Ignore the Things Which Would Separate
Paul's goal was for everyone to be strong in the faith in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and all they represent and have done. are doing, and want to do for us. But Paul also knew that many of the churches he either started or had visited were full of people from various backgrounds and cultures. As they mixed, it was inevitable that there would be differences in belief.
In this letter Paul requested that everyone of the faith be received. It wasn't his desire for the budding bodies of believers to break apart into disunited sects or denominations. It was his desire, and indeed God's desire, that we remain united as there is strength in numbers that independent collections of believers miss out on.
But for this to happen, God had to reign supreme in everyone's hearts. It wasn't Paul's desire that disagreements over scriptures should happen at all, and he admonished the readers to put a stop to all of the questions that weren't important to salvation. He called them doubtful disputations. While some of these things did matter, it was far to easy for some of them to become a point of contention that would prevent the church from growing in united fashion.
In Romans 14:1-13 he addresses some of the disputes that were occurring in the church that needed to stop. Some people didn't want to eat meat that had been offered to idols, and in most Roman towns of any size, the butchers routinely did this with meat they carved. For those people, a vegetarian diet seemed best. But it had gotten to the point that each group was chastising the other for their beliefs.
Some believed certain days were more important - perhaps relating to the Jews who held Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and others who worshiped God on Sunday when Christ arose from the dead. After trying to point out some of the silliness, he concluded in Romans 14:8 that we are the Lord's. He tells his readers that they should neither judge nor put stumbling blocks or occasion to fall away from God in their brother's way. Every one of us will give an account to God about what we have said and done one day.
Posting your thoughts about scripture and topics of interest to Christianity or your friends and neighbors always carries a risk. I pray that the people who need to hear what I've said in God's opinion will be led by God here to these pages. I pray that there are no stumbling blocks I've put up. But I also recognize that in trying to tear down things that I consider stumbling blocks to the spread of Christ that are prevalent in the church today, there is probably some offense that some will take. Such is the life of a writer.
What I know for sure is that all the writers and all the readers and all the others who have done neither will one day stand before God and hear His opinions on what we've done for Him. Hopefully, most of all Christians works will come out as precious in His sight and not as wood, hay, or stubble, to be burned up as worthless. But one day, each of us will bow to God and confess that Jesus is Lord. Hopefully, we can all give our accounts without shame.
One thing is certain. The church has been split apart over the centuries. We are no longer united one to another. And the reason for this is in a very general sense that the Holy Spirit ceased to be given control at all levels of the church. Many splits happened for reasons that weren't doubtful disputations. But God would have rather the problems been resolved and eliminated according to His will than His church split into factions. Of that I'm sure.
We need to realize that the things that divide us still fall into unimportant and important categories. We need to stop stressing about what isn't important and we need to bring everyone together in unity about the important categories. If there is doubt about the important categories, judge by where God is moving most and try to move closer to what He is blessing rather than sticking stubbornly to tradition.
Rely on Faith to Persevere in What's Important
In the last part of this chapter, Romans 14:14-23, Paul turns to how to deal with diversity in belief. You need to let the Holy Spirit guide you into how you categorize the above mentioned differences. Paul had been persuaded by the Holy Spirit that meat wasn't an important issue. But he also recognized that since it was important to some, it wasn't his place to try to turn it into an issue that might cause someone to leave the church.
That communion with God through the Holy Spirit needs to be what we are striving to have in our churches and in our personal life. What we eat and drink isn't any more important today than it was then. What is important is the unity with the Spirit of God. If we are united with the Spirit, we need not worry about all of the things that people were disputing.
Part of the Spirit's job is to convict us of what we have or do in our lives that isn't pleasing to God. He does this for everyone. And He does it at a pace that each individual believer can handle. While salvation can make a huge change in people's lives, particularly in the important things that matter to God, a lifetime of living a particular way takes time for the Holy Spirit to change for things that aren't important.
It is important that those in the church seek to have peace in the body of believers and teach each other what God is laying on their hearts. Each can then judge, with the discerning of the Holy Spirit, whether the instruction needs to be applied personally, and if so, how and when.
The church can be split up in many ways. Each generation brings new opportunities for Satan to cause discord and troubles. It is the churches job to keep focused on the work of spreading the Gospel Message throughout the world and not destroying that primary purpose with vain disputing.
If someone has an issue with something you are doing, and can't point to scripture that shows they are right, and the Holy Spirit isn't checking you for doing it after honestly seeking God's will, then don't worry about it. Everyone has different ideas. Worship service formats, length of sermons, length of commentaries, what to wear to church, hair styles, what you watch on television or what you read, how much time you spend away from church fishing, hunting, or playing - there are so many things that have been issues in the church recently that cause division and judgment.
Let's try to be more like Paul suggested, and stop the judgment and if we truly think there is a problem, pray quietly and without notice for the individuals involved and let the Holy Spirit deal with the situation. We are only responsible for how we individually act before God. We may be ashamed one day at how few we spread the gospel message to, how few we helped, how little we did, or how much we did that was bad. But in the end, we are who we must answer for. We won't answer for how our fellow church member dressed or whether women preached or taught or were awesome missionaries. If those were truly issues, God would only ask us - why didn't you do what I wanted you to do so they didn't have to.
Have faith in God and your salvation through Jesus. Try to live right, to the best of your ability. Ask for forgiveness of God and others when you fail. Trust in Him. Listen to the Holy Spirit as He tries to direct your path. That's what's truly important. Persevere to the end in the race laid out before you.