Romans 14:1-12
In the previous passage (Romans 13:8-14) Paul presented love as the basis for Christian living. Love is always lived out in the context of community. Paul informs us that by the grace of God working in us through the Holy Spirit, we can be a community of faith that bears witness of the coming Kingdom in the world today.
With this in mind, Paul moves on to provide practical guidance for how to live this way within the body of Christ. He begins by addressing the situation of division between the “strong” and the “weak” in faith. Although this problem is likely related to the Jew/Gentile tension that existed in the church, we must be careful not to solely define it along those lines.
“Welcome the one who is weak in faith.” This opening phrase sets the trajectory from the very beginning. Just as God graciously welcomes all who come to faith in Jesus Christ, so too are believers to welcome one another. Welcoming other believers who have different beliefs or practices is not the same as endorsing those beliefs or practices. Rather, it is living out the ethic of love in the Christian life.
Some commentators carefully point out that the noun in this opening phrase is singular. The NIV uses “him” while the NRSV chooses to use the plural “those.” The problem with speaking of “those” people is that they often do not have a face, and the problem that the Romans were dealing with involved real people. It is important for us to remember that as Christians welcoming “those who are weak in faith” means welcoming that person we would really rather not welcome.
If we are not careful, we can read Paul to suggest that faith is individual and relative, but that is not what he is doing at all. George Lyons says that “the present tense of the verbal form [the one who is weak] implies that weak believers are only temporarily weak; they may become strong… With education and edification provided by the welcoming community of faith, these weak persons may come to a more adequate understanding of the gospel and thus to the ‘full assurance of faith.’”[1]
Verse four reinforces this idea. Christ does not excuse immoral behavior, for “it is before their own lord that they stand or fall.” However, Paul goes on to say, “they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” Paul trusts that the grace of God is sufficient to enable his followers to grow to maturity and obedience in Christ Jesus.
After addressing the issue of food, Paul turns his attention to the observance of special days, which was also causing trouble in the Roman church. Similarly to his direction regarding food, Paul suggests that each person should come to their own conclusion on the matter. However, any decision that is made must be made under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Christians are not autonomous individuals, but rather, they are a part of the body of Christ. As a result, any decision a person makes must be made in the interest of the community.
There is a powerful message here for us today. We live in a highly individualistic culture. Culture proclaims that each individual can choose for him or her self and that no one has the right to try and form another person. However, in the church we proclaim that Jesus is Lord, and that true life can be found in and through Jesus Christ. As paradoxical as it might seem, submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and living out an ethic of love that places the other before self, is the way to experience the kind of life we were created for.
To some this message might seem a little bit too much. Since it is so contrary to the popular message of our day, some people might imagine it to be impossible for a person to truly live out this kind of ethic of love that Paul has called us to. However, Paul believes, as do those of us in the Wesleyan-holiness tradition, that we can actually experience transformed hearts and lives through the Holy Spirit. May it be so.
[1] George Lyons, Romans 9-16: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2008), 204-205.