Who is the Weaker Brother?
Romans 14
"Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”
Romans 14 is a pretty tough chapter for those who make it a hobby to judge brothers and sisters in Christ. I hope you will take time to read the entire chapter in a version you can understand. In verse 4, Paul asks, “Who are you to judge the servant of another?” (We are each God’s servant if we are believers.) “To his own master (Jesus) he stands or falls.”
Paul talked about some who were weak in the faith and some who were strong in the faith. Some of the weaker brothers were judging the stronger brothers. And there were some stronger brothers who were despising weaker brothers.
The weaker brothers walked very straight and very narrow and there were some things they just absolutely would not do, say, touch, etc. They said, "That's wrong and we're not going to participate in it."
You say, "That sounds like a stronger brother." He was really the weaker brother. There were some stronger brothers who knew that these things were not really wrong in and of themselves and so they did them.
The weaker brother would judge the stronger brother and say, "He ought not to be living that way." And the stronger brother would despise the weaker brother and say, "He ought not to be so narrow minded." There was a division.
This was compounded in that the weaker brother thought he was the stronger brother. It was a very confusing issue. It is still around today on issues such as worship styles, political involvement, dress codes and many other issues.
St. Augustine, an ancient Christian talked about how we are to react to one another. He said, "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love."
Paul wrote in Romans 14:19-20 (NASB95) “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God. . . . “
Too often today I hear those who call themselves believers tearing down the work of God rather than making peace and building up one another. I am concerned that so many are majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. They make mountains of molehills and molehills of mountains. Too many struggle with knowing what is "essential" and what is "nonessential." Most of all, the spirit of their words is quite often vitriolic rather than charity.
Let me build on Augustine’s statement:
· in essentials, unity. Jesus is Lord.
· In nonessentials, liberty. You're going to have to answer before God at the judgment seat of Christ.
· but in all things charity. We are to love one another.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful if everybody in the church were walking so carefully we didn't want to do anything that would cause anybody else to stumble? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if no man or woman would wrap his sanctimonious robes about him and start to judge somebody else about the way they worked, the way they sing, the way they preached, the way they speak, but we just all began to praise God and love one another? Don't you want to be a member of a church like that? Then you be that kind of a man or woman and we'll have that kind of a church.
Father me not to judge others with a judgment that I would not have passed on me. Help me to forgive others as yo have forgiven me. May I do my part to be a person of peace and building up, not tearing down the work of God.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
