“Accept the brother who is weak in faith but do not argue about opinions.” Rom 14:1 (Simple English Bible)
Simon arrived on time for dinner. He’d been invited by the family to enjoy a meal together. But Simon wouldn’t eat — there was pork on the table, which Janice had carefully prepared. Simon said he didn’t eat any pork. He wasn’t Jewish but it had been his family tradition for generations. Janice graciously went into the kitchen and prepared another dish for Simon. Her husband, Dan, was very annoyed that their guest had spoiled the meal. He even went so far to complain to Janice after the evening was over, that he didn’t want to remain friends with Simon anymore.
The problem was that they all were faithful members of the same congregation. Although Simon had to real reason to reject pork aside from his family traditions, he didn’t feel comfortable about eating that kind of meat. Dan thought he was an oddball. Why would a Christian obey such a silly idea? Surely, if Simon was a thinking, caring believer, then he’d ditch this crazy notion.
An elder spoke to both men and used this passage from Romans. He explained that Simon didn’t want to make it a law that no one in the church could eat pork but rather, it was a personal opinion. He pointed out that Dan even had a few quirks of his own.
We can never be everything to everybody. Our allegiance is first and foremost to Jesus. Our marching orders are in the New Testament. Everything else is window dressing. The less time we haggle over opinions means there is more time to broadcast the gospel!
Steve
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