United Even in Our Differences

Today is the 4^th part in our series on unity. And I’d like to begin today with a Psalm. Some of you might be familiar with it, even if you didn’t know where it was found. Turn with me to Psalm 133.

We’re not going to spend a lot of time here, but since we’re talking about unity, this was a passage I wanted to make sure you got to see. Psalm 133.

The titles you see at the beginning of each Psalm are placed there by whoever published your Bible. But between those titles and verse 1, some psalms have what’s called an inscription or a superscript. Those are found in the original Hebrew, and they give us a little bit of information about the psalm.

The heading here tells us that this is a Song of Ascents. Just like we have Christmas songs that are sung at that particular time of year, the Hebrews had songs that they sang on their journey to Jerusalem for a major feast. That’s what the Songs of Ascents are. They start with Psalm 120 and go all the way through to Psalm 134

The superscript also tells us that this psalm was written by David.

Both portions of the superscript are interesting when we’re dealing with a psalm about brotherly unity.

For one, unity among fellow Jews was especially important during the pilgrimage journeys because the increase in population could lead to a competitiveness for resources and a general irritability.

And secondly, David was particularly familiar with how devastating disunity was among brothers. He got to see it happen in his own sons. One of them killed his brother, and a couple of them fought over the throne.

So, in keeping us away from that, God gives us this psalm praising the blessing of unity. Let’s read it. Psalm 133.

"A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore."

If you want to hear a full sermon on this psalm, I would recommend to you a sermon given at the 2018 Shepherd’s Conference. It was General Session 3, given by Austin Duncan. I think you’d benefit greatly from it. Again, that’s the 2018 Shepherd’s Conference, General Session 3 by Austin Duncan on Psalm 133.

A lot of what we see in this Psalm is connected to the Jewish culture of that time. The basic idea behind oil and dew is that they were symbolic of joy and they were pictures of divine blessing. Unity, like dew and like an anointing is a divine blessing. It’s included in what James refers to when he says “Every good gift and every perfect blessing is from above, coming down from the Father.”

Don’t you agree with verse 1 of this psalm? “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

I hope that most of you have had times in your life when you experienced this in the church. And if you haven’t, I pray they come soon.

Those exciting and memorable times of unity, however, don’t come automatically. And hopefully, you’ve been learning that as we’ve been going through this series.

We are united in Christ, which means that we are united because of what Jesus has done for us already. It’s rooted in His work.

We’re united in Christ, and we’re also united to one another. We’re a spiritual family.

So, we’re united in Christ, we’re united to one another, and thirdly, we’re united for the gospel. Our unity has a purpose it’s connected to.

You put all that together and you get a definition of Christian unity that’s something like this: Christian unity is our mutual connection to Christ, expressed in love for one another and cooperative ministry for the gospel. That’s unity.

Let me say it again. Christian unity is our mutual connection to Christ, expressed in love for one another and in cooperative ministry for the gospel.

It sounds so simple, I think, when we say it like that. And it’s a blessing from God. But just because something is simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy, right? That definition is ideal, but we live in what’s real. That’s the Christian life. We know what’s ideal. We know what things are supposed to look like, but we don’t actually live there, because we’re plagued by our own sinfulness, and the sin of everybody else.

If you’re a Christian, you are connected to Christ. And so, by extension, you’re connected to every other Christian. But even in a small church like ours, we don’t feel this kind of unity in Christ and for the gospel. Why is that?

The simple answer is because we’re all different, and we’re all sinners. Differences alone don’t bring disunity. But when you add our sinful selfishness to the equation, the differences become a cause for disagreement.

Marriage is a major way this gets exposed in your life. Your husband or your wife is different than you. And when you’re dating, it’s not a big deal, because you’re caught up in the romance and the newness of it all. But eventually, once you get settled in, rather than serve someone different than you, you start to feel like that person wants to use his or her differences to control you. And you don’t want to be controlled. You don’t want someone else dictating how you’re supposed to act or think.

And that doesn’t just happen in marriage. It happens in every relationship. Generally speaking, over time, we don’t like people who are that much different than us. We prefer people who agree with us. That’s why every school has little cliques and groups. We gravitate toward the people with which we have the most connecting points.

And I don’t think that phenomenon is inherently sinful, but it the sin within us makes that the default, so we start creating barriers and separation between us an the people who are different.

Last week, I told you that that was exactly what had happened in the church in Corinth. It was filled with rivalries. Instead of using their gifts to work together, they were using their gifts to distance themselves from one another.

Well, the church in Rome was on its way there. It wasn’t as bad as Corinth was, with regard to a lack of unity, but if nothing changed, it would probably would end up that way. And that’s part of what the Apostle Paul address in the second half of his letter to them.

I’d like you turn with me today to Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14.

Every Bible publisher decides what to put as a heading for each section, and so at the top of Romans 14, it might say something like “Principles of Conscience” or “Do Not Pass Judgment” or “The Law of Liberty” or “The Weak and the Strong” or “Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance.”

None of those are wrong, but if I had to pick a title for this chapter, I would just take the command from verse 1. NASB has the word “accept.” ESV says “welcome.” NET translates it “receive.” That’s the title I would give this section—Accept one another. Welcome one another. Receive one another.

This is not the same thing as simply greeting one another. This is a very strong word. In the Greek, it’s an intensified form of the verb “take” or “receive.”

In a literal sense, it’s used for someone taking food for themselves, eating it.

But between people, it means to receive someone, not just into kindly your home, but into your heart. One Greek dictionary says this word means “to grant access to one’s heart; to take into friendship and contact.” That’s a strong way to say it.

Give someone different than me access to my home and to my life and to my heart? Why would I ever do that? Here’s why: Because that’s exactly what God has done for you, right?

This goes back to the doctrinal foundation of our unity. We were enemies of God. We were estranged from Him. But He brought us near to Him. He forgave us. He reconciled us to Himself. And He gave us His Spirit. He gave us the mind of Christ. He gave us full and confident access to Himself.

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this word is used in Psalm 27:10 where it says “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” He will receive me. He will welcome me.

It’s also used in Psalm 73:24 which says “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.”

This is the heart of God! This is the heart of Jesus Christ! And so, it is to be the heart of the church. We are called by God to accept one another. To welcome one another in our homes and into our hearts.

Now, some people in this church will be easier to accept, right? And those aren’t going to be the same people for all of us. We all have people in the church with whom we feel more connected. But in this section, Paul is not addressing the people you already want to accept and receive in love. He’s talking about the people who are different than you. Accept them.

In fact, Paul even repeats the command at the end of the section. Skip over for a second to chapter 15, verse 7. "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

Accept one another. Now, within the church, who are some of the toughest people to accept? That’s a good question to think about over lunch. Or to talk about with a close friend. Who are those people that you are most likely to step away from, to close your heart to, and to keep at a distance?

If you take your faith seriously, and you take your walk with Christ seriously, then you might feel a greater distance with those who don’t follow Jesus in exactly the same way you do.

Maybe you think they’re too restrictive in their life. Or maybe you think they’re too relaxed in their obedience. Well, that’s what this chapter is aimed at. It’s talking about the relationship between Christians who disagree on matters related to their conscience. That’s what this discussion is about.

It’s not primarily about how to come to a conclusion with some issue. It’s about how to relate to someone who comes to a different conclusion than you do.

And that happens all the time in the church. You go have dinner at someone else’s home, and you realize that they do things differently than you would.

Is it okay for the children to leave the table without being dismissed? Is it okay for your children to go to prom? Is it okay for you to mow your lawn on a Sunday? What about tattoos? What about smoking cigarettes? What about having Netflix? What about drinking alcohol? What about the music you listen to? What about the political party you voted for? And the list goes on.

Churches have and will continue to split over issues like these. But I don’t think that should be the case. Again, the point for today isn’t to come to a conclusion on those questions. That’s for a different time. Our theme is unity. And so the question for today is: how do I respond to and relate with someone who comes to different conclusion than I have for my own life, or for my own family?

How should you respond? It’s not a complicated answer. And I ‘ve already given it to you. Accept them. Welcome them. Receive them into your homes, and more than that, into your heart. Love those people. Live out the unity you have in Jesus Christ.

Sadly, in some cases, that’s easier said than done. WE might accept someone into our more intimate circle, but once some of these differences start showing up, we make a bigger deal of it than we should. And so look at verse 1 of chapter 14. "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions."

Don’t start arguing about the things that are not crystal clear in the Bible, and over which you have disagreements. And in order to keep you from doing that, here are some facts you need to keep in mind, okay?

Fact number 1: You are different than others. You are different. It’s as simple as that, but you need to keep that in mind. People are different. We’re different in so many ways, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that we’re even different in the way we approach our faith.

Look at verse 2. "One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables."

In the church in Rome, you had a mix of Jews and Gentiles. And just like many of you, they had come to Christ out of a background. The Jews came out of the Old Testament religious system, plus the man-made regulations of the Pharisees. Very strict. The Gentiles came out of a background in idolatry. Very visible in their sin, and it was connected to the feasts in the idol temples.

Well, the newer converts here, the ones who had received less instruction, Paul calls them weaker. They’re no weaker in the sense that they believe less. They’re weaker in their knowledge of the faith. They haven’t matured yet. And they haven’t trained their conscience by the word of Christ.

The Jewish converts still held very tightly to their Jewish traditions and rituals, which included rules about clothing, but also about food. They were not going to eat unclean food, like pork or shrimp. You might remember that that’s exactly what Peter was like in Acts 4. He wouldn’t touch that stuff.

The Gentile converts were so turned off by their formerly idolatrous life that they were not going to eat the food that came from the idol temple, which was being sold in the marketplace. They wanted nothing to do with that.

Now, we know from 1 Corinthians 8, that those kinds of self-imposed regulations aren’t mandatory. There’s no such things as an idol. There’s only one God. But that’s the way some people felt. They were convinced it was wrong to do it.

So, you had some differences in people’s approach to their faith. Because people are different. We come from different backgrounds. And we’re all at different stages in our knowledge and growth. So look at the command. Verse 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."

Don’t elevate yourself over those who seem to know less than you or who seem to not take their faith as seriously as you do. Don’t judge them like that.

Why? This is fact number 2: You’re not the Judge. You’re not the Judge. Let’s all say this together, okay. I want you to say “I’m not the Judge.” Let’s say that. “I’m not the Judge.”

The end of verse 3 says, “God has  accepted him.” Same word as in verse 1. God has welcomed him. God has received him. If God says someone’s decision is okay, then you are in no place to say it’s not okay. You’re not the judge.

You might both serve the same Master, but you don’t necessarily serve Him the same way. And again, we’re not talking about things that are clear in Scripture. We’re talking about the things that are not as clear. You’re not the person’s judge.

Verse 4 continues the idea. "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Those of you who are parents of multiple kids, how many times have you heard one of the kids try to give order to the siblings? And you have to step in and say, “You’re not the parent. You’re not in charge. I’m in charge.” Well, many times, we’re acting just like that bossy little sibling. We’re acting like we’re in charge. We think everything has to go our own way. But it doesn’t. We are not the judge. Our brothers and sisters in Christ will not give their final account to us. We’re not their Lord.

So, does that mean then we can just do whatever we want? No. It means we all need to do the work of coming to our own conclusion. And this will be principle number 3 for accepting one another: You need to be informed. You need to be informed.

This idea of having different approaches to our faith doesn’t mean we just get to do whatever we want. It means we all need to do the work to form our own conclusion. Study what the word says, and them come to a decision. Don’t be lazy and assume someone else’s position. Learn for yourself. Seek the Lord.

In terms of the Jewish believers, some had this idea that the Sabbath had to be preserved in some way. And others said, “No. That’s done away with. Every day is for the Lord now.” And notice what Paul says at the end of verse 5. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

I remember an occasion as a young, single adult, when a young lady in the group told us that she had gone out with a friend and ordered a particular beverage at the restaurant. And one of the guys in the group didn’t like that. He kept saying, “That was wrong. You shouldn’t have done that. That doesn’t honor Christ.” And she was basically saying, “Given the circumstance, I don’t think it was a problem.”

Well, they were going back and forth a little bit and then they turned to me. And it was like, “Okay Luis, tell us what should have happened.” And I came right to this passage. And when I stopped at the end of verse 5. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

So I asked the girl, “Are you fully convinced in your mind that your time with your friend, and you ordering that drink, honored Jesus Christ?” And she said, “Yeah, I think so.” And in the grace of God, the guy said, “Okay. That’s good enough for me.” And we just dropped the whole thing. Because we recognized that within our walks of faith, there were going to be differences. And we each needed to come to our own honest conclusions before the Lord.

Look at verses 6-9: "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. ⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."

Again, people are different, you’re not the judge, and you need to be informed. You need to come to your own conclusion about how you will honor Christ in your life. And you need to understand that others will come to their own conclusion too.

Who’s the Judge? Who do we live for? … It’s the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, you get the rhetorical question of verse 10. "Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” ¹²So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." 

Jesus is the Judge. Jesus is the Lord.

And in the grand scheme of God’s plan, more important than our tiny little differences, is our love for one another and our cooperative ministry for the gospel. That’s what matters most.

And with that I’ll give you fact number 4. Fact number 1: You are different. Fact number 2: You’re not the Judge. Fact number 3: You need to be informed. And fact number 4: You need to walk in love. You need to walk in love.

That’s what this chapter is getting at. Love one another. Help one another pursue Christ more. First Corinthians 13 says love does not rejoice in evil, but it rejoices with the truth. True love for others pushes them to holiness. It helps them in their walk with Christ.

Look at how Paul says it in verse 13. "Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother."

Don’t block them. Don’t cause them to stumble in their walk. A better word than obstacle might be “a trap” or “a pit.” Don’t put someone in danger spiritually.

How would you do that? You do that by leading someone to go against their conscience. Because that is a sin. It’s a sin to go against your conscience. And it’s a sin to lead someone to go against their conscience.

What is the conscience? I learned the definition from John MacArthur. The conscience is a spiritual alert system. Just like pain tells you something is wrong with your body, your conscience tells you something is wrong with your spirit.

If you are doing or have done something against your conscience, you feel bothered. Things don’t feel right. You can have a guilty conscience, or you can have a clean conscience. Your conscience can accuse you or it can excuse you.

Now, the conscience is not the same as the Holy Spirit. But it is a tool the Holy Spirit uses. I’ve heard pastors compare it to a skylight. It doesn’t produce the light, but it lets the light in.

The important part to understand about your conscience, though, is that it needs to be informed and it needs to be trained.

If you don’t inform your conscience with God’s word, you can feel guilty about things you don’t need to feel guilty about. And you can feel fine with things that you’re supposed to feel guilty about.

And if you don’t train yourself to listen to your conscience, if you continually neglect it, you can sear it, like it says in 1 Timothy 4. [se puede cauterizar o encallecer]. It’s like the skylight gets all dirty. It doesn’t work anymore. And it’ll take some serious steps to get it working again.

So, because of that, the Bible indicates that it is a sin to go against your conscience. Even if the actual activity isn’t sinful in itself, if your conscience bothers you about it, don’t do it.

And don’t let others do things that go against their conscience. Look at verses 14-19. "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 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.¹⁶ So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.¹⁹ So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding."

In the case of the food, it would be like a mature brother, sitting next to a newly converted Jewish Christian, and he’s having a BLT. And he offers it to him, and the weaker brother says, “No. I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s a good idea.” And the mature brother goes: “What are you talking about? We’re free in Christ. All those laws are done away with now! Eat the sandwich."

Don’t do that. This is not a minor thing in the church. This is a serious issue. Don’t lead others to go against their conscience.

Verse 15 says it is unloving, and it leads to the destruction of someone for whom Christ died. That’s a serious thing. First Corinthians 8 says that will ruin a brother. And it’s a sin against Christ Himself.

Because if a brother learns to go against his conscience, then he’s removing part of the grace Christ has put into his life for staying on the path of righteousness.

If you are a mature believer, then the questions you’re asking yourself is not: “What am I allowed to do? What is within my Christian freedom?” The question a mature Christian asks is: “How do I love my brothers and sisters? How do I cultivate holiness and purity in others? How do I point others to Jesus Christ?”

Jesus said it so vividly in Matthew 18. And this should be a sobering reminder. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”

It is never loving to flaunt your Christian freedom and potentially lead others into sin. You need to keep the big picture in mind. What matters more: your Christian freedom right now, or your brother in Christ? Your Christian freedom or the work of Christ in the lives of others?

Look at verse 20. "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."

That’s not loving, brothers and sisters. You might have some kind of conviction before the Lord that doesn’t match up with someone else’s. But don’t let that lead to division, and don’t let it lead to sin. You just keep living the way you believe Christ would have you live, and you keep pursuing the holiness and the purity of others in the church.

Verse 21. "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²²The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

If you’re not sure about something, if you don’t feel right about doing something, don’t do it. That doubt means you’ll be sinning if you do it. Because you’ll be going against your conscience. So guard your conscience, guard the consciences of others. And let’s work together for the gospel.

I know we’re covering a lot of verse today, but let me just end with the first few verses of chapter 15. This is one of those unfortunate chapter breaks, because there’s no change in the subject.

Once again, we are going to be pointed to Jesus Christ. Let’s follow the example of Jesus Christ in the way that we live with one another, even when there are some seemingly big differences in our faith. Romans 15, verses 1-7.

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ²Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."