The faith that you have.

Romans 14:20-23, Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Paul was addressing a peculiar problem in his own culture, that of eating food knowingly used in a sacrifice to idols. While we don’t have to deal with this specific issue, we can see a couple of important principles. First, we are free in Christ and we actually sanctify the unclean by the power of the Holy Spirit, as Peter was told in a vision that God was declaring all foods to be clean by his power. Even so we are also responsible to protect those who are sincere in their belief that he is condemned by what he eats or drinks, and do nothing to make him stumble. Indeed, we are to adhere to the principle of love that Paul gives us in the preceding paragraph: “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

We thank you for the freedom that you give us to sanctify the things of this world in Christ; keep us sensitive to those around us who need encouragement in their own walk of faith that we may “pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding.”

ESV Lectionary