City Life Starter

I. The Word: Romans 14:14-18

¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

II. Reflection Questions:

1. How does it usually make you feel when someone tries to put their own opinions or ideas on you?
2. Can you think of things you used to do when you first started walking with Christ that you don’t do anymore?
3. How can we make sure our freedoms don’t hinder someone else’s walk or turn them away from Jesus?

For those of you that were there on Sunday, Chris shared a story about when he really gave his life to the Lord as a teenager and became super zealous. He and some friends had a ceremonial burning of all their “worldly” CD’s as a gesture to show how serious they were about leaving the things of this world behind and following Christ. He then tried to put those convictions on everyone else because he felt it was right, and it was met with mixed reviews.

I’m here to tell another perspective of that story, because I was one of the ones he tried to persuade, and I was not having it. I was gonna keep my CD’s, thank you very much. At the heart of what Chris was trying to do, his intentions were good. He just wanted me to experience what he was experiencing, which was the beauty of knowing Christ more. But he was trying to put a set of rules and regulations on me when I did not have the same revelation and relationship with Jesus that he did. I was on the path, just not as far along. All it made me feel was judged, and instead of bringing me closer to Jesus, it bred rebellion in my heart because I did not like someone telling me what I could and couldn’t listen to, among other things. I had a deep love and appreciation for music of all kinds (still do), and it brought me great joy and inspiration. I just didn’t see how that would make or break me as a Christian.

I think this is the point Paul was trying to make in V 17 when he said “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” We can actually turn people away from Jesus by trying to focus on and judge  the external things in someone’s life instead of extending grace and and walking with them. We cannot play Holy Spirit for people and decide what’s best for them. Do we need to give solid, biblical counsel and help and encourage people to make good decisions that will bring them closer to Jesus? Absolutely. That doesn’t mean we say nothing. But what it does mean is that we have to remember people are at different places in their walk with Christ, and weighing them down with rules before a relationship can sometimes do more harm than good.

But the funny thing is, as God captured my heart, none of those external matters were important anymore. Nobody had to tell me to give up anything, because I was developing my own convictions and listening to the Holy Spirit, and I didn’t really want to make choices that would draw my affections away from Christ or distract me on my walk. He was more important to me than anything else. And that meant that in the end, when it came to the music issue, there were some things I chose not to listen to any longer, because I felt it wasn’t producing good fruit in my life or was too emotionally tied to darker times in my life I didn’t need to revisit (so Chris was partly right after all). It also meant that I still listened to and appreciated all kinds of music, and some secular music even inspired worship to my Creator in my heart.  I didn’t need anyone to put a set of rules on me; I needed someone modeling Christ to me and what it looked like to be a disciple and follower of Jesus. The example of those that walked with me and loved me unconditionally, including my now husband, led me to love Jesus more and helped me develop my own convictions.

And as Chris said Sunday, as we grow and mature over the years, our revelation of freedom guides our conscience and some things will change. There are things we used to do that we don’t anymore, and there are also some liberties we take that we couldn’t handle when we were younger and more immature. That’s why we need a living, active relationship with God, not just a set of regulations to apply to every situation and every relationship we have. Aren’t you thankful Christ has set us free from the law? But the last thing we want to do is turn around in our freedom and put that burden on someone else because we are using external measures to try to bring about the internal work and change that only Christ can bring. Let’s stick to our job of loving people and walking with them, and let’s leave the job of conviction of sin and judgement to the Holy Spirit!