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by Katie Erickson

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:19-23)

This week’s passage is almost a “part 2” continuation of last week’s. The same general idea is true here, that we should not do something that causes another believer to stumble in their faith.

Paul again returns to the example of food. While it has already been determined that all food is clean (see Acts 10 for more on that), that doesn’t mean that everything should be eaten if there is a chance that you eating a food may cause harm to the faith of another. I often repeat a saying that goes, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” I feel that applies well to this passage and to what Paul is commanding of the believers in Rome (and us).

Even though the issue on food was decided on by God, not everyone fully adopted that. If you’ve gone your whole life not eating a particular food because you believed you shouldn’t, it would be hard to change that, wouldn’t it? For the past year or so I’ve had some specific food allergies, one of which is to chicken. Consuming chicken causes me around 4 days of itchy, painful hives, so I definitely avoid it because I know the consequences. If I found out tomorrow that I could eat chicken again, I would have a hard time going back to not worrying about where chicken may be hiding in the foods I eat, and being ok with eating it again. It’s hard for people to change what they’ve believed for a long time.

But, the real issue here is not necessarily food. The real issue is having a strong faith and denying yourself of something you want for the sake of someone else. When I deny myself eating chicken, it’s purely selfish. But if I deny myself ice cream because someone I’m hanging out with is trying to eat healthy, that’s more significant because I’m denying myself a pleasure for the sake of someone else.

If you are a person of stronger faith, you should be more concerned about the good of the community as a whole, particularly other believers, rather than of your own individual rights and freedoms. The main concern of all believers should be love for God and for one another, more so than fulfilling their own personal desires.

Which do you care more about - building up a fellow believer, or doing what you want to do? That again is Paul’s point here. He explains this idea multiple times to make sure that the church in Rome fully understands it. We are called by Jesus to deny ourselves if we want to be His disciples or followers (Luke 9:23).

The main focus here comes in the conclusion to Paul’s argument, in Romans 14:22-23: “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” It’s not about our particular belief about food or anything else that doesn’t matter as much, but about our faith and how much we show the love of Jesus Christ to those around us.

How is your faith? Is it strong enough that you can focus on the needs of other people over your own? What are you being called to deny in your own life, so that it may uplift a fellow believer?

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