"loving when we disagree," 11.4.12

Romans 14:1-13

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. ⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” ¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God. ¹³Let 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.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 3:3-5, 9-11, 16-23
¹⁰Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹²What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? ⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth…. ⁹For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. ¹⁶Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

²¹So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

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            The early church was an amazingly diverse community. In the months after Jesus’ death and resurrection the first few disciples became hundreds and then thousands by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even in the beginning, when everyone joining the community was Jewish, there was a wide mix of different cultures and languages. Soon the church was discussing whether there was a place for people to follow Jesus and the God of Israel without keeping the laws and traditions that shaped the Jewish community. When the first church council decided that the gospel of Jesus was for everyone, with or without Moses’ law, the church’s diversity became dizzying.

            This early church contained Jewish priests and tax collectors. It contained scribes who had copied and preserved Israel’s law and people who couldn’t read. It included a few government leaders, some financially comfortable people, who supported the church by providing space to meet, and many people who struggled each day to survive. The church contained teachers and scholars as well as servants and widows. It contained slaves and slave masters.

            With all that variety, it’s no surprise there were conflicts and differences within the church. Paul spent lots of time and lots of ink advising different communities on how to stay united in the face of serious differences within the church. Paul’s wisdom is helpful for us, especially this weekend, as we face differences and division in our community.

            In the early church there were a number of important leaders who traveled to teach about Jesus. It seems some people thought a lot about which leader they felt closest to and looked down on people who identified with a different leader. That still happens in the church now as we all have favorite speakers or writers or churches who guide us in our faith. Of course, it’s great to connect with teachers and learn from them, but it’s a problem if we judge other people because of what we’ve read or who we listen to.

            Paul puts it well: Jesus Christ is the foundation for every Christian. Paul and other leaders play a part in building up believers, so each believer is a bit different, but we all have the same foundation. The buildings might look different; each teacher emphasizes different things, but the core beliefs are the same. The point is Jesus, everything else is just details.

            This emphasis is especially important in an election week when it seems like the only thing that matters is red or blue, Romney or Obama. If you’re on facebook, you probably see both funny and mean posts exalting one candidate or political party and tearing down the other. Each candidate argues that if they are elected the US will be on the right path into the future while their opponent will lead us into disaster. Don’t get me wrong: this is an important election; there are big issues ahead of us as a country and it matters how you vote, but let’s slow down for a minute and breath.