A Thoughtful Life, Part 1.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, [0:04] my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:06] And what a privilege it is to be with you here this morning and share God’s Word with you. [0:11] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Romans chapter 14. [0:15] We’re going to be starting in verse 1. By God’s grace, we’ll make it to verse 9 today. [0:21] But we’ve been going through the entire book of Romans as a church body together.

[0:27] We’re in the 57th part of that short series through the book of Romans. [0:34] Where we are right now is we’re talking about the fact that when you trust in Jesus [0:39] and you seek to live a life in which you build the church of Jesus, a Christian community will [0:46] necessarily be formed. Since the beginning of Romans 12, the apostle Paul has unpacked what [0:54] life of following Jesus actually looks like in your every day. It is giving every part of your [1:00] life to God as an act of worship to be used however he deems fit rather than however we see fit.

[1:09] Whenever Jesus is followed, it must be with the understanding that the goal is always for other [1:15] people to see and hear about Jesus through your life. And as this happens, the church of Jesus [1:23] grows and people within the church disciple one another and grow in faithfulness in their life [1:30] to the gospel, to their King Jesus Christ. And there will come an issue though through this. [1:37] When sinful people get together and do anything, problems will arise. [1:42] And the reason that our relationships will get messy at times is because while we are on a

[1:47] journey to become like Jesus, none of us are completely like Jesus yet. In Romans 14, Paul [1:55] deals with quarrels and fights and arguments that have broken out in the early church division [2:02] is starting to rise over particular issues. And understand that when you come into community with [2:09] believers, when you come into relationships that lead to discipleship, that [2:17] self-righteousness is going to be exposed in you. The reality is what you’re going to do most [2:23] often is you’re going to seek to expose self-righteousness in other people.

[2:28] You’re going to accuse other people of self-righteousness. You’re going to accuse [2:32] other people of holding you to standards that are unnecessary. You’re going to accuse other people [2:36] of needing to repent. The most self-righteous person that you know is you.

[2:43] The most self-righteous person in your life that is causing the most problems is you. [2:53] Friend, the most judgmental person that you know is you. The person that is going to place the most [3:02] barriers in your path to becoming more like Christ is not your mortal enemy, whoever that may be, [3:12] is not the person sitting next to you, is not even the pastor of your church. It’s you. [3:20] And for my life, it’s me. That’s the person that you deal with the most. I do not preach the most [3:30] sermons that you hear in your life. It may feel that way sometimes, but you do. You begin preaching

[3:37] a gospel to yourself as soon as you wake up in the morning, and you don’t stop preaching to yourself [3:45] maybe until you go to bed that night, and then I don’t know what goes on in your brain in between. [3:50] But maybe you preach something to yourself in between as well. But the question that we’ve got to [3:56] deal with is that people, and you necessarily, are going to bring baggage from your life of sin [4:07] into the church. You’ve done it, you do it, you’re going to do it again. But if it’s one thing that [4:15] the church can do and that you can do in the church of Jesus Christ, it is deal with sin. You

[4:22] should not be afraid of that. But the most difficult one that you will expose in your life, [4:29] the most difficult one that you will deal with from other people’s lives even, [4:34] is the issue of ingrained self-righteousness. And so in that, Paul’s going to ask us some questions [4:42] in his text as he seeks to expose the sin that’s going on inside of us, and he’s going to deal with [4:48] the issue of why do you surround yourself and build relationships with the people that you build [4:56] relationships, and the way that you build relationships, or maybe even push relationships

[5:01] away in seeking to avoid relationships. And Paul warns us here that our community must be formed [5:09] by the gospel above absolutely everything else that is going on in our lives. And when it is not, [5:15] it is built on commonalities and self-interests that will cause comparison and judgmentalism [5:22] rather than mutual respect as people who are loved by God seeking to love like God. And so [5:30] here’s what Paul deals with starting in verse 1. He says,

[5:46] I don’t know why anyone would do that. So that’s not me. I’ll tell you that right now.

[6:21] One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. [6:27] Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it [6:33] in honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, [6:38] while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God, for none of us [6:44] lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, [6:49] we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end,

[6:58] Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Pray with me.

[7:11] Father, Lord, I am so thankful. So thankful that you’ve welcomed me.

[7:22] So thankful that you’ve brought me into relationship with yourself, that you’ve [7:26] reconciled me and many who are with us. Lord, my prayer is that you would build in us a confidence [7:35] that the good news of what you have done to bring us into your presence, keep us in your presence, [7:41] endure us in your presence, and have us in your presence for eternity, that it is enough.

[7:48] That we can be satisfied in it, that we can rest in it, that we can walk in your grace. Lord, I pray [7:54] that your Word would go into our lives today and build a healthy community of people building [8:00] relationships to make disciples who make disciples. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. [8:08] Help me to preach your Word today. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen. [8:15] And number one this morning, I want us to understand that Paul is bringing us an idea here [8:19] that Christian community must be based on the gospel. Christian community must be based

[8:26] on the gospel and solely on the gospel. Paul brings this as a presupposition or an assumption [8:35] into Romans chapter 14. He’s been dealing with how we find our identity. He’s been dealing with [8:41] how we get inspired to do what it is that we do. He’s been dealing with why we act the way that [8:48] we act, how we should actually gauge how we act. And then he immediately goes into how we are [8:55] interacting with one another as the people of God in the environment of the local church. [9:03] And so Paul brings an assumption that if the gospel is working in your life,

[9:08] that if the gospel of Jesus is trusted in your life, that you are necessarily going to go [9:15] into what we refer to here as community with other believers. And what that means is that [9:22] as the church of Jesus Christ, we are building relationships with one another for the stated [9:29] purpose of helping each other become fully devoted followers of Jesus. And Paul just assumes it right [9:35] here in Romans 14. He doesn’t spell it out. He’s done that elsewhere. Jesus has done that. The [9:40] Old Testament was built on that premise of a people of God finding a collective identity

[9:46] in following God, aiding one another to glorify God. And so Paul assumes it here. And so you [9:54] cannot hope to apply Romans 14 to your life if you make part of your pursuit avoiding relationships [10:04] in the local church or avoiding discipleship or not engaging people in discipleship or specifically [10:10] setting out one of the main commitments of your life to be committed relationships with [10:16] other disciples in order to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. And if you cannot [10:22] apply a section of the scripture to your life, then there’s a problem.

[10:31] Basically, you’re not doing it right. And so Paul brings this presupposition into us, [10:37] and he lays it right in front of us. And he says, when he comes into your life, [10:45] there’s a if. He says, this is going to happen if you’re following Jesus. Therefore, if you are not [10:52] in relationships in the local church, entering into those environments, then you need to repent of that.

[11:00] And so Paul makes that point very clear to us. And so we must see that assumption that the gospel does [11:07] gather a people. Everything that he has talked about in the previous two chapters, from the [11:13] fact that you’ve been given giftings in order to build the community of the church to actually how [11:18] to engage in living for the gospel has been to form this community that he’s talking about.

[11:28] And so Paul then specifically addresses what to do when people bring in faulty understandings from [11:33] previous experiences into the church and are offended when people don’t do everything their way. [11:41] Have you ever had that problem? Or have you ever been that problem?

[11:50] I’m often amazed at how many people will tell me how they did things at their other church.

[11:58] And often I don’t say it, and I have said it a few times, [12:01] didn’t you just leave there? Why would I want to do anything like the way that was being done when [12:10] you left? See, we’re all bringing in some type of previous understanding, some type of presumption, [12:20] some type of thought as to how things need to be done. And oftentimes we attempt, rather than [12:27] dealing with that in our own lives and rather than understanding that it’s not all about me, [12:33] we often go to other people and we say, well, let me make my problem your problem.

[12:39] Don’t do that. That’s not a community builder, by the way, which is what you’re to be called. That’s [12:46] a battering ram. And it’s not going to help anything. But Paul is actually dealing with [12:51] something that’s even larger than that. And so to specifically understand what he means by those [12:57] who are weak in the faith, he’s dealing with two things. He’s dealing with people who are weak in [13:03] the faith. And then the other assumption is that he’s dealing with people who are strong in the [13:08] faith or more mature in the faith than the weaker Christian. And specifically all commentators

[13:12] basically agree that what’s happening in the church at Rome that Paul’s specifically dealing [13:16] with here is that Jewish Christians have come into what is kind of at least half of them are [13:24] Gentile believers who have no experience with temple worship, who are never engaged in following [13:29] the Old Testament law. So they’re not having to unlearn the law system. They’re not having to [13:35] unlearn the Jewish eating rituals. They’re not having to unlearn all of the festival worship [13:40] that God required. They’re not having to unlearn all of the temple sacrifice motif. And the Jewish

[13:45] Christians are coming in and they’re saying, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what did you eat for dinner?

[13:52] Oh, oh, no, you need to go get purified from that. That was unclean. You can’t follow Jesus [14:01] and eat what you’re eating. You can’t follow Jesus and not recognize the festivals. You can’t [14:11] hope to follow Jesus and not purify your hands before the meal and not go through all of the [14:20] things that you’re doing. You can’t follow Jesus and not be as Jewish as me, to put it bluntly.

[14:27] And what does Paul say about that? Paul uses what would have been a very offensive term [14:34] to someone who thinks that their religiosity makes them strong. He says, actually, the restrictions [14:41] that you’re attempting to put on everyone else, it means that you are of the weakest form of [14:45] faith that exists. That’s the terminology that he uses in the original language. [14:51] He says, basically, you barely have a foot to stand on. You need someone to actually help you [14:57] walk. You are so weak. But note what he says to the strong. He doesn’t say, mock the weak.

[15:09] He doesn’t say, tell them to get away. He says, as for the one who’s weak, welcome him. [15:18] And don’t do it just to pick a fight. Don’t do it just to prove how much smarter you are, [15:25] or how much more liberated you are in your faith, or how much more free in Christ that you are, [15:31] because you can do all of these things, that that person has a guilty conscience over when they [15:37] do it. And so Paul is actually advocating for people coming together with their weaknesses and [15:45] with their strengths and actually doing something quite revolutionary, applying the end of Romans

[15:51] 13 saying, love your neighbor. Love people. Help people grow in their faith. He’s actually accusing [16:03] both camps, the weak and the strong, of sin. He’s accusing them both of self-righteousness, [16:09] and he rebukes both because real division was taking place. Note what he says over here in [16:14] verse 3. He says, let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. Let not the one who [16:19] abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. What he’s saying is, [16:25] if you are the one who’s eating the pork, you got some spare ribs going on. I mean,

[16:30] you got some real good barbecue going on. And the Jew walks in and he says, what in the world?

[16:38] Don’t throw your leftovers at him. Say, hey bro, want a doggy bag?

[16:46] And then he’s saying to the one who comes in and says, you cannot have that meat. He says, [16:54] do not condemn someone because of what they eat. Do not condemn someone [17:01] because their conscience is not as sensitive as yours about these issues. You see, [17:10] they were passing judgment on one another because one was free in Christ. And he says, [17:15] I am not tied down by these restrictions that Jesus has fulfilled.

[17:22] He’s looking at the other and he’s saying, do not attempt to make the church as weak as you are [17:27] because you need the church to help you get stronger. You see, when real division takes [17:36] place, it causes us to actually go down to the root of why we’re together in the first place. [17:42] And that’s why this division is actually very helpful for the Roman church and it’s extremely [17:45] helpful for us because it makes you go down to why the foundation was built in the first place. [17:52] It was built so that everything wouldn’t fall apart. I mean, you could get mold on the walls.

[17:56] You could have holes here or holes there. And as long as you’ve got a good foundation, [17:59] you’ve got something to build on. You can tear the whole structure down and then rebuild on a good [18:03] foundation. And so Paul wants them to understand that gospel community is built on the righteousness [18:08] of Jesus alone. Welcome one another because God has welcomed and accepted you. You are not [18:18] the one who determines whether or not God has welcomed someone. Therefore, Paul says, [18:28] welcome him because God has. If he believes in the gospel, then he has been welcomed by God.

[18:34] It doesn’t mean there aren’t issues to work on. It doesn’t mean there isn’t help that needs to be [18:39] given. It doesn’t mean there isn’t repentance that needs to be happening in their lives. [18:42] What it means is, is that the person has been accepted by God. The person has been made righteous [18:48] in Christ through the work of Christ. Therefore, you are to bring them in and build a loving [18:53] relationship so that real change is possible. To put it simply, Paul is advocating for the [19:04] efficiency of the gospel to a crowd that was struggling to trust that. They wanted to add

[19:12] other things. And you’ve done that. I mean, we’ve all done that. You have this part of discipleship [19:23] that’s yours. I mean, you are passionate about it. You are, I mean, it is what you want. And [19:33] everything would change. I mean, nobody would even sin anymore. I mean, it would just save the world.

[19:44] And then you probably even get, I mean, the signups were great. I mean, everybody’s RSVPing on the [19:50] city like there’s no tomorrow, but then someone RSVP’s no. I wonder what sin they’ve got going [19:56] on in their lives. See, Paul is warning us as to our legalistic tendencies, not because [20:11] something’s right or wrong, but because we’re finding our righteousness in it rather than [20:15] finding our righteousness in Jesus. You see, friends, if your righteousness is in your activity [20:24] rather than Jesus’s finished activity, then you’re struggling with legalism.

[20:33] If you are the gauge to other people’s righteousness and when other people don’t live [20:39] up to the arbitrary standards that you make that just kind of happen to look exactly like everything [20:46] you do, then you’re in a legalistic sin and you are passing unrighteous judgment on other people.

[20:59] Friends, in building this community, Paul wants to deal with this issue, one that he has dealt [21:04] with elsewhere. Look in Colossians 2.16, he puts it plainly. He says, don’t judge people simply [21:09] on this basis. He says, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with [21:15] regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. Let no one pass judgment on you in regards to [21:22] how many GMOs you digest. Oh, I’m sorry. Let no one pass judgment on you as to how many [21:34] chemicals are in your Windex. Let no one pass judgment on you as to how organic your vegetables

[21:44] are. Let no one pass judgment on you as to whether or not you find the texture of tofu [21:53] absolutely stunningly beautiful or as to whether you just think you just push some squishy slime [21:57] in your mouth. Let no one pass judgment on you if McDonald’s is your favorite restaurant. [22:09] Yeah, baby. Ask my wife. They’ve never disappointed me. It’s the same every time. Sometimes I wonder why [22:20] and how they pull that off. But it, I mean, every time that quarter pounder, it’s magic.

[22:31] Yeah, but.

[22:36] Let no one pass judgment on you because your righteousness does not depend on the food that [22:41] you eat or the food that you do not eat. Now, friend, you are free in Christ to be a vegetarian. [22:50] You’re free in Christ to be a vegan. You’re free in Christ to only shop at a grocery store [22:56] where they literally walked to the field, got the fruit that had bugs all over it because they [23:03] didn’t use pesticides. They swiped all those gnats off, brought it in, put it directly into [23:09] your bag. I mean, it’s so organic. It was never even on the shelf. And you are free in Christ to

[23:15] do it. And I’m free in Christ to get a bucket of pesticides, go to the dumpster behind the [23:22] grocery store, get the five day old fruit, dump it in and take a bite. We’re both free, but we are [23:32] not free to look at one another and say, because of this, you are in sin. You need to eat like I [23:40] eat. You need to dress like I dress. You need to do what I do. You need to watch what I watch and [23:45] you need to avoid what I avoid. That’s the only way to follow Jesus. You are not free to do that.

[23:55] And if you do, what Paul is telling you is that you are bringing division into the community of God. [24:06] And don’t do that. Don’t do that. The strong will tend to feel superior to the weak. [24:16] And the weak will tend to condemn the strong. Why? Because everyone thinks they are strong. [24:25] I mean, just to put it simply, every single one of you think that you are strong. [24:31] So Paul’s really getting to the root here is this is not about strength. This is not about [24:36] weakness. This is about Christ. This is about Jesus. This is about finding your sufficiency in

[24:42] life on one basis. And that is what Jesus has done. That’s the fact that Jesus took your sin to the [24:51] cross and he finished it. All the sins of your past, all the sins of your present, and all the [24:58] sins of your future, cleansed. And so I tell you, friend, if you are the most organic person in the [25:08] world, do you have the faith to eat a five-year-old Twinkie?

[25:17] And if you are, I mean, steak is just like every night, [25:22] which by the way, that’s probably going to kill you, so maybe you should stop. [25:26] Do you have the faith to eat some broccoli?

[25:33] You see, we might say, oh, this is so arbitrary. This is so silly. Is it? [25:37] Is it not what we often in our Christian culture find our righteousness in, the activities we [25:44] engage in or do not engage in? Is that not how we build our identity of righteousness oftentimes? [25:50] And so what Paul is doing is, is Paul is trying to rip away from you all of the things that you’re [25:55] building your identity in apart from Jesus. And he’s saying, if it’s not in Jesus Christ, [25:59] his finished work on the cross alone, then you cannot hope to build a right identity in the

[26:09] things that you are doing. Do not judge out of a position of self-righteousness.

[26:18] Number two, this morning, you need to think through why you do what you do. [26:23] You need to think through why you do what you do. Note what he says in verses five and six here. [26:28] He says, one person esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. [26:34] Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day observes it [26:40] in honor of the Lord. The one who eats eats in honor of the Lord since he gives thanks to God [26:44] while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

[26:50] Paul is not advocating that the gospel builds a community without standards. That’s not at all [26:56] he’s advocating here. The church to be built on the love of Christ requires the standards of God’s [27:01] love. He’s already been clear about that throughout the book of Romans. But what he’s doing here is [27:06] he’s building an ethic for daily living on the previous 13 chapters that he has already unpacked. [27:13] This is clear from Romans 13, 9 through 14. What Paul is advocating for is that we build [27:19] disciples whose motives emerge from a righteousness built on Jesus and not self. He’s not saying that

[27:26] there doesn’t need to be a structure of discipleship for people to grow. Paul is speaking to personal [27:32] preferences and bringing your personal baggage in and placing it on everyone’s shoulders and saying [27:38] I’m the basis to work off of here. So is the freedom in Christ just a free for all? [27:45] Is Paul advocating for people just to do whatever they can convince themselves that they are free [27:51] to do? No. Scripture does not guide us there. Paul is actually advocating that you put the previous [27:58] 13 chapters of gospel knowledge into your mind to work through how you should live as a Christian

[28:05] and a member of the local church seeking to be a disciple and making disciples. That is what he [28:12] means by being fully convinced in his own mind. Then he ends it with honor the Lord. [28:20] So how do you think through the life and standards that you bring into the community of Christ? [28:25] How do you do that? Because there’s this huge temptation that many, specifically in my generation, [28:29] have taken this to just simply trumpet freedom in Christ and say oh well everyone else is weak [28:34] because they cannot do all of the immoral things that I do. No, no, no, no. It’s not at all what

[28:40] he’s talking about here. Tim Keller is very helpful in giving this process and considering [28:46] these verses. So how do you think through what you need to do and how you should advocate for [28:51] gospel-centered living in community? First, start with the Bible. It’s a pretty good place to start.

[28:57] You need to ask yourself is this practice commanded or forbidden in Scripture? Is this practice [29:05] commanded or forbidden in Scripture? There is much that the Word of God has been very, very clear on.

[29:16] And so you can trust it. You can go to it. Friend, it is sufficient for you. It is authoritative [29:26] for you. Therefore you can trust the Scriptures. Is my judgment stemming from God or my preference? [29:34] Only the Bible can answer that. Is my practice in line with the gospel of Jesus Christ? [29:42] Only the Scriptures can answer questions like that. And once you’ve done that, secondly, [29:48] how does it affect those around me? Do my actions, attitudes, and outcomes aid or hinder others [29:55] from following Jesus and finding their righteousness in him? Do my activities aid others to come to Jesus?

[30:04] When you’re thinking about the decisions in your life and what you should or shouldn’t do, [30:09] does that factor in? Because that is what the gospel does. It not only builds a standard that [30:17] is objective by the Scriptures, but it also takes it and applies it to life and say, [30:22] how is this action? How is this attitude? How is this thought process going to affect everyone around me?

[30:35] And thirdly, give it thought and give it prayer. You say, what? I got to think?

[30:44] Yes, always. A lot. Do not be flippant. It’s one issue that we struggle with in our [30:53] individualistic culture is we’re very flippant with how we even exercise our rights. [30:59] It is wise to actually examine your life. Put some real effort into thinking through why you do [31:05] what you do in the outcome of actions and attitudes. Think about it and then take those [31:12] thoughts to the Lord and pray about them. And then finally, act according to conscience. [31:21] I mean, that’s what Paul says. If you do all of these things, then go. Live. Make decisions.

[31:28] And then you will be a disciple seeking to help others grow in Jesus as well. If you do these [31:32] things, you will still have contention over disputable matters. But you will engage people [31:39] with the mindset that the Holy Spirit will give you. You will engage people differently. You will [31:45] argue differently. I’m not going to tell you you’re never going to argue. You are. But if you [31:54] follow the principles set forward in the Scriptures, set forward in the gospel of caring [31:58] and loving other people, set forward in thought and prayer, set forward in acting according to

[32:03] conscience, I promise you your arguments will be different. Your offenses will be less. Do your [32:11] choices flow out of faith in Jesus and mission for people? I’ll give you an example of what that [32:18] looks like. In 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with a church in turmoil, again, over meat. Why? Because [32:25] in 1 Corinthians, the meat that was in contention was meat that had been offered to idols, literal [32:31] false gods, and then sold on the clearance rack at the butcher the next day. Literally, the reason [32:40] they could offer it the next day is because the idols didn’t eat. They had lots of leftovers.

[32:46] As they took the doggy back to the butcher, and they’re like half off sale.

[32:51] And there were people who had repented of those false religions. And in this situation, [32:57] the scenario is backwards. There were people who had repented of those false religions. These were [33:02] Gentiles who were coming to faith in Jesus and joining in with Jewish Christians. And those [33:07] Jewish Christians were saying, half off sale. We’re going and buying the cheap meat. And the [33:15] people who were repenting of idolatry were saying, no, don’t you know that was offered to idols? [33:23] Funny story, when I was younger, I was privileged. I mean, I was a teenager when this happened,

[33:30] so I can blame some of my attitude on that. But I had the privilege of eating with some [33:36] foreign missionaries. And we went to a Japanese restaurant. And they cooked it in front of us, [33:42] and for a minute there, I thought somebody was going to throw a knife at me. It was a scary thing. [33:46] And after the meal, I had, I mean, seriously, I had some steak in my grill. And so I was like, [33:53] I cannot get it out. And so I needed a toothpick, and I saw a toothpick rack. [33:58] And they were sitting in Buddha’s lap. And to me, it’s just, he ain’t real.

[34:06] So I needed toothpicks. I took the toothpick and I started picking it. And I said, oh, man, [34:10] it was probably really rude, too. But one of the missionaries looked at me and said, [34:15] I cannot believe you just did that. I said, huh?

[34:22] So in my mind, I was just like, oh, I’m sorry, I should have gone to the bathroom. It was probably [34:29] rude. He said, no, you took that toothpick from Buddha. And I was like 15. And so I was a little [34:39] more blunt even back then. And my response was, well, you know he’s not real, right?

[34:49] But you see, different people have different sensibilities. And in that situation, [34:55] I’ll be frank, even at 15, I was the stronger believer. I was. Because Buddha, he isn’t real, [35:02] by the way. If he’s offering toothpicks, take one. All right? I mean, you are free in Christ, [35:09] take breath mints. I mean, he’s got some egg rolls. I mean, you take them, you eat them, [35:15] you enjoy them, unless that’s an issue. And then I sincerely apologize.

[35:21] But that’s what’s going on in this scenario in Corinth. And so Paul comes in and he speaks [35:30] specifically to the Jewish Christians. And his response is so funny because it’s not black and [35:36] white. And that’s what we want so many times. Just give me a yes or a no. Can I eat the meat [35:43] or can I not eat the meat? And Paul’s response is, of course you can eat the meat. I mean, [35:50] it’s on sale. Don’t pass up a good deal. But, and this is between 1 Corinthians 8 and 1 Corinthians [36:02] 10. It takes him three chapters to deal with this issue. In verse 9, he looks to those Jewish

[36:08] Christians in 1 Corinthians 8 and he says, but take care. You see, a lot of the problems in [36:16] your life would be taken care of if you would just take care. But take care that this right, [36:23] and he called, I love that Paul uses such language because we are all about advocating for our rights. [36:30] He says, take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

[36:42] Because Paul knew that there were people who had repented of pagan idolatry and they were one step [36:48] away from going back into it. Friend, you don’t know what people are struggling with.

[36:57] Then in chapter 9 verse 22 he says this, see Paul loved people. He says, to the weak, I became weak, [37:09] that I might win the week. I’ve become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. [37:14] See, here’s the deal. We want to read a text like that and think it has something to do with the [37:18] clothing that we wear or the music that we listen to. It has nothing to do with this. [37:25] Paul is saying when your brother is struggling, you struggle with him.

[37:35] If they’re struggling to continue in righteousness and trust Christ above their sin, [37:42] above their pagan gods, above they’re just things that tempt them to go into sin. He says, [37:49] do not be so unloving as to flaunt your freedom in Christ in front of them.

[38:01] Then in chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians verses 23 through 24 he says, all things are lawful. [38:10] He says, friend, you can’t lose Jesus. But then he says, but not all things are helpful.

[38:17] All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Note what he says then, let no one seek his [38:26] own good. That’s a knife through your heart because that’s what 90% of my time is dedicated to. [38:37] He says, but the good of his neighbor. Whose good are you obsessed with?

[38:50] Thirdly, this morning, everything you do communicates what you think about God.

[38:56] Everything you do communicates what you think about God.

[39:00] Verse 7 through 9, he’s clear. He says, everything that you do in your life is under the Lord.

[39:09] These aren’t just arbitrary things that we’re dealing with. None of us lives to himself. [39:14] In verse 7, he says, none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, [39:19] we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we’re the Lord’s. For to this [39:24] end, Christ died and lived again that he might be both Lord, excuse me, Lord, both of the dead [39:29] and the living. Why does he end it that way? To let us know that those people don’t matter [39:37] and all that matters is God? No, what he’s actually saying is all that matters is God.

[39:44] Therefore, those people matter. He says, when you flaunt your rights that goes into the lives [39:54] of the weak and they struggle, you need to understand that God cares about those people. [40:01] When you make your mission about how, excuse me, about showing how much more righteous you [40:06] are than others based on what you practice or don’t practice, then you don’t get it. [40:13] Life isn’t measured by you. You live unto the Lord. You die unto the Lord. Your life is only [40:20] significant if it leads people to Jesus. He’s the standard by which everything is measured.

[40:34] So to the strong, I want you to understand that it does not show strength to live as though you are [40:40] God. You are not the ultimate judge. Therefore, be careful how you measure your judgment. Your [40:50] judgment should lead people to Jesus. Does it? Are you thinking through the life that you are [40:57] living with the realization that Jesus is Lord? If you’re mature in Christ and have a growing [41:05] relationship with Him, then your efforts in this life need to be about bolstering community. [41:13] If you are divisive, then you are not mature. I want you to understand that.

[41:19] If you’re divisive, you are not mature.

[41:24] As those of you that are struggling with religious tendencies, with finding your righteousness and [41:31] activities rather than Christ, those whom Paul has designated as weak in the faith, [41:37] you really do think you are more righteous by what you eat. You really do think you are [41:42] more righteous by what you drink or don’t drink. You think to have a beer, it splits hell wide open [41:49] and you jump in. It does not show faith to refuse to grow stronger. It does not show faith to [42:03] refuse to grow stronger. Do you need to grow in your faith? Is your religious and delicate

[42:12] sensibility a barrier to community? Are you easily offended?

[42:23] Friend, I want you to understand, don’t condemn what God has purified. [42:28] Don’t reject what God has accepted. Live with gospel urgency that lives to take [42:37] the mission of Jesus forward rather than sitting still, [42:44] making sure everything that you do is just precise. It’s got to be just right or it’s sinful. [42:52] I can’t err one way or the other or God will be disappointed in me.

[42:57] Friend, if you trust Jesus, I pray this gives you great freedom because it gives me so much freedom, [43:05] gives me so much bravery, gives me courage. Friend, if you trust Jesus, God will never [43:11] be disappointed in you. Do you believe that? Do you know that?

[43:20] How today that frees you, that frees you. God never looks to someone who trusts Jesus [43:29] and shakes his head and says, I’m so disappointed in you. Oh, Jesus has made that impossible.

[43:41] God could never love you more than he loves you right now. His love for you is unchanging.

[43:54] Finally, this morning, I want you to understand that people matter more than preference.

[44:01] I want you to understand that if you are controlled by Jesus, then your freedom is found in living [44:11] like Jesus. Do you want to grow weak, Christian? Do you want to be humble, strong Christian? [44:21] Then live to take the good news to more people and disciple more people. When you are not [44:29] committed to long-term discipleship, you will make life about pointless matters that don’t help [44:37] anyone grow. And you will always be wondering why mission isn’t happening the way that you think it [44:45] should. And here’s what I want to tell you. Mission is happening, friend. It’s just happening apart

[44:53] from you. Trust Jesus and live for him. As the band comes up, this is a tough issue

[45:09] because we’re people, point blank. But the key in following Jesus, the key in trusting Jesus, [45:20] the key in living for others through Jesus is that your life is to be consumed by Jesus.

[45:31] And so if you’re in here this morning and you are a follower of Jesus, I want you [45:35] to understand that it is not about you and it is never going to be about you.

[45:41] When it is, then you lose Jesus.

[45:46] But when your life is all about Jesus, consumed with finding your identity in him, [45:51] consumed with finding your inspiration from him, consumed with worshipping him with more and more [45:56] of your life, then you will have a life worth living and you will have a love worth giving.

[46:05] If you’re in here and you’re saying, I’ve never found my righteousness anywhere but through what [46:09] I do. I’ve never trusted in Christ. I don’t know that my faith is in him. I want you to [46:16] know this morning that you can be saved. That you can trust Jesus right here, right now, [46:23] and he will save you. Not because I say so, but because he has said so. He died for your sin [46:31] and he rose from the dead to give you a brand new life in him that he will never take away from you. [46:38] He said that he will never leave you and he will never forsake you. He will be with you all through

[46:43] this life and then he will endure you through an eternity in his presence. That’s what you need. [46:50] If that’s you, trust him now. There are people in the back and in the foyer that would love to talk [46:55] to you about it. Right now, for those of you that have trusted in Christ, I want you to celebrate [47:02] what Jesus has done. The bread represents his broken body. The cup represents his shed blood. [47:09] That’s the price that he paid for you. If you believe that, he invites you to come and eat and [47:16] drink and proclaim to everyone in here, I’ve trusted Christ and I want to live for him.

[47:24] When you’re ready, come.