What Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 10 are teaching us is that as believers in Christ we should do what our conscience allows us to do and we should do it with thankfulness to the glory of God. But I cannot allow my clean conscience to outshine the kingdom. It’s not about food. It’s not about whatever the dividing line is for us today. It’s about the kingdom of God.
The Stuff the Kingdom is Made Of
When Paul tells them that it’s about the kingdom and not about food he has particular things in mind. It’s not just an abstract concept—there are real tangible things within the kingdom.
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)
So are you growing in righteousness, and peace, and joy? All the things which we are absorbing, all the debates we are throwing ourselves into, all of our stances, all of our focus and attention on the things which divide, all of our talking points….are these bringing about righteousness and peace and joy? Maybe, then, they aren’t the stuff the kingdom is made of.
Would you believe it if I told you that a debate/discussion on these types of things ought to lead to deeper fellowship? If the kingdom of God is the driving factor these conversations will be much different. Person A and person B will enjoy hearing another perspective, they’ll enjoy getting to know the heart of this brother who differs, they’ll probably even both grow in righteousness, peace, and joy. And at the end of the day they’ll rejoice because they don’t have to have the same opinion to love one another and be about the kingdom. It’ll be encouraging to know that something far greater (the kingdom) is the much bigger reality.
Paul isn’t telling these two warring brothers to stop talking about their positions on meat or no-meat. The guy with the weaker conscience needs to hear from his brother. Much like the guy who is free in his conscience needs to be tempered by his weaker brother. They need one another. But this beautiful aspect of the kingdom is decimated when zero-sum thinking takes over. Dialogue ceases. Righteousness, peace, and joy fall by the way-side and victory becomes the god of the day.
Conclusion
A few general principles I’m trying to apply in my own life:
Don’t go against my conscience. But also don’t make my conscience the guide for another believer.
The greatest force in these texts is “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” Therefore, I must always be asking how am I best to love my neighbor in this disagreement/dividing point?
The issue is usually not the issue but how we go about solving that issue together in righteousness, peace, and joy.
The kingdom is what matters. This will lead to righteousness, peace, and joy. Is my life marked by these things? Am I about the kingdom?
This article about church division was originally published here, and is used by permission.
