at verses 1-3.
“Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them…”
Here, Paul calls these two groups of people "the stronger" or "the weaker."
Now, the important thing is that Paul did not call them "the righteous" or "the wrong."
It is not a question of whether they are conflicted or disputed, whether they are saved or not, whether they are dead or alive, but simply because they are strong and weak.
In other words, the food problem they were in conflict with is not an issue of truth or essence, but a non-essential problem.
That is why Paul first says, "Welcome those who are weak in faith.”
Yes, a good church is a church that congregants accept each other and do not blame.
The church is a good church if it can embrace everyone who has strong faith or a weak person.
Jesus always ate with sinners. And the Pharisees who saw this blamed Jesus.
At this time, Jesus answered:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance…” (Luke 5:31-32)
But nowadays, we see the appearance of these Pharisees in the sight of many Christians.
They prefer to condemn and blame than welcome and accept.
Brothers and sisters, there are people of various faiths in the church.
There are new comers and old members in the church.
Therefore, how can new comers of weak faith be built up?
Those who are strong in faith should accept and understand those who are weak in faith.
In fact, there are many non-essential problems in our life of faith.
As to essential things, such as the question of salvation, we should not compromise.
But on non-essential matters, we need to be open minded and not to criticize those who are weak.
I would like to share a story that actually happened.
There was this church that built their new church building.
But as soon as they finished building the church, there was conflict and division in the church.
The reason of conflict and division was due to "What kind of carpet color do we have in the sanctuary?" There was a conflict between the groups.
One group claimed, "The sanctuary should traditionally have a red carpet," and the other group claimed "No, these days trends are green, so it should be green."
They could not narrow their opinion and fought, and eventually the church became divided into two. How terrible is this?
Unfortunately, whether you are aware or not, the church can have many disagreements, for example: “Should we put curtains or should we not? // Where should we position the pulpit, should it be in the center, left side or right side?”
There are many unexpected fights in the churches. Let me ask you.
What color should the carpets be for our sanctuary?
Should it be red? Or should it be green?
Brothers and sisters, the carpet color is not essential, is it?
It has nothing to do with being saved or not. It has nothing to do with going to heaven or hell.
Yes, it is not essential. So whatever we do, we can be free about what is not an essential problem.
No matter what others think, we can talk and act freely.
By the way, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10: 23,
“Everything is possible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is possible, but not everything builds up..."
Also Paul confesses in 8:13,
"If food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall."
What does this mean?
It is first to establish a community and ask for the benefit of the community.
Whatever you do with your faith, whatever you eat or drink, it is not a matter of rest.
It is not a question of the essence of faith.
But if it is a difficulty for the community, then it should be able to be careful and to refrain from it.
For me, it may not be a problem of faith, but for someone it can be an important issue and it can be tested. So Paul speaks that he will not eat meat for the rest of his life.
The important thing is to save people.
The important thing is not to blame each other, but to acknowledge and accept each other.
It is to save and build up the community.
What Satan did to Adam and Eve was to corrupt by tempting, using the Fruit of Knowledge of good and evil. Satan feeds not only Adam and Eve, but also us every day.
What happens if we eat the fruit of good and evil?
People will blame and fight by saying, "this is good and that is bad. This is right and that is wrong, I am right and you are wrong..."
This is Satan's strategy to break down the community. We should not fall for it.
Why should we acknowledge and accept each other in the community?
It is because God has already accepted them.
In verse 3, Paul says, "For God has accepted them…”
20180429 Sunday Worship Sermon
Romans 14: 1-12 “For the Lord”
Church is a gathering place for all kinds of people.
Due to that, the appearance of faith is different from one and another.
Therefore, there can be conflict at times.
In the Bible, we can see that these conflicts also existed in the early church.
In the case of the Corinthian Church, it was divided into several groups, depending on which spiritual leader they liked.
Also, because of their gifts, especially from those people with the gifts of tongues.
In the case of the Galatian Church, internal problems arose due to theological problems.
In the case of the Philippian Church, conflicts arose because of two female leaders, namely, Euodia and Syntyche.
The Roman Church also had conflicts.
There were two groups of people in the Roman Church which made it difficult to be one.
One was the Jewish believers and the other was the Gentile believers.
The Jewish believers are those who have been of the Jewish tradition for a long time, and the Gentile believers refer to those who have come to believe in Jesus without a Jewish background.
These two groups of people had many conflicts.
Especially the problem of eating meat, which caused a major conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman church.
At that time, in the Roman society, most of the meat sold on the market was only meant for an offering of idols.
So, whether they could buy meat to eat or not became a conflict of the Christians in the Roman Church.
The Jews had a tradition of eating unclean food thoroughly.
The Jews had a very precise tradition of not eating the food sacrificed to the idol.
Christians with a Jewish background naturally retained this tradition.
But on the other hand, the Gentile believers did not care about anything and ate well.
Gentile believers said, "We are free people who believe in Jesus and are saved. There is no reason to worry about what food to eat. Why does it matter what food you eat to go to heaven? Does this affect your faith in Jesus?"
Then they looked at Jewish believers and criticized.
Conversely, the Jewish believers blame the Gentile believers and criticized saying, "No, do believers have to eat anything? Believers should have devotion.”
This is to blame and criticize each other.
Paul wrote in Romans 14 and 15 how to graciously deal with the conflicts between these two groups.
What does Paul teach in this situation?
Let‘s look at verses 1-3.
“Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them…”
Here, Paul calls these two groups of people "the stronger" or "the weaker."
Now, the important thing is that Paul did not call them "the righteous" or "the wrong."
It is not a question of whether they are conflicted or disputed, whether they are saved or not, whether they are dead or alive, but simply because they are strong and weak.
In other words, the food problem they were in conflict with is not an issue of truth or essence, but a non-essential problem.
That is why Paul first says, "Welcome those who are weak in faith.”
Yes, a good church is a church that congregants accept each other and do not blame.
The church is a good church if it can embrace everyone who has strong faith or a weak person.
Jesus always ate with sinners. And the Pharisees who saw this blamed Jesus.
At this time, Jesus answered:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance…” (Luke 5:31-32)
But nowadays, we see the appearance of these Pharisees in the sight of many Christians.
They prefer to condemn and blame than welcome and accept.
Brothers and sisters, there are people of various faiths in the church.
There are new comers and old members in the church.
Therefore, how can new comers of weak faith be built up?
Those who are strong in faith should accept and understand those who are weak in faith.
In fact, there are many non-essential problems in our life of faith.
As to essential things, such as the question of salvation, we should not compromise.
But on non-essential matters, we need to be open minded and not to criticize those who are weak.
I would like to share a story that actually happened.
There was this church that built their new church building.
But as soon as they finished building the church, there was conflict and division in the church.
The reason of conflict and division was due to "What kind of carpet color do we have in the sanctuary?" There was a conflict between the groups.
One group claimed, "The sanctuary should traditionally have a red carpet," and the other group claimed "No, these days trends are green, so it should be green."
They could not narrow their opinion and fought, and eventually the church became divided into two. How terrible is this?
Unfortunately, whether you are aware or not, the church can have many disagreements, for example: “Should we put curtains or should we not? // Where should we position the pulpit, should it be in the center, left side or right side?”
There are many unexpected fights in the churches. Let me ask you.
What color should the carpets be for our sanctuary?
Should it be red? Or should it be green?
Brothers and sisters, the carpet color is not essential, is it?
It has nothing to do with being saved or not. It has nothing to do with going to heaven or hell.
Yes, it is not essential. So whatever we do, we can be free about what is not an essential problem.
No matter what others think, we can talk and act freely.
By the way, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10: 23,
“Everything is possible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is possible, but not everything builds up..."
Also Paul confesses in 8:13,
"If food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall."
What does this mean?
It is first to establish a community and ask for the benefit of the community.
Whatever you do with your faith, whatever you eat or drink, it is not a matter of rest.
It is not a question of the essence of faith.
But if it is a difficulty for the community, then it should be able to be careful and to refrain from it.
For me, it may not be a problem of faith, but for someone it can be an important issue and it can be tested. So Paul speaks that he will not eat meat for the rest of his life.
The important thing is to save people.
The important thing is not to blame each other, but to acknowledge and accept each other.
It is to save and build up the community.
What Satan did to Adam and Eve was to corrupt by tempting, using the Fruit of Knowledge of good and evil. Satan feeds not only Adam and Eve, but also us every day.
What happens if we eat the fruit of good and evil?
People will blame and fight by saying, "this is good and that is bad. This is right and that is wrong, I am right and you are wrong..."
This is Satan's strategy to break down the community. We should not fall for it.
Why should we acknowledge and accept each other in the community?
It is because God has already accepted them.
In verse 3, Paul says, "For God has accepted them…”