Opening: You are walking through the Mall and around the corner come a teenage
boy and girl. His hair is spiked, he has his arm around her shoulder, and his
hand is hanging down her chest. Her outfit is provocative and her hair is
green. Is your first thought a positive thought, or judgmental?
Scripture: Read
Romans 14:13-23.
Connect
the Text with Your Life:
- This is a radical passage, considering Paul’s strict Pharisaic background. He would have followed all the Mosaic food restrictions (see Leviticus 11:1-47 and Deuteronomy 14:3-20).
- When you are tempted to judge someone’s behavior, is it more out of your own need to be right, out of your desire help other person do it “right”, or out of your own defensiveness – a need to declare your own behavior “right”?
- What is something you used to say, “Never ever,” but now say, “That’s not so bad.” Is this because you realized it wasn't a big deal, or have your morals shifted? What were your morals based on? Society? Parents? The Bible?
- Romans 14:19 reads, “So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.”[1] What does it mean to build someone up? What are you doing to accomplish this? What more can you do, and for whom?
Prayer
Focus: That harmony and edification would be
characteristic of our lives and our church.
