What about at a church level? What does judgment and gossip, mixed in with anger, do to a church? It divides people into various camps. In the church at Rome, you have Jewish Christians on one side judging the Gentile Christians. Imagine a conversation between two Jewish Christians, if you will. Can you believe sister […]
unity
Rom 14-15: Building True Unity – The Nuts and Bolts of Church Life (pt2 of 3)
In contrast, I want to describe the other way of doing church. It is a kingdom of religion. It’s where we eat and drink. It’s where we draw sharp lines in the sand and say, thou shalt not cross over this line. It’s where gray areas are elevated to the level of moral absolutes. And […]
Rom 14-15: Building True Unity – The Nuts and Bolts of Church Life (pt1 of 3)
Romans 14:17-19, 15:1-7 We had a wonderful time of fellowship during our Memorial Day picnic. We were the hosts and we invited LBC WLA to join us. I trust that those who were there ate some really great food, as we promised. The ribs were out of this world. And our feast was followed by […]
Romans 14 – Moral Uniformity vs. Unity: The Nuts and Bolts of Church Life (pt4 of 4)
This is serious business. Our actions may destroy faith in another believer. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink […]
Romans 14 – Moral Uniformity vs. Unity: The Nuts and Bolts of Church Life (pt3 of 4)
It may be surprising to some, but many issues fall into the disputable matters category. It’s a moral gray area. We can call these personal, moral imperatives or arbitrary absolutes. Arbitrary absolutes? Hey, wait a minute. That sounds post-modern or relativistic because in some sense it is. What do I mean by an arbitrary absolute? […]
Romans 14 – Moral Uniformity vs. Unity: The Nuts and Bolts of Church Life (pt2 of 4)
What is Paul saying when he says the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking? He is saying that this kingdom is not about moral, ethical areas because there is a higher ethic that is at work with the coming of Christ. An ethic to love one another. There are certainly indisputable matters […]