Romans 14
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:41 pm
There really is no accounting for taste these days, be it good, bad, personal, or even slightly salty. I've noticed a common strain these days of people critiquing and criticising each others personal preference in entertainment and dealing with objectionable content, usually in a heated and hostile manner. What one member considers harmful or dangerous, another stomachs quiet easily. Being of fan of generally darker, more mature seinen-esque elements (particularly in Manga), I dabble in certain series and films someone else might consider troubling or objectionable to their walk with Christ. An honest and fair enough concern. Can such a division be resolved without the gnashing of teeth?
According to the writing of Paul, it's a non-issue. I refer all of you to the thead's namesake:
I stumbled across this verse recently during a study of the New Testament, and I think it's rather useful. It's really just a question of spiritual maturity; some people can handle objectionable or troublesome elements, others cannot, and in the end that is separately between us and God. There are Christians who can enjoy James Bond film festivals, play God of War or Resident Evil, listen to coarse lyrics, read Hellsing, and keep these things separate from their faith; others cannot. Are either of us any morally superior or inferior for this? No. Those of us who are sure in ourselves can do so, those who are troubled should not. A simple matter. We have two friends, one who enjoys fine wine and knows its limitations, and another who can only worry about the debauchery of drunkenness. In the end, what do we have? One man who enjoys his wine and another who keeps his distance to it, both equally satisfied in their convictions on the issue.
The actual source of unrest from these debates is not the objections perceived, per se, but those on either side of the line who berate and brow-beat the others. Do not cause your brother to fall, for it is there that true sin and immorality arise. So you enjoyed the film 300. Good for you. No need to act superior to those who had problems with the film. You found 300 distasteful. Also fine. But don't immediately dumb-down the mentality of those who do not share your distaste. If you find something to be a stumbling block, then cut if off from yourself, and be satisfied in your purity and resistance to temptation. If it's not something you struggle with spiritually or morally, step over it, and be satisfied in your purity and strength over temptation. Just don't antagonize each other of it, as it only stirs up petty wrath and disagreement. It would be better to agree to disagree and speak no more of it than destroy one another.
That is all. Hope that was clear enough to allow cooler heads to prevail.
According to the writing of Paul, it's a non-issue. I refer all of you to the thead's namesake:
Romans 14 wrote:Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
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 man 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 to fall.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
I stumbled across this verse recently during a study of the New Testament, and I think it's rather useful. It's really just a question of spiritual maturity; some people can handle objectionable or troublesome elements, others cannot, and in the end that is separately between us and God. There are Christians who can enjoy James Bond film festivals, play God of War or Resident Evil, listen to coarse lyrics, read Hellsing, and keep these things separate from their faith; others cannot. Are either of us any morally superior or inferior for this? No. Those of us who are sure in ourselves can do so, those who are troubled should not. A simple matter. We have two friends, one who enjoys fine wine and knows its limitations, and another who can only worry about the debauchery of drunkenness. In the end, what do we have? One man who enjoys his wine and another who keeps his distance to it, both equally satisfied in their convictions on the issue.
The actual source of unrest from these debates is not the objections perceived, per se, but those on either side of the line who berate and brow-beat the others. Do not cause your brother to fall, for it is there that true sin and immorality arise. So you enjoyed the film 300. Good for you. No need to act superior to those who had problems with the film. You found 300 distasteful. Also fine. But don't immediately dumb-down the mentality of those who do not share your distaste. If you find something to be a stumbling block, then cut if off from yourself, and be satisfied in your purity and resistance to temptation. If it's not something you struggle with spiritually or morally, step over it, and be satisfied in your purity and strength over temptation. Just don't antagonize each other of it, as it only stirs up petty wrath and disagreement. It would be better to agree to disagree and speak no more of it than destroy one another.
That is all. Hope that was clear enough to allow cooler heads to prevail.