Don't Be a Stumbling Block
Romans 15:20-22 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might make another believer stumble. You may believe there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between you and God.
There is a lot of controversy dealing with this verse among followers of Christ. I’ve talked with a lot of people about what is and what’s not appropriate in the Christian life. In most cases we tend to know what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. Like, you probably shouldn’t kill someone because you didn’t have anything better to do. Or, it might not be a good idea to rob a place of business for the pure fun of it. These ideas are just common sense, even among unbelievers. The idea Paul is talking about in Romans are the things that we do that might cause other believers to fall, even though you don’t see anything wrong with it.
Several years ago when I was serving in a church back home, my Pastor and I and a couple other guys had went to play golf. (I had just submitted my life to Jesus and was living like I thought I should be. I was reading my bible, praying, just trying my best to build my relationship with God.) It was an awesome spring day, perfect golf weather. I was teeing away slicing the little white ball right and left and it seemed everyone around me had their game under control. All was great until we started at hole #5 and my world came tumbling down. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my own eyes. My Pastor, who I looked up to, was chewing tobacco. Agh!! I was in shock. I was confused and did not know what to think. I was deeply hurt. To make a long emotional story short. I had made my mind up, that if he can chew tobacco and preach then I could be a follower of Christ and do what I wanted to do. So then began a fall back into drugs and a bunch of other things.
That might sound a bit extreme but it is the truth. At the time I really didn’t have a balance in my life and I was a very young Christian. He probably wasn’t thinking anything about it because he didn’t see any wrong in doing it.
Do you see what Paul is telling us in this passage?
I have talked to Christian friends about the subject of consuming alcohol and if it is right or wrong. Personally I don’t see anything wrong with it along the lines of our laws. They drank wine in the bible. The bible tells us not to become drunk with wine. The problem with this is if another believer has a conviction with drinking and you drink while he is around, then you are in the wrong according to Paul. There are several other things that we could put out there in place of alcohol, but I used this because it’s the #1 topic I talk to people about.
I leave you with this. As followers of Christ we need to put others before us. We need to think of what will best benefit our friends, family, co-workers, etc… It is far more important to build up the church than it is to exercise our freedoms. We should not partake in things that result in others sinning against their conscience.
There is a lot of controversy dealing with this verse among followers of Christ. I’ve talked with a lot of people about what is and what’s not appropriate in the Christian life. In most cases we tend to know what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. Like, you probably shouldn’t kill someone because you didn’t have anything better to do. Or, it might not be a good idea to rob a place of business for the pure fun of it. These ideas are just common sense, even among unbelievers. The idea Paul is talking about in Romans are the things that we do that might cause other believers to fall, even though you don’t see anything wrong with it.
Several years ago when I was serving in a church back home, my Pastor and I and a couple other guys had went to play golf. (I had just submitted my life to Jesus and was living like I thought I should be. I was reading my bible, praying, just trying my best to build my relationship with God.) It was an awesome spring day, perfect golf weather. I was teeing away slicing the little white ball right and left and it seemed everyone around me had their game under control. All was great until we started at hole #5 and my world came tumbling down. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my own eyes. My Pastor, who I looked up to, was chewing tobacco. Agh!! I was in shock. I was confused and did not know what to think. I was deeply hurt. To make a long emotional story short. I had made my mind up, that if he can chew tobacco and preach then I could be a follower of Christ and do what I wanted to do. So then began a fall back into drugs and a bunch of other things.
That might sound a bit extreme but it is the truth. At the time I really didn’t have a balance in my life and I was a very young Christian. He probably wasn’t thinking anything about it because he didn’t see any wrong in doing it.
Do you see what Paul is telling us in this passage?
I have talked to Christian friends about the subject of consuming alcohol and if it is right or wrong. Personally I don’t see anything wrong with it along the lines of our laws. They drank wine in the bible. The bible tells us not to become drunk with wine. The problem with this is if another believer has a conviction with drinking and you drink while he is around, then you are in the wrong according to Paul. There are several other things that we could put out there in place of alcohol, but I used this because it’s the #1 topic I talk to people about.
I leave you with this. As followers of Christ we need to put others before us. We need to think of what will best benefit our friends, family, co-workers, etc… It is far more important to build up the church than it is to exercise our freedoms. We should not partake in things that result in others sinning against their conscience.
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