Putting Things in Perspective

ALL – Psalm 24:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 20:12
OT – 2 Chronicles 29:1-36
NT – Romans 14:1-23

Interesting passage for the day: You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. – Romans 14:10, The Living Bible

Thought: I’m about to preach on 1 Corinthians 5, a passage where Paul (the same author who wrote Romans) says that it is our business as Christians to judge those inside the church. So how can he say both? How can it both be our business to judge fellow believers and not be our right to criticize our brothers?

One reason for the difference is that the “sins” to be judged are different. In 1 Corinthians, a man is being sexually immoral—and with his own father’s wife! If ever there were an obvious sin, this would be it. Here in Romans, the issue is that some people are eating meat sacrificed to idols, and some people are observing Jewish religious days. The “sins” are less obvious—in fact, Paul says that they don’t exist!

So in 1 Corinthians, Paul was dealing with real sin. Real sin is serious. But in Romans, Paul was dealing with consciences. It is important that we all stay within the bounds of our consciences. But Paul insists that we should not impose our consciences on other people. We are not to judge and criticize others for things that are not sin. Instead, we are to love one another enough to bite our tongues and trust that God is able to guide all of us! The second greatest command must be our guide: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One of the ways we like to be loved is to have other people assume the best about us. Let’s do that for one another.

Question: I’m someone who tends to impose my conscience on others too quickly. What lessons have you learned that might help someone else to be less critical and more understanding?

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