Good Afternoon.
Judging one another is almost a parlor game for us. We do it without even thinking. It just captures a corner of our mind and flows thoughtlessly out of our mouths! It is a game that can quickly turn mean.
Paul opens today’s passage from Romans with a pretty broad statement: “Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another.” “No longer!” “Never!”
In my earlier life I was intrigued by books about management style. Many “management styles” and more accurately “management fads” were adopted wholly into the structures of churches. Anyone who thinks that pastors should write concise goals and objectives and then live their ministry according to the rules of “management by objectives” has no notion of what the pastoral ministry is like. (Allow me to recommend a marvelous book that might help you better understand the job of ministry: This Odd and Wondrous Calling, by Martin Copenhaver and Lillian Daniel) Ministry does not follow a linear path!
In Paul’s lesson for today he mentions something that I relate to a notion that I first read in the writings of Peter Drucker, THE management guru of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Drucker wrote that every manager should keep a rock on their desk because the first job of a manager, perhaps the most important job of a manager, was to remove the rocks from the paths of their staff. Paul writes: “never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another.” On this at least I’m sure that Paul would have understood what Drucker was talking about.
If you are a Christian – whether a pastor or a lay person – then you (me, us) should not place rocks, stumbling blocks, in the paths of other Christians. Paul is specifically speaking about a conflict between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians regarding dietary laws. (If that sounds strange to you then just think about the divisions within Christian believers about the definition of the Lord’s Supper.)He says: “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification.”
It would be dangerous to speculate too broadly in applying these words to our contemporary lives. The heart of what Paul was trying to say is that the sincerity of one’s faith is more important than legalistic insistence on rituals. Rituals are human products, thought up and articulated by people. Service to God, rooted in faith, is the core of our religion, not ritual. But Paul also seems to be saying that even our faith is the result of a personal interpretation of the Gospel and we should not be too quick to judge the faith of others by our standard.
The unity of these early Christian congregations was very important to Paul. He didn’t like to see bickering within the congregations especially if the bickering was based on whether or not my faith is better than yours! Sometimes Scripture leaves us with a lot of room for interpretation. This may be one of those places. Paul wasn’t a moral relativist. He did believe that there were certain tenets of faith that were necessary if one called oneself a Christian. Nonetheless he is clearly warning us about judging the sincerity of another’s faith. He is also making it clear that faith – not external behavior – was the source of our redemption and salvation. It’s up to us – today – to determine what externals proceed from faith and what externals undermine our faith and our salvation.
We are all quick to judge. We are all quick to say, “I know what’s best!” We are all quick to believe that our way is either the best way or the only way! Paul warns us to not rush to judgment and to be very careful about extending our belief structure to other people. He says: “The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification.” Don’t put rocks in anyone’s path!
Prayer: Lord God, fill our hearts with Your Holy Spirit. Help us to abandon our judgments of others. Let us know the righteousness, peace and joy that proceeds from You, and let the power of Your Spirit be at the heart of all that we say and do with one another. Let us do these things always for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Today’s readings are Joshua 8:30-35; Romans 14:13-23; Matthew 26:57-68; Psalm 119:49-72, Psalm 49 & 53.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
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