Romans 14:1-3Once again we need to deal with the word adiaphorous. Things which are adiaphorous are those things which God has not commanded nor forbidden. So what is God telling us in this Scripture? First of all we are not supposed to argue with a person who has decided that they should eat or not eat or drink or not drink something. In fact, we are not even allowed to judge or despise someone who observes a dietary restriction. If someone feels that something which is adiaphorous is something that should not be part of their life then that is fine and you don’t really have anything to say about it. However, the knife cuts the other way too. Someone who has decided to abstain from something which is adiaphorous may not think that it makes them any better or more righteous than one who does not abstain (and if they do then they are sinning). It is ironic but when we set up laws to make ourselves more righteous it has the opposite effect. We are not generally aware of that at the time and we can even get drawn into acting in ways we associate with the Pharisees.
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
Getting specific examples these topics is generally a good way to get someone upset with you. A real life example that is relevant to you is your behavior while fasting. Jesus assumes that we will fast so it is not a question of if we will practice this behavior but how we will practice this behavior. God gives specific things to do and attitudes to have when we fast (Isaiah 58) but it isn’t a magic practice that forces God’s hand. It is a good way to bring humility into our lives and focus on spiritual growth but it is all about us conforming to God and His will and not about getting God to conform to us and our will.
However, over the last however many decades I’ve heard of a “Daniel Fast” and of course all that is required for an evangelical to develop a new spiritual discipline or even sacrament is a misinterpreted Scripture. The practice is based on Daniel 1:12-15. Daniel and his friends ate vegetables and drank water rather than Nebuchadnezzar’s food and drink. There was a particular motivation for Daniel and his friends to do this and God blessed them and performed a miracle and they gained weight and looked better and answered the king’s questions better than anyone. Some modern Christians have decided that if they eat only vegetables and drink water that they too will gain weight and smarter. No I’m teasing. I wish it was that simple. They seem to think that they will be more spiritual based on thinking that this special fast (not really a fast but a kosher diet for life in Babylon) will, somehow, make them more holy. Now there is nothing wrong with this type of dietary restriction unless you think it works in some magical way. We are told to crucify the flesh. We can fast all sort of things. One Norcross GA church says that your Daniel Fast can include potatoes, beans, and soybeans. None of those would have been available to Daniel. They suggest fruit juices which would not have been available. And they suggest you avoid grains that Daniel probably would have used. They suggest a single meal a day. Biblically I suppose that you should believe God for weight gain so I guess that raises the bar a little. No one seems to teach that you’ll be smarter and I’m not sure why. Some teach that you can use a Daniel Fast to lose weight! You can even buy a 76 page cookbook for your Daniel Fast.
Now you can do a Daniel Fast if you feel that God is calling you to that type of fast. In fact, you can fast anything that God puts His finger on. He may have you fast something that is taking on too large a role in your life. But these things are adiaphorous. Many Christians fast something for the 40 days leading up to Easter and it can be a very personal thing. I’d encourage you to ask God if He would lead you into a fast. Fasting of some sort is supposed to be part of the normal Christian life. I was once confronted by a Korean immigrant who was almost a nominal Christian who had been friends with my Roman Catholic sister-in-law for a long time. She decided that she was going to fast her “cussing” until Christmas. I told her she could not fast a sin and only after my protesting for a while did the Roman Catholics break the news to her that they agreed that she probably couldn’t fast a sin. You can’t fast sin! For sin, you repent right now and stop sinning.
You can’t feel superior because of the type of fast or because of anything you do or don’t do that is adiaphorous. If your brother or sister in Christ decides to pursue a “Daniel Fast” then that is fine and you should not offer them roast beef in the middle of it. However, if they begin to teach that you must fast in a particular way in order to be righteous then they are sinning and you must lovingly indicate that.
Romans 14:4-6We sometimes need reminding who the boss is and it isn’t us. Each of us will answer for our behavior to The Boss. However, here we also see the promise that each Christian has that we will be kept by God. We will be upheld because God will uphold us. In every case we are to honor God in our life. You are called on to serve God each moment so it is by doing what you believe God would have you do that you serve God. You are to be “fully convinced” in your own mind that your behavior honors God. Even in our eating we give thanks to God and honor Him. Even in our fasting we do so to honor God.
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Romans 14:7-9All of our life and whatever we do is to be done to glorify God. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him as John Piper says. Our position within the Body of Christ is for God’s glory and we serve Him according to His direction.
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Romans 14:10-12We will each explain why we did what we did. We don’t need to be trying to figure out what is in someone’s heart when they decide what to fast … unless they want to fast a sin. The Bible never tells us not to call a sin a sin in order to avoid “judging” one another. Our problem is with things which are adiaphorous or in the way a brother or sister follows God. You certainly don’t want to feel superior or despise your brother over these things but that is often what happens. Fasting, mode of baptism, mode of communion, observance of a day of rest, frequency of church attendance, and worship style are all things that can cause deep differences among Christians. Sometimes it has something to do with serious scriptural issues. For example, communion can be practiced in a way that I would not participate in; however, we often encounter differences that should be tolerated.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Romans 14:13-19
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Therefore, because you’ll answer to God for your behavior, do not judge the behavior of your brother’s and sister’s that is not in conflict with God’s commands. You also are told not to put your freedom or your lack of freedom in the face of another in a way that might cause them to sin. Remember that if a person thinks something is sinful, and you encourage them to do it, and they do it, then you have caused them to sin. The attitude in the act makes it a sin. If we think God would have us do something or not do something and we do it or don’t do it then we have sinned. The act is a sin because the sinner’s heart is acting contrary to the perceived will of God. You don’t want to push a person into that. We are supposed to pursue peace and mutual upbuilding. God expects us to be able to fellowship within the diversity of the Body of Christ discerning the essentials of the Christian Faith and passing over the things which are not essential.
Romans 14:20-23
Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong 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. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
So if you are pursuing those things that make for peace and mutual upbuilding then you will not make an issue of nonessential aspects of the Christian life. You will clearly need to know Scripture to be able to separate essentials from nonessentials but that is no excuse for stumbling your brothers and sisters in Christ.
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