Embrace Each Other

In Romans 14.1-15.14, Paul challenged the “strong” to “embrace the person whose faith is fragile” (14.1; translation mine). At the end of this passage, Paul invites both weak and strong to embrace each other “in the same way that Christ has embraced you so that God will be praised” (15.7). Because God has embraced the strong, the strong are encouraged to embrace the weak (14.3).

I have chosen to translate the word normally rendered “welcome” or “receive” as “embrace” since Paul is inviting the strong to extend hospitality to the weak in the hope that the weak will reciprocate. In this often hastily read text, Paul calls believers to do more than just tolerate one another or just to accept (intellectually) that others have different understandings and practices. Paul stresses hospitality: the strong should invite and welcome the weak into their lives and homes, as one would receive a guest (see similar use of proslambáno in Acts 18.26, 28.2 and Philemon 17). He encourages the Gentiles to do what they can to embrace their Jewish brothers and sisters because he wants the weak and strong to stay together rather than going their separate ways.

In 15.5 and 6, Paul seeks a specific outcome for the weak and the strong: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV).

Paul’s strategy is Christ-centered. Every point and turn in his argument revolves around either what Christ would do or has done. Paul’s proposal is “For the kingdom of God is not food or drink, but righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit because in this way the one serving Christ is pleasing to God and acceptable by people” (14.17-18). Thus, values of the kingdom of God outweigh those of personal preference.

Paul, though a Jew, identifies with the Gentiles when he declares, “all food is clean” (14.20) and with Jesus who made the same pronouncement during his ministry (Mark 7.19). The strong are those who know that food and drink requirements are not a part of the gospel and who have the liberty to partake in many things the weak would find objectionable. Thus, food, drink and even holy days are not sinful in themselves since the kingdom calls us to the higher values of righteousness, joy and peace.

Paul illustrates with a couple of case studies. The first involves a vegetarian and a meat-eater. Both are acceptable practices before God. So Paul asks, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” Both strong and weak are accountable to their Master. Paul offers a second illustration involving the veneration of special days. Again, either posture is acceptable to God since, according to Paul, both those who do and those who don’t “belong to the Lord.”

The intended rhetorical force of “we will all stand before God’s judgment seat” is that we have no business judging another—that is God’s job! “Therefore,” instructs Paul, “we should stop passing judgment on one another” (14.13). In 14.13-21, Paul cautions the strong not to use their freedom in such a way as to “destroy your brother for whom Christ died” (14.15). Thus, to destroy your brother is working against the work of Christ.

Yet, not passing judgment balances not allowing other to speak evil of what one might consider good. Paul affirms that it is acceptable for believers to be in different places regarding these external practices (14. 22, 23). Neither the weak nor the strong are to argue about their convictions with one another and to do what they understand is right in each case without imposing their practices on the other.

Paul instructs the Gentiles and others who share the perspective of the Gentiles, to “bear with the failings of the weak” and not seek “to please themselves” in imitation of Christ (15.1-4). Paul presses his point: “Embrace one another in the way Christ embraced you.” Christ became a servant to the Jews. The Gentiles should do the same. Yet, on the other hand, Jewish Christians need to remember that God’s intent is for the Gentiles to “glorify God for his mercy” (15.9). The Gentiles belong in God’s plan, too. Paul supports this point from the Old Testament (2 Sam. 22.50 || Psalm 18.49; Deut. 32.43; Psalm 117.1; and Isa. 11.10).

Finally, Paul prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the Holy Spirit.” To this prayer we can only hope that the weak and the strong responded: “Amen.”

I once heard Marva Dawn speak about this topic. She asked, “When we can’t sing each other’s songs [speaking of “traditional” vs. “contemporary”] … what does that say about us?” Paul’s text about the weak and strong points to the road too often not traveled. Those who understand the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God are the strong. However, we don’t always see this. Often the weak will claim the position of being the strong to bind on the whole congregation their version of food, drink, and holy days and so keep the congregation at their level of immaturity.

I have sometimes witnessed the oldest, and presumably, the most mature members seek to hold the church hostage in this way. While I do want to honour those who have lived long lives in the church, I also believe it is reasonable for us to expect the oldest members to be the most mature, to be the strong. Living a long Christian life should transform a person into the image of Jesus: thus, the longer one is in Christ, the less concerned they are about “food and drink” and the more fully they embrace “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” If the oldest members of the church are the strong, then it follows that they should be the most tolerant of the “failings of the weak.”

While the weak are to be respected, they are not to set agenda. Nowhere does Paul suggest we should compromise the mission of the church for the sake of the weak. People will always have personal matters of conscience; however, no one should be compelled to do what they believe is wrong. However, neither can the scruples of the weak become the standard for the whole church. When someone demands that things be done their way, they are acting the part of the “weak.”

This point has great poignancy as we are currently beset with a baffling array of choices. For example, do we continue to use songbooks or do we make the move to computers and projectors? Other issues are going to be more challenging. Can we use praise teams or show a video clip as a sermon illustration? Is drama an appropriate form to communicate the gospel in the Christian assembly? Can we play a scripture CD with instrumental accompaniment? 

We will disagree which of these are of the “food and drink” variety and so this will require some patience on the part of those who seek to be truly strong. Nor do I always know what the best solution is in every case but I do know that Paul’s text regarding the weak and the strong will have something to say about how we embrace one another through this maze of differences.

Weak and strong, as believers in Jesus, are commanded to “embrace one another.” While it is much easier to go our separate directions when we disagree, that is neither the way of this text nor the way of the cross. The text demands that as Christ has received us so we are to receive others. Christ is the model for how the weak and strong should relate to one another. I may not be able to figure out how this text applies in every single case, but I know where it begins and ends: the hospitality of Christ! Because it is Christ who embraces us!

First published in the Gospel Herald in 2008.