Lenten Devotions - Day 30

“Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours.” Romans 14:1

Why doesn’t everyone believe like I do? Can you even be a Christian if we disagree? We hear comparisons like those often enough. My group is always in the right, and that other group is always in the wrong. Since I know I belong to Christ, that means all the rest have somehow missed the boat. Why can't they see the need to jump ship to join me? Since they are wrong and refuse to change their minds, they must not be sincere in their faith. They must not even Christians at all.

We may not take the argument to that extreme, but it is a natural response to competing doctrines, ideas, emphases, and directions. After all, when I recognize that I am wrong, it is a simple thing to change my mind and once again assume I am right. When I hold the truths of doctrine in high regard, it is easy to reduce faith to a list of truths to believe and accept. On the other hand, if all truth is relative to the individual, truth also becomes irrelevant and loses any unimportance.

That is not where Paul was going. He did not believe truth to be unimportant. He just understood our take on truth as a fragile exercise prone to failure and hounded by imperfection. While truth may not be relative, our grasp of truth, communication of truth, and application of truth is never without fault. Even so, faith is not about being right or wrong. It is about trusting God even amid our failures to understand. It is about following Christ Jesus, even when we do not get it right, understand it correctly, or measure up to the stature of Jesus in word and deed.

It is on this basis Paul calls for unity despite differences of doctrine and application. He talks of eating meat which had been sacrificed to idols before its sale in the marketplace and the observance of the Sabbath. Both were big issues among believers in his day. The interesting point in his comments is not defining which side had it right. In one sense, both were right—not because they had the right answer against a wrong one. They were right because the direction of their actions was to honor Christ Jesus with integrity and a clear conscience. It was in following Christ that they were right. It was in following Christ that their faith had its vitality, identity, and importance.

While there was conflict between the groups, Paul's answer was not to offer the truth before each dispute. His answer was to address one's dedication to following Christ Jesus. In following Jesus, there is grace to allow others the freedom to be wrong—the same freedom we claim for ourselves. As Baptists in the latter 1700's argued, “I am the one who will stand before Christ to answer for my life. Who are you to place some obstacle in the way?” We are called to accept in grace that our claim on truth is fragile, but the Christ we serve is greater than any dispute we may have of doctrine and claims of truth.

It is easier to fellowship with those who believe and act like us. It is more akin to the faith Paul proclaimed to accept those whose beliefs and actions differ from our own. Determine who God would have you embrace with the grace of Christ Jesus, despite your differences. Go out of your way to extend them fellowship and love.

“Lord, grant me the openness to love those who disagree with me without condemning them. Make me more aware of my own failings, that I might more freely offer others the same grace I need.”

—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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