In today’s episode, I want to start with guidance from the apostle Paul to the early church regarding differing beliefs and practices within the body of Christ:
Romans 14:5-6 NLT In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. (6) Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
Paul is recognizing that there will be differences in beliefs and practices within the body of Christ, and he is encouraging believers to respect and honor those differences within the body of Christ.
Let’s look at one example from the early church of a cultural issue that demonstrated differences in beliefs and practices within the body of Christ. In the meat market of their day, the best quality meat, at the lowest price, was meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Some believers, who had grown up in the Jewish culture and familiar with the Old Testament law, could not with a clear conscience eat such meat. For unbelievers, or for Gentile believers who were new to the Christian faith and who were unfamiliar with the Old Testament law, eating this meat did not violate their conscience at all. Here is what Paul advised believers about this situation:
1 Corinthians 10:23-29a NLT You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. (24) Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. (25) So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. (26) For “the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.” (27) If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. (28) (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. (29) It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.)
Two observations from Paul’s advice:
As followers of Jesus, we should be sensitive and gracious to others. We should not exercise our freedom in Christ at the expense of hurting another Christian brother or sister. This is what the Bible calls showing deference to others.We should similarly not project our standards of belief and practice upon others. For example, because of their background, some may not have the liberty to do certain things, because these things remind them of the struggles of their past. Their motto might be, “Others can. I cannot.” But for other believers, these things are no distraction at all to their walk with Jesus.
Do you see the common thread in both of those points? Being gracious to one another.
In my journey of faith, I have discovered that God wants believers to understand the full counsel of God – all of the biblical principles of living a God-honoring and abundant life, and loving those people around us.
So, I always try to look for the nuggets of truth in all of the various groups within the body of Christ, and learn from them. No one group has a perfect grasp of all spiritual truth. If there is something that does not seem biblical in what they advocate, I do not shut them off completely and ignore everything else they say. I give them grace, and simply discard what does not seem biblical to me. In this way, I have grown spiritually, as I have learned various aspects of the ways and nature of God from many groups within the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:14-18 NASB For the body is not one member, but many. (15) If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. (16) And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. (17) If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? (18) But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
So, just as our physical body has different members that have different functions and skills, so different members of the body of Christ have different levels of skill and insight into spiritual truths.
It is also important to learn all of the coupled, balancing principles of scripture. They act as guardrails, keeping us from drifting off track (spiritually) toward either extreme. Balancing principles are both true – but only when our perspective includes both. They can lead to error if we focus on only one. I refer you to episode 33 (on Spiritual Guardrails) for a more detailed discussion of this topic.
So, here is the big idea of today’s episode: There will be differences in beliefs and practices within the body of Christ. The Bible encourages us, as followers of Jesus, to respect and honor those differences – to be gracious to one another – and to be open to learning from those within the body of Christ that are different from us.
Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”