Gleanings – “But Occasionally, I Want to Talk About Me!”
Romans 14:13-23
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
The Kingdom is never about externals, things like personal piety, observance of feasts, abstaining from this or partaking of that. Food and drink are morally neutral. Morality is not. Sin alienates. Before you abstain from meat one better abstain from adultery. One is preference and one is a sin.
However, Paul is suggesting that we use our freedom wisely, in the best interest of others. This is a voluntary continuation of what is already well established, the need to live an “other” centered life. It is not about me. It is not about you. It is to a degree about us and greatly about the other. We want by the grace of God to recognize we live in community and to take care that our interactions build up others and the church. Paul is not creating a new law. He is suggesting the transformed life has an intense sensitivity to others.