Weak and Strong

Last week I taught a class about the weak and the strong from Romans 14-15.

In Romans 14, Paul is talking about the difference between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. This has really been the backdrop of the entire book. The Jewish Christians had formed the foundation of the Romans church throughout its history. We find Jews from Rome present on the day of Pentecost, cluing us in that maybe God used them to originally found the church. (Sorry to all of the Catholics who think Peter did it; you are wrong.)

In 49 AD, however, the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled all of the Jews from Rome. Seutonius tells us that there were fights concerning the teachings of "Chrestus," which caused such an uproar that the Emperor just decided to sack them all. [“He expelled all of the Jews from Rome over the instigation of Chrestus…” (Claudius 25.4)] This edict applied to both Jews and Jewish Christians; there was no difference at the time. Acts tells us that Priscilla and Aquila came to Corinth because they had been kicked out of Rome (Acts 18). When Claudius dies in 54 AD, his edict is null and void. Thus, the Jews begin to return home. But when they returned to church they found it vastly different than how they had left it. Gentiles had moved into positions of power. They were not celebrating the Passover, adhering to the Sabbath, or doing any of the other Jewish practices that had been a part of the Roman church before.

The Jewish Christians are at odds with the Gentile Christians over what is necessary. They feel that certain days should be considered holy. They refuse to eat food that has been sacrificed to idols (really the only butcher shops in the city of Rome were attached to the temples). Thus, the Agape feasts were broken, hollow affairs in which the two groups did not associate. It was into this Sitz im Lieben that Paul writes about the "Weak" and the "Strong."

The Jewish Christians were decidedly Jewish: they still kept the Sabbath; they celebrated Jewish feast days; they kept the kosher laws; they circumcised their children. The Gentile Christians were decidedly Gentile: they did NOT keep the Jewish laws; they did not worry about circumcision; they ate whatever they wanted. Both groups thought that they were the stronger Christians.

Here is what Paul tells us: "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Paul argues that the Jewish Christians are the "weaker" group. Paul, the "Jew of Jews, the Pharisee of Pharisees," argues that the Gentile Christians are the stronger. Yet he also says this:
"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Although they were the "Stronger" Christians, they were supposed to do whatever was necessary for those whose faith was "weaker." That is what it means to be a "Strong" Christian!

Who are the stronger Christians among us? The truth is, we all believe that we are the stronger Christians. Each of us believes that we are right. Our way of doing things is best, our traditions are the correct ones, our church is THE CHURCH and all of the others are wrong. It's what we believe!

So what does this mean for us today? What are your thoughts?