Romans 14:1-4 (NIVUK)
1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
It is clear from here and elsewhere that eating meat was controversial in the early church. This debate was not about vegetarianism as an ethical choice, rather whether it was okay it eat meat that had been offered to idols. Whilst this might be a debate that is irrelevant to us today, there is a principle beneath Paul’s writing that remains valid. He recognises that we will have disagree over their faith – what we believe and how we express this in practice – and urges us not to fall out over non-essential or unclear matters. This saying summarises it well, ‘In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity‘ (who said this first, ironically, is disputed!)
Father, help us not to be judgemental but gracious in our dealings with others, seeking to win unity rather than arguments.
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