Sermon 01/18/04 pm

Jim Huskey, Dealing With Weak Brethren

We're continuing our study in the book of Romans as we are now in that

applied christianity section that gives us some practical application.

In other words, this is how christianity is to affect you in your

dealings with other people, in your attitude toward others and toward

yourself.

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful

disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things; another,

who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that

eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth,

for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's

servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be

holden up; for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one

day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man

be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day,

regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the

Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for

he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth

not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no

man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord;

and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore,

or die, we are the Lord's." Rom. 14:1-8.

Dealing with weak brethren!!! Let me talk just a minute or two about

what Paul was NOT saying. You see, some people think if anybody

disagrees with anything you do, you ought not do it. That's not what

the passage says. This passage is dealing with one who is truly a

weak brother. Somebody is always going to find fault with everything

we do or don't do. It's like the little boy, the old man and the

donkey. They were walking along leading the donkey. Somebody saw it.

"How foolish! There that beast of burden is and you all are both

walking." The old man put the little boy on it. Somebody saw it.

"Now that's not right! The old man should be riding on that donkey and

there that little boy is riding and poor old man walking." The old

man took the little boy off and he got on to ride. Somebody saw it.

"There that old man is riding that donkey and letting that poor little

boy walk." So they both got on the donkey. Somebody saw it. "Look at

those cruel human beings, making that poor donkey carry both of them."

So they got off and carried the donkey. That's not what Paul was

teaching. It reminds me of an old story I heard. They were have a

church business meeting. Somebody suggested they buy a chandelier for

the auditorium. Now there's one in every crowd usually. One old

brother spoke up and said "I'm against it. In the first place it's

progressive, it's liberal. In the second place it's costs too much

money and in the third place, we don't have a soul here who can play

it." (That'll hit you in a minute, Dale.) That's not what Paul was

teaching. Paul was talking about someone who is genuinely weak in the

Faith. Remember that at the time Paul was writing this, not many of

the christians could be called "old-timers". Even the one's who had

been christians since the day of Pentecost at the most would have only

been christians for about 27 years. Most of these people like the

ones in Rome to whom he was writing had been christians for only a

short time. Remember the background from whence they came. Quite

different from christianity, it was a background of idolatry, a

background from which oft times the worship was lascivious and immoral.

So it was against that backdrop that Paul was writing.

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful

disputations." In other words, Paul was saying there's no need to get

in a big harangue about anything. If that's what the individual wants

to do then you're dealing with a different situation. You're not

dealing with a weak brother; you're dealing with somebody who wants

to argue. But if you see that the activity is going to have an adverse

effect, a harmful effect, that's different. Remember Paul said 'no

man lives to himself and no man dies to hiimself.' I've heard some in

the church say "it's no business what I do." Well, if you were out

in the desert, secluded from everybody else, having no contact with

anybody at any time, then maybe that would be true. Except it would

STILL BE THE LORD'S business, so the statement is sill not true.

We all come in contact with other people and we all have an influence,

one way or the other, on the people with whom we come in contact.

You may never know the influence you have had and what kind of

impression you've made on people. Couple of friends and I were having

breakfast downtown together Saturday morning. We do that often and

sit and chat. We're diverse ages. I'm the old man of the group. One

is about thirty, the other a few years younger than I. A fellow I've

become acquainted with and has worked with one of the funeral homes

ever since we've been in the area came by and spoke to us. One of the

friends at the table didn't realize that I knew the gentleman, and he

was going to introduce him to me. The gentleman said, "I know him

real well. That's one fine man, I hope you know that." Well, I've

dealt with the man in a professional way for over twenty years, but

that made me at least feel that in some little way I'd made a good

impression on him. That's what Paul was saying. None of us lives to

himself and one of us dies to himself. We never know in some respects

how large a shadow we cast.

Now in dealing with the subject, there are some interesting concepts

to be considered. In I Corinthians 10, beginning with verse 25, we

read, "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no

question for conscience sake; for the earth is the Lord's, and the

fulness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast,

and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking

no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This

is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that showed

it, and for conscience sake; for the earth is the Lord's, and the

fulness thereof. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other;

for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I

by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I

give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,

do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews,

nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God; even as I please all men

in all things, not seekking mine own profit, but the profit of many,

that they may be saved." I Cor. 10:25-33. Now this was written back

in that setting where they had the big idolatrous feasts, and they

offered animal sacrifices just as the Jews had done before. Then they

would take that meat and sell it in the marketplace. They didn't do

anything else with it so they'd take it and sell it in the marketplace.

Paul said if somebody who is not a believer bid you to a feast and

you want to go, well do. Whatever they set before you, it's all right

for you to eat. Why? Because it belonged to God. "...The earth is

the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Remember, on one occasion when

the Lord had sent a message to Cornelius to sent to Joppa for Peter,

Peter was on the housetop praying and saw a vision. It had a four-

cornered vessel like a sheet let down and all manner of fourfooted

beasts and animals were in it. A voice said 'rise Peter, kill and eat.'

Peter 'No, I can't do that; I've never eaten anything common or unclean.'

God said 'Don't you call what I've cleansed common." You see, the old

Jew couldn't eat catfish; pity that. He couldn't have catfish. He

wasn't supposed to have ham, either. That law that forbade the eating

of things like catfish and pig, etc. was taken out of the way and

nailed to the cross. That's what God was telling Peter. 'Don't you

call what I've cleansed common or unclean.' So it's all right. If

you want to eat it, fine. If you don't want to eat it, fine. Don't

make a big deal out of it. Now I'm not talking about somebody that

will argue with a signpost, somebody that's always going to stir up

trouble. Paul was talking about those whose consciences were in the

process of being trained, new in the Faith, weak, genuinely weak.

He basically said, 'You ought not to knowingly do anything that would

cause that brother or sister to stumble.' One of the things you might

be able to do, if you are mineful of his conscience, if have an

opportunity to teach him more completely. Paul said the christian has

liberty, but he's not to use for a license, especially to destroy

someone who might be weak. That means we have to make some judgments.

That means in making those judgments, we're responsible for the

judgments we make and the results. We must remember to whom we belong.

Paul said whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We're not our

own. You see, we've already discussed not thinking too highly of

ourselves, not putting ourselves on a pedestal. Paul said whether

we live or die, we are the Lord's. That means he is to receive the

utmost consideration. We must place HIS will and HIS desire above

those of our own. Just remember that weak brother is ALSO the Lord's.

The Lord is concerned about him just as he is concerned about you.

So, he said, "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived,

that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou

judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we

shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." I've met some

brethren over the years who were good people. I knew them quite well.

But they were weak as branch water. They'd try and try and something

would happen and next thing you know, we'd have to go find them; but

they would try. They were weak.

Now we expect the normal process of things. As a baby matures and

grows and develops, he gets stronger; but not all of them do.

Sometimes there is a physical problem that hinders that growth

process. What do we do? throw them in the garbage disposal and get

rid of them? Some would like to do that; but that's not what we do.

We do everything we can to take care of them and help them. Why not

show that same compassion and concern for that brother who is

genuinely weak in the Faith, to try to lift him up and encourage him

along, to try to heip him !!!!! That's what Paul was talking about

here. That's why I think we need to understand that he was talking

about someone who is truly weak in the Faith, not about somebody who

is always obnoxious, always trying to be a pain. He was talking about

someone who is genuinely weak. With some of these folks, if you said

because of your weak brother you'll forgo what you were going to do,

they'd have a "hissy fit" if you called them a weak brother. There's

not but one other alternative if they're not a weak brother. Just

ignore them !!!! This is what Paul was saying here. We have to make

that judgment. So as Paul wrote to the Corinthian brethren about

some of these things, we must be mindful of them.

In I Corinthians 8 Paul wrote, "Now as touching things offered unto

idols, we know that we all have knowlege. Knowledge puffeth up, but

charity (love) edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth

anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man

love God, the same is known of him. As concerning therefore the

eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we

know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none

other God but one. For thought there be that are called gods,

whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords

many). But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all

things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all

things, and we by him. Howbeit, there is not in every man that

knowledge; for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it

as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is

defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither, if we eat,

are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take

heed lest by any means this liberty of your become a stumblingblock

to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge

sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which

is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

and through my knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom

Christ died?" Romans 8:1-11.

So we must be careful. Be careful how? Be careful what we do, where

we do it and when we do it. This is basically what Paul was saying.

If a weak brother has a problem with it, Paul said we should be

considerate of him and not lead him to do something that at that

particular point in his life would cause his conscience to be

offended. He said not every man has the understanding needed

concerning particularly those things he had in view at that particular

point in time because of the practices at that time. I'm sure there

are some things that would be comparable today to some of those

practices back then. What's the point? Paul said you're not living

in isolation; you're living in the world. In the world there are a

lot of people and a lot of people are going to see you and you're

going to have an influence on them one way or the other. The thing

we should desire to do and try to do above all else is make sure that

influence is what it should be. If we'll take that into consideration,

showing love to those around us, then I believe we won't have to

worry about that principle. It will take care of itself, because

we'll do that which is for the betterment of others, and not just do

that which we want to do.