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Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. —Romans 14:1
What should we do when two Christians’ convictions differ and each person’s heart is pure? Paul teaches us to defer to our convicted brother in order to avoid offending him. We are not to look down on a brother whose conscience bothers him in a certain area, even though our conscience does not bother us in that same area. Instead, we are to accept him whose faith is weak. Why should Christians or a church break fellowship with someone over things that are only earthly or temporal? We should major on what the Holy Spirit majors on: righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). We must let our brother or sister follow his or her conscience, and we must follow ours without brazenly displaying our actions for the purpose of argument. The important thing is the person, not the issue in question. “And if another Christian is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died” (v. 15). “Those whose hands and hearts are pure” (Psalm 24:5) are allowed to “climb the mountain of the Lord” (v. 4). One day in heaven, the temporal disagreements of earth will be forever settled, and Jesus will be the only thing that matters.
Suggested Reading:
2 Chronicles 29:1-36
Romans 14:1-23
Psalm 24:1-10
Proverbs 20:12