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?

Acts 11-13

This post is copied from the Hawks for Christ blog. Hope you enjoy it!
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Hey guys, sorry it has been so long. I am posting 11-13 here, and 14 and 15 tomorrow, then we will be caught up. Again, sorry about the delay. Hope you are keeping up with your reading.

Acts 11:
I love the story of Barnabas, "The Son of Encouragement." Barnabas seems to have the gift of discernment and encouragement; he always seems to know those who have the best hearts and those who are truly seeking to follow God. Here's what we know about him: "He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord." What an amazing thought! Barnabas was the one who spoke up for Paul before the disciples; he was the one sent to Antioch to encourage the new Christians and to teach them in their faith. And he was the one who brought Paul to Antioch to minister to the people there.

I hope I can be a Barnabas in the lives of other people.

Acts 12:
During this time we begin to see the church being truly persecuted. Herod gets in on the action, having the apostle James killed for his faith and jailing Peter. He surrounded him with soldiers, and yet God STILL managed to pull of a miraculous escape.

One of the things that always sticks out to me about this story is the actions of the church. Luke tells us that the church is gathered together praying for Peter's release. Yet when Peter shows up they are sure that he had died! Rather than believing their prayers worked, they instead think that the worst has happened!

Don't we sometimes pray like that too? I know I do. I pray that God will act, but then I try to explain it away when he actually does. It seems like I could have been an integral part of this church's ministry!

Acts 13:
How do you make decisions in your own life? How did you decide to go to KU? How did you decide what to major in? How do you know what God wants you to do in your life?

These are important questions to consider.

In Acts 13 we find the church in Antioch engaged in worship and fasting. It seems like this is a typical part of their practice. In the midst of their worship the Holy Spirit told them to send Paul and Barnabas out on a trip to spread the Gospel.

It doesn't seem like Paul and Barnabas are looking to leave; it doesn't even seem like the church is looking to send people out as missionaries. However, when the Holy Spirit speaks, they listen!

What do they do next? They continue to do what they were doing before! They continued to fast and pray about the Lord's decision, then they decided to obey. They blessed Paul and Barnabas and then sent them out to do the Lord's work.

I sometimes think that I refuse to listen to God's leading in my life. Sometimes I spend all of my time praying about the future and forget to listen for God to lead me!

Ultimately, however, I think God's guidance comes from a life of worship, fasting, and prayer. These practices don't seem to be new for the church; rather, they seem to be a part of their system of worship. I believe that our hearts become attuned to the heart of God as we worship him and seek to honor and glorify him.

Acts in April

Happy Holy Week! May God bless you in your journey towards his kingdom.

I am sorry that it was been so long since my last post. I apologize for not being more forthcoming in my blog postings.

Recently, Hawks for Christ has been reading through the book of Acts together. Our event, entitled "Acts in April," is a chance to read through the founding of the early church and discover our purpose and mission in the Kingdom. Each day we read one chapter from the book of Acts and discuss it in a blog setting. We have had a great discussion over our readings so far; to read more see the blog.

I wanted to bring over today's post and put it here for you to read. I hope you enjoy it. Please fill me in with any thoughts you might have.

God's blessings on you today!
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One man is hauled in front of the Sanhedrin on trumped up charges. He is accused of blasphemy and wanting to destroy the Temple of the LORD. The religious leaders are afraid that he (and the movement he is a part of) will overthrow their power and bring about a new religious revolution.

Sound familiar? This sounds a lot like the story of Jesus, which played out this week two thousand years ago. Jesus is hauled up in front of the religious leaders, who have been looking for a way to kill him for years. They accuse him of blasphemy, present false witnesses (a breaking of the Ten Commandments), and then arrange to have him murdered (yet another break with the 10 Commandments.)

And the exact same thing happens to Stephen. Stephen is a man full of the Holy Spirit who serves the church in Jerusalem. The religious leaders are afraid of the miracles he is doing in the name of Christ, and they arrange to have him killed.

Stephen sums up the story of the Old Testament in his sermon. As he traces the history of the people of Israel, he talks about all of the times they were "hard-hearted," turning their backs on the LORD and his messengers.

What really riles them up, however, is the fact that he downplays the Temple. "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?' says the LORD. 'Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'"

This totally ticks off the religious elite, who are holding Stephen based on his blasphemy of the Temple. Then Stephen attacks their stubbornness, and reminds them that the Jews killed most of their prophets, and now they've killed the Son of God. At this point, they have him killed.

One of the things that stands out to me in this passage, however, is who was there. Saul (later known as Paul) is standing there giving his approval. After his conversion, Paul comes to the city of Athens and looks up at the Parthenon, a temple to Athena (and the other gods of Greece.) As he speaks to the Areopagus in the shadow of the Parthenon, he tells them: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." Wow, that sounds a lot like Stephen's statements in Acts 7. Isn't it amazing to think that Paul, the man who holds their coats while they stone Stephen, takes Stephen's words to heart in Acts 17 and uses them in a sermon of his own?

Isn't God good, that he can use tragic events to bring about amazing consequences?