Read: Romans 14:1-6
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him. (v. 1)
Whenever we read the Bible, God has something new to say to us. God’s word never returns empty (Isa. 55:11). By starting with Romans chapter 16, and then moving into the practical advice of chapters 14 and 15, we have a fresh lens to understand what we are reading.
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him” (v. 1). In the Roman house churches, there were people who were spiritually weak. This means that there were others in the Roman house churches who were the strong, although Paul doesn’t use the specific word “strong” until later (15:1). Who were the weak and the strong in these churches? In AD 49, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews (including Jewish believers in Jesus) from Rome. When they returned a few years later, the Jewish believers were the minority, outnumbered by Gentile believers. The Jewish believers followed the kosher table rules, whereas the Gentile believers did not. The Jewish believers judged the Gentiles, and the Gentile believers despised their Jewish counterparts. It is the strong (the Gentile believers) who were to welcome the weak (v. 1). The instruction here is that food customs of Jewish believers can be respected, while not making them the focus of the life and beliefs of the church.
Today we should take a moment to reflect on the ways believers in Jesus are in danger of despising one another in the things that Paul would declare non-essential.
As you pray, ask God to help you sort out the majors of the faith from mere custom.
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, Joyce, are active members of Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, Michigan. Kent is an active cyclist, and he and Joyce enjoy time with their children and grandchildren.
