January 21, 2011
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Apostolic Assumption #6.....[Prt.1]
Serious (loyal) believers will not use their convictions as convenient tools to trip up other believers.
If my memory serves me correctly, in the early days of my faith, most discussions I had with other young believers revolving around Romans 14: (and I Corinthians 8:) had the strong tendency to degenerate into worthless wrangles over who was the ‘weaker’ and who was the ‘stronger’ brother in regard to any given example of a "disputable matter". As I recall, our discussions frequently revolved around what we should do to avoid "offending" a weaker brother or making him "stumble" (Rom.14:21). At the time I’m not so sure that we had a very good understanding of what Paul was actually saying when he referred to offending or making a weaker brother stumble. Whatever it meant, we were convinced that ‘offending a weaker brother’ was serious business and from Paul’s perspective, it is.Paul had this to say to the Roman believers; "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak" (Romans 14:21 [KJV]).
I guess what fascinates me is that the words Paul used to warn the Romans about their relationships with each other here are used very descriptively in his discussion of Jesus elsewhere: "As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whoever believeth on him shall not be shamed" (Romans 9:33 [KJV]).
It may sound strange, but Jesus was not a ‘nice’ Jew. From the very moment of His entrance into this world as a baby born to a very poor young couple in the village of Bethehem, Jesus constantly stirred people up. The report of His birth by the Magi of the East, "troubled" King Herod and all of Jerusalem with him. And so it was, no matter where He went, the ‘pot was being stirred’. Merely by His presence, Jesus consistently was at the center (more accurately, was the center) of ongoing controversy and turmoil.
At one point, things got so bad that even His own followers were deeply disturbed by Jesus’ behavior and teaching. Becoming aware of their grumbling, Jesus confronted them: "Does this [teaching] offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?" (John 6:60-62). Jesus scandalized people (the word ‘offend’ in our Bible translations is the Greek word from which we get the word ‘scandal’). The way He thought and His instructions on how to live and His manner of life were radically different from the customs of the day. And people were constantly and consistently offended. But Jesus wasn’t afraid to do it and never apologized for it (read the entire chapter of Matthew 23: –it is chock full of one offending statement after another directed toward the Pharisees. They became so incensed by His outrageous behavior and teaching that eventually they had Him murdered).
So, the one question that has persistently nagged my mind is this; Was Jesus’ behavior and instruction at odds with what Paul later insisted that the Roman and Corinthian believers should and should not do (see Romans 14: and I Corinthians 8:)? No doubt about it, Jesus was a source of both offense and stumbling among many people who witnessed His life. Why was it He said what He said and did what He did? Didn’t He know any better? Didn’t He understand that He wasn’t supposed to ‘offend’ or make people ‘stumble’? This is all very confusing, isn’t it?!
Let me introduce one other thought and then perhaps we can pull some things together and begin to make some sort of sense to all of this; "Here is my servant whom I have chosen . . . . A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope" (Matthew 12:18-21 [NIV]).
To some people, Jesus was a totally outrageous and wickedly blasphemous bastard (see John 8:41). And every time Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath or opened His mouth, they were entirely and utterly outraged, seeing only red. They were totally offended and stumbled over every word of His message primarily because they had no appetite for anything He ever said or did! Everything He stood for was a ‘slap in the face’--a total affront to their pretentiously religious mentality. They didn’t want to listen to Him because they were committed to their own ways, and so they refused to hear anything He had to say to them--unless, it could be used against Him.
On the other hand, though they were deeply troubled and often perplexed by Jesus, some people refused to be driven from Him. Instead, they seemed to be drawn closer and closer to Him and His ways. They continued to be puzzled by some of the things that He said and did, but the hope that Jesus stirred within them flickered to life and they experienced an immeasurable sense of healing and comfort with which to rebuild the broken relationships that they had managed to all but trash. Because of His gentle and gracious ways with them, their appetite for God, His rightness and kingly rule in their lives became ravenous! They embraced His sovereignty through their faith, refused to stumble or be offended by Him-or
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