Romans 14:13-23: Don't Cause a Brother to Stumble

Romans 14:13b, 17.. ". . .decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. . . .For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Yesterday, we took a look at "The Christian's Grey Area" and how we ought not to judge our neighbor if he thinks differently about a moral issue that is not directly addressed in scripture. We looked at how though these "grey areas" certainly do need to be discussed, Paul's point here is that we must not pass unrighteous, selfish judgment upon one another simply because we do not agree perfectly on them with our fellow Christian brothers. In this section of scripture, Paul takes his command a step further, by admonishing us to not cause a brother to stumble.

Paul commands these words in Romans 14:13: "Decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother." What is he speaking about here? By context, we can define this sort of "stumbling block" or "hindrance" as something that would cause a fellow brother in Christ to sin in one of these "grey areas" that we have been talking about. For example, Paul in verse 21 describes how "it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." Though eating meat and drinking wine are both indeed "clean" (v. 20), that is, morally acceptable, Paul commands Christians not to do them if they will cause their fellow brothers to go against their own convictions. There were fellow church brethren in this time that found eating meat and drinking wine to be sinful (for reasons that are too complicated to go into here). Paul regards that for them, it is a sin to do these things because they have regarded in their own mind that they are evil, and to drink and eat of them would to not be acting in faith (v. 23). Ultimately, Paul desires to not have one fellow church brother bring another one into sin simply because of differing convictions. In summary: if one believes it wrong to do something that scripture does not outrightly speak of, don't do it in front of that person even if you believe it is morally acceptable.

But what does this look like for us? Oftentimes these commands seem so distant that they are hardly applicable. However, this is not so. Say one of your friends tells you they they don't like watching certain movies, or listening to certain songs, even if you believe that they are totally okay to listen to. Though it would be fine to watch and listen to them on your own (after you checked your heart, that is), it would be a sin for you to watch and listen to them in front of your brother. For to do so would be to cause him to stumble.

So, have you been causing a brother to stumble? What can you be doing to better respect the convictions of someone else, even though you may not hold them yourself? How can you act in love toward your fellow brother by respecting his beliefs on issues not specifically commended or condemned in scripture?