All the Same
Last year at about this time of year I spoke at a retreat of church leaders up in the northeast. We were studying the gospel together. When I say “gospel” I mean what the Bible means–the story of Jesus and the significance of his birth, life, death, resurrection and return. This was core stuff we were plowing through together.
In the midst of our study, one of those church leaders stopped me and started debating my Bible translation. I was using the ESV. Others in our group had the NIV. But he had the KJV. In the midst of our study of the gospel, this church leader launched into an argument about why the Bible translations the rest of us were using were flawed and why the church must use the translation he was using. Everyone in the church, he demanded, must not only believe the gospel. Everyone must also read from the KJV.
There is a conviction among some that everyone in the church must believe and practice everything in exactly the same way. Sometimes it has to do with Bible translations. Sometimes it has to do with other things. But among some, there is a conviction that everyone must believe and practice everything in exactly the same way in the church.
It seems to have been that way at the church in Rome.
Paul begins Romans by talking about the gospel. The gospel is what Paul defines in Rom. 1:1-6. There Paul says five things about this gospel:
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The Gospel (Rom. 1:1-6) |
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1 – The Gospel has a divine ROOT–God. (“the gospel of God” 1:1) |
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2 – The Gospel has a written RECORD–the Scriptures. (“promised beforehand in the holy Scriptures” 1:2) |
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3 – The Gospel is concerned with one REALITY–Jesus. (“concerning his Son…” 1:3-4) |
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4 – The Gospel has an intended RESULT–faithful obedience. (“to bring about the obedience of faith” 1:5) |
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5 – The Gospel is meant for unrestricted RECIPIENTS–all the nations. (“among all the nations, including you” 1:5-6) |
This gospel is God’s power for salvation:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:16-17 ESV)
It’s this gospel, this good news regarding the work and person of Jesus, and our faith in this good news, that results in the powerful salvation of God.
And that’s something that should be the same for everyone in a church. There ought to be uniformity regarding the gospel. Every church should be the same when it comes to calling for faith in the gospel, the good news of the person and work of Jesus.
This is a non-negotiable. Elsewhere, Paul rebukes the church in a city called Galatia because they have accepted a different gospel–one that’s no longer only about the person and work of Jesus. If you’re going to be a church, this is a must. Churches must be the same when it comes to calling for faith in the gospel. Salvation is rooted in this gospel. Everyone in a church must eventually believe in this gospel.
Not the Same
But there were some in the church in Rome who weren’t content with just that. They wanted everyone to be exactly the same when it came to other beliefs and practices as well–sort of like my friend demanding uniformity when it came to Bible translations:
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God…10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?…14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 …By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died…23 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. (Rom. 14:2-23 ESV)
One of the things we learn from these lines is that there were two groups in the church in Rome.
1. First, there are Christians with a Jewish background, whom Paul calls the “weak.”
2. Second, there are Christians from a Gentile background. That means any Christian without a Jewish background.
Each seems to be demanding that the other believe and practice like they do:
● The Jewish Christians want a church where all the members believe and act like they do.
● The Gentile Christians want a church where all the members believe and act like they do.
● The Jewish Christians are judging those who don’t act and believe like they do.
● The Gentile Christians are judging those who don’t act and believe like they do.
Yet the difference between these two groups in the church in Rome has nothing to do with the gospel. We often want everyone to be the same at church, even when it has little to do with the gospel.
There were two issues dividing both groups. Two issues both groups were demanding uniformity on.
Food
The first issue had to do with food. The Gentile Christians rightly believed, according to Paul, that it was OK to eat anything. Paul, even though he was a former Jew, told both groups that no food is unclean. And, if they wanted, Paul and the Gentile Christians had Scripture to back their belief and practice up.
The Jewish Christians, however, believed that some foods were unclean. Having been brought up under Jewish ritual law, they still believed, even as Christians, that some foods were not permissible to eat. It wasn’t just a preference to them–the way we Tennesseans prefer real pork barbecue to that fake beef barbecue of Texans! This was a matter of faith to them. That’s why Paul says “if you believe such food is unclean, it is unclean…if you can’t eat it in faith, then eating it would be a sin.” Even though biblically there’s nothing wrong with it, Paul realizes that for these Jewish Christians, it’s woven deep into their their whole spiritual heritage.
And there’s a lot of judging and despising going on over this issue. The Gentile Christians judging and despising the conservative Jewish Christians for their scruples over food. The Jewish Christians judging and despising the liberal Gentile Christians who’ll eat just about anything on their plate. And each group wanting the rest of the church to believe and practice just as they did regarding this issue–even though this issue had little to do with the gospel. That is, one didn’t have to eat or not eat certain foods to experience salvation through the person and work of Jesus. One only had to have faith in Jesus.
Holy Days
But that’s not all. There was a second issue. It had to do with observing certain days as holy. Some of the Jewish Christians apparently kept some of the holy days which would have been a part of their Jewish heritage. The Gentile Christians did not.
And there was judging and despising over this. The Gentile Christians judging and despising the Jewish Christians for being so conservative and scrupulous about these special days. The Jewish Christians judging and despising the Gentile Christians for being so liberal about these special days. And each group wanting the rest of the church to believe and practice just as they did regarding this issue–even though this issue had little to do with the gospel. That is, one didn’t have to keep or not keep holy days to experience salvation through the person and work of Jesus. One only had to have faith in Jesus.
All the Same
This still happens today. My friend at that retreat wanted everyone to believe and practice the same thing when it came to Bible translations.
The demand for uniformity over holy days reminds of something that happened when I first came to Highland 19 years ago. I remember how, during those first few Decembers, I used the word “Christmas” in my sermons. And I preached about the birth of Jesus in conjunction with that word “Christmas.” And I remember receiving a few letters–back then you actually got letters, not emails or texts or FaceBook rants, you got handwritten letters–from one or two concerned members who said that we didn’t believe in Christmas because we didn’t know exactly when Jesus was born, we celebrated his birth (and death) every Sunday, and, most importantly, no day was special or sacred. Christmas was a secular holiday and was not be observed by the church. The writers of these letters wanted to make sure that I started to believe what they believed and practiced what they practiced. Highland should be a church where there was no Christmas! There was no room for diversity of belief on that issue. No Christmas. Ever.
I remember the small church in New Mexico where I came to faith. Percy was a volunteer there. I remember driving one day in his pick up on the way to his mobile home for lunch after Sunday. I was a young teenager who had only recently learned about the Christian faith. We got into a conversation about instrumental music. Percy became very serious and said in certain terms that all instrumental music, even sacred, was sinful. I couldn’t understand his reasoning. I had friends who attended the little local Baptist church. And the little local Methodist church. And they had an organ and guitars at their church. And Percy demanded I believe they were going to hell because of that. I couldn’t bring myself to believe that. But he pressed for our little church to have uniformity on that issue. There was no room for diversity of belief on that issue.
Even on issues that aren’t tied to the gospel, we tend to want everyone in our church to believe what we believe and practice what we practice. Or we’ll do what the Romans did–judge despise those who don’t.
I recently saw the movie “The Founder.”[1] It tells the story of Ray Kroc. Ray took the original McDonald’s restaurant, envisioned and founded by Dick and Mac McDonald, and turned it into an empire. Ray took the few McDonald’s which Dic and Mac had started and multiplied them across the United States and the world by planting franchises.
The early struggle among the first franchises was to make each of them exactly the same. The first franchise owners wanted to branch outside of the narrow McDonald’s menu of burgers, fries and shakes. They also wanted to offer corn on the cob, biscuits, and fried chicken. And Ray had to work relentlessly to ensure that each franchise looked the same, operated the same, and served only the same food in exactly the same way.
This was the Roman approach to church. Everyone had to believe the exact same things and express them in exactly the same way. And those who didn’t were to be judged and despised. And it often is our way with church as well.
Tolerance
Now, Paul would not budge when it came to the gospel. The gospel, after all, was the power of God for salvation. Everyone who was part of a church needed to eventually have faith in the gospel. That’s what makes a church a church.
But notice what Paul does when it comes to these two issues brewing in the Roman church. He doesn’t demand uniformity of belief. He calls, instead, for something else:
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Rom. 15:7 ESV)
This word “welcome” means “to receive, to accept, to have as a guest.” Paul wants the Jewish Christians to welcome those “liberal” Gentile Christians as a guest, rather than kick them out–even though they don’t believe the same thing as the Jewish Christians. And, Paul wants the Gentile Christians to welcome those “conservative” Jewish Christians as a guest, rather than kick them out–even though they don’t believe the same thing as the Gentile Christians.
Why? How? Because, in spite of these differences, they’ve all been welcomed by Christ. Paul is pointing to the gospel. Both groups have experienced the gospel. Both have had faith in the gospel. Both have been treated as guests by Christ. And that shared experience of good news now puts these other differences in a far different light. There’s no need to press for total uniformity when they already share this gospel together. What matters most to Paul is that they welcome each other, in spite of their differences, because they all share this one gospel.
In other words, the church doesn’t have to be the same when it comes to issues that aren’t the gospel. Now, Paul will say in these chapters that these differences aren’t unimportant. They call for sensitivity in the way we treat one another. And now practice should be tolerated if it ends up destroying another Christian. But in the end, what matters most to Paul is the fact that these two groups already share the gospel. They’ve already been welcomed by Christ. And that puts all these others differences in a different light. And that allows them to welcome one another, differences and all.
Adam McHugh in his book The Listening Life says that what Paul is envisioning here is the church as a place where people actually listen to each other, seeking to understand one another’s different perspectives, rather than already talking at one another, trying to persuade each other to come around to our point of view:[2]
What if, instead of coming to church to be preached to, people came to church to be heard? What if the body of believers was known less as a preaching community and more as a listening community? What if the church was a group of people where the power dynamics of speaking and listening were inverted? Imagine a society of reverse listening, where those who would normally expect to be heard, listen, and those who would normally expect to listen, are heard…Needless to say, we will not have communities who listen as long as people fear punishment for possessing alternative opinions…What unites us in the church is love…Our unity is in our commitment to listen to one another.” [Adam McHugh The Listening Life]
South Texas has been hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. Some have died. Thousands are suffering. Thankfully, each day, we hear stories of heroes–men and women risking lives and resources to make a difference for those who are in peril. One of those stories involves a man named “Mattress Mack”: [PP VIDEO https://www.cbsnews.com/news/houston-businessman-jim-mcingvale-opens-furniture-stores-to-evacuees/]
It’s easy to see that the group of people rescued by Mattress Mack are pretty diverse. They are young and old. They are white and black. They are locals and and out of towners. It’s not hard to imagine that significant differences exist between them. They wouldn’t all agree on all spiritual issues. They wouldn’t all agree on all political issues.
Imagine, then, if, last week, after having been rescued, one of them got up after that free lunch and said, “It’s time to lay down the law. This furniture store is going to be for NIV-ers only. If you read the ESV or KJV you don’t belong. You’ve got to go back out there into the flood.” That would be crazy wouldn’t it? Or, imagine if someone rose just before bedtime on those free beds and said, “Tomorrow morning, all Republicans need to leave–this is a Democrat only refuge.” Or vice versa. That would crazy wouldn’t it?
Because there’s something huge that unites these folks isn’t there? They are bound by a gospel. What binds them together, this amazing good news, this experience of being saved, of being rescued, being the recipient of such outrageous kindness and generosity, is so much bigger than those differences.
In a way, that’s what Paul’s getting at in this text. That’s why Paul writes this:
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6 ESV)
We come together as a diverse group of people. We come with different experiences and different opinions. But one thing we share in common. One thing binds us together. This amazing gospel. This good news. This experience of being saved, of being recipients of outrageous divine kindness and generosity. We are all guests of our father. And so we welcome one another. We receive another as guests. Because that’s what we all are. We are all guests of the gracious hospitality of our Father. And that puts all our differences in a different light. And despite our differences with one voice we glorify God. With one voice we say, “Thank you Father. Thank you for rescuing us. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for loving us.” This, Paul says, is how we bring glory to God.
Benediction
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Rom. 15:13 ESV)
