Rom
14:20-22a (ESV) 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. 21 It is good not to
eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between
yourself and God.
NOTE: The work of
God is another person's faith. There are no longer clean or unclean foods. But
some believers may not think so. If that is the case, then I need to abstain
from what another regards as sin. For the most part I think that would mainly
apply to hard drink, and possibly wine and beer in our day and age. Clearly,
excess is sin in anything, and drunkenness is likewise sin. The passage is not
addressing those issues but rather whether one can taste these
"foods" at all. They are clean, but if another's faith would be hurt
by seeing us indulge, then we need to avoid these "foods" for the
sake of our weaker brother. I do believe there is a distinction between
"weaker" brother and a mature brother who teaches that we must
abstain from certain foods. In this case, the mature brother is a false teacher
and must be rebuked and instructed in correct theology. But ultimately, our
concern should be for the weaker brother, who is a work of God, and someone our
actions could destroy if we are not careful.
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