Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
In this section of Romans, Paul is dealing with what is commonly known as the weaker brother principle. To understand what he is teaching us, we must first understand the context of that day in Rome. In the Roman world, believers did not have supermarkets and box stores to purchase food. They would have to go to the open market (farmers market) to purchase food. At this market they could purchase meat. Some of the meat, however, was originally used in false worship and offered to idols. The bull or goat was originally sacrificed false priest, but portions of the left over meat were then sold at market (probably at reduced price). The believers in Christ were faced with a choice: Do we purchase and eat meat that was set aside for an idol (remember, many of the believers in that day were poor)? The strong brother in Christ would not care what the meat was intended for, since they would eat it to the glory of Christ. However, the weaker brother in Christ would be offended by that very thought. To them this meat was meant to be for a false god. This is the weaker brother dilemma. Paul is addressing this challenge in the early church with a bigger principle. We are to love our brothers. Even though the stronger brother didn’t think anything was wrong with it, he should not eat in front of the weaker brother. On the other hand, the weaker brother is not to dictate all that the other members do in their lives based upon their own belief. One is not to make the other stumble (and that applies to both the strong and the weak believer). The decision to eat meat or not to eat meat was governed by two overriding principles:
1. Will this cause harm to my brother in Christ? If so, we are to avoid it to practice love for each other.
2. Can I partake of this in complete faith that God would approve. If I am fearful that God would not approve, I should not partake. If I am convinced that God would approve, I am blessed. What is not of faith, however, is sin.
God did not intend for the weaker brother to inhibit the walk of the stronger. But God did not intend for the stronger to cause the weaker to sin. Love and faith govern the decision. Personal preferences are governed by the faith and love.
Note this commentators thoughts:
“Paul was constantly confronted with this issue in dealing with the Judaizing conflict. Paul had Timothy circumcised as a matter of indifference, but then the Judaizers came and said that circumcision was necessary for Christians and therefore every Christian must undergo the rite. Paul resisted them with the full force of his apostleship and refused to circumcise those who demanded it. Circumcision was a matter of indifference, but when the weaker brother, the Judaizers, tried to make their weakness the law of the church, Paul put an end to Christian tolerance.
We walk a very thin line. The weaker brother is not to destroy the freedom of all in the church. At the same time, we can forego our freedom for a time out of consideration for our weaker brother. Paul is opposing a spirit of arrogance that leads us to insist on our rights to do whatever we please no matter what. That is the wrong approach. The stronger brother has to be willing to forego his strength for the sake of the weaker brother, yet the church must never allow the weaker one to establish his weakness as law for the Christian community.”
Excerpt From
Romans
R. C. Sproul
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