"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves." Romans 14:19-22 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul is admonishing the Christians in Rome to be careful to and around the new, weak Christians who have only limited knowledge of The Word of God and religious practices.
The issue here is not the food or drink being clean or unclean. The issue in about not doing anything that will cause someone else to fall and sin. Those who are strong in the faith and knowledgeable should not carelessly flaunt it or belittle those who are new or weak in the faith. We should always have regard for how our words and actions will affect others. Our practices may not be wrong or sinful, but if they cause a less knowledgeable person to stumble into sin by their misunderstanding or weakness, then we are condemned and miss out on a blessing. Let us educate, edify, and enlighten our brothers and sisters regarding The Word of God without puffing ourselves up or putting them down. Let us not act so "holier than thou" that we discourage them. Let us not cause another to stumble by our vocalizing what we like or approve. Just because we can, does not mean that we should.
Rev Wendell Wharton is a Christian and an ordained Baptist Minister offering Bible verse blogs and sharing his enlightened thoughts on various Bible verses, or Bible quotes, as daily "Bible Based Life Lessons", as part of a Christian Ministry of Bible study on-line, relating Bible verses to our everyday lives in order to provide daily devotional, inspirational, thought provoking scriptures to live by.
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