Come Together

ROMANS 14: 1-23

(July 31)

Those four famous musicians from decades ago, also known as The Beatles, had a lot of hit songs throughout their years. Once such song was "Come Together". Come together, right now, over me.

I feel like this is the message Paul is trying to get across. The people, Jews and Gentiles, should be coming together, over God. But first, they had to deal with all their disagreements.

Disagreements having always been an issue among people. Remember Syntyche and Euodia? They were the two women we find in the first part of Philippians 4 who were in a battle against each other that was causing a rift in the church.

Time and time again, we see it in biblical history, and it still happens today. A couple of the big things we see in the arguments between the Jews and the Gentiles were their diets and the special days of celebration.

Some believed eating meat to be a sin, as was neglecting Jewish holidays. And we all know that when we disagree, we tend to voice our disagreements instead of keeping them to ourselves. So the rumbling and complaining starts, and the feuding begins.

Paul had a 3-part remedy for this:

Accept Each Other

It is not a Christian's responsibility to judge another Christian , or to decide what "credentials" are for Christian fellowship. Remember when Peter went to preach the message to the Gentiles? The Jews criticized him for eating and fellowshipping with these new believers. The Jews felt superior because they were "stronger in the faith". But these "new Christians" deserved just as much consideration as they did.

Every church has its share of strong believers and weak believers, and God takes care of all. He gives each of us just what we need to grow in the faith, and our ability to have a productive Christian life should not depend on the opinion of others, or their attitudes about us.

Jesus is our Lord and our Judge. Whether you consider yourself a strong Christian or a weak Christian, it is Jesus who will sit in the "judgement seat" and consider your life.

Encourage One Another

Christians have an effect on each other. Strong Christians have the power to cause a weaker brother or sister to stumble. The example you set in the way you live your life speaks volumes to those who are watching.

Instead of the arguing over whether or not meat should be eaten, Paul tells them that it is dependent upon the person and what they feel convicted of. We, as Christians, are to prioritize things in a way that assures the "little things" don't' get in the way when we are looking at the bigger picture of our faith.

Does food draw you closer to God? Or is in more about living our lives with the Fruits of the Spirit evident to anyone who sees us?

Instead of coming against each other over irrelevant things, we should be loving each other and helping each other prosper in the faith. We don't need to force our opinions on others, but guide others in love.

We are not to be selfish, but we are to be generous and loving. What can you do today to make another Christian happy? How can you help a weaker Christian grow in spiritual maturity?

These are things to think about. And we need to remember that if we want the power to accomplish all of this, we need to be in the Word of God and spending time in prayer. That is where our spiritual power comes from, and that is what will help us to help others.

Then, and only then, we will be able to Come Together.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'Come Together'