Bible Guys Classics: Romans 14

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Well, Wesley, it's too hot in here. I need some

more water, and I don't like your shirt.

Yeah, if you can't tell, we're talking about criticism today.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that.

Is the topic. I'm Wesley, this is Chris. This is

the Daily Bible guys. All right, So we're talking about

criticism today. But first we want to have a little fun.

We're going to do a segment that everyone seems to

absolutely love. If that segment is what made Chris mad,

So we're gonna find out we haven't done this. We

haven't done it a lot. Yeah, So everyone wants to know.

The listeners want to know what made Chris mad today,

so let us know, jeez, it need not even be today.

What made you mad the last week?

Yeah, all right, I have one. Uh you know, it's funny.

I didn't really walk in here. I didn't know I

was gonna be talking about this as always right, the

segments are thrown on us. But I actually went to

Las Vegas last week to go to the Pro Bowl.

So you know, the Pro Bowl was out at Vegas

and it was wonderful.

By the way.

A lot of people thought it was gonna be a

massive failure with the NFL doing flag football, and I

have to tell you the opposite was true. It was

absolutely packed and it was wonderful. I actually told my

buddy Jeff, who was with me, I said, to watch

their expressions. Right, they were on the field having a

good time, and you never see their faces because but

they were laughing, cracking up, joking.

It was just flag foot. They were just having a

good time.

I'm thinking, when in my entire life have I we've

been able to see NFL players having a pickup game,

laughing and having a good time sort of like we did, right,

And the answer is never, which means it's a brand

new undiscovered dynamic. So I was a massive fan of

the of the Pro Bowl this year. Yeah, and it was,

of course the best of the best. Right by the way,

side note, we actually wandered down to the forty nine ers.

Family section, Oh wow.

And I actually sat directly next to Ed McCaffrey and

Lisa McCaffrey. It was Christian McCaffrey's parents.

I love how you said you wander You just kind

of casually tripped and you know, rolled down and ended

up in a seat.

Yeah. Well, believe it or not.

Believe it or not, we figured something out. I think

they wanted us.

To sneak down, so I do. Yeah, I actually do.

I promise you I did.

And the reason why is because the controversy around the

Pro Bowl but was so high and they desperately needed

the crowd to be filled. So you know how normally,

if you go to a Lion's game, there's a guy

checking your tickets and you can't really sneak down until

it's like the last quarter when nobody cares right and

they'll say, yeah, I.

Go down and get a good seat.

So if you're in the nosebleed seats, listen, the NFL

didn't even hire. Not only were they not checking tickets,

there was no security.

No wow, none.

So everybody was like, can we just go where we

want to go? And so everybody went went down. I'm

talking thousands.

Wow.

In retrospect, I think what they did was they did

that on purpose, because they're not stupid, right. They did

that so that the cameras would show every seat filled,

which was amazing.

I had that happen at the Palace. My dad and

I went to a Pistons game. This is years ago,

back when the Palace was still there. We're seated way

up and we were in the two hundred section, but

kind of far up there. I was going to get

like a pretzel or something. Guy is walking directly towards me.

I stepped to the left, He goos left, Okay, I

stepped to the right. He goes right. Like what is

this guy doing? He said, where are you sitting? I said, oh,

we're in two hundred whatever. He's like, how would you

like two tickets to sit on the floor?

Wow?

Like what, yeah, I take those. I want to grab

my dad and I said, Dad, follow me. Don't ask questions, right,

So we literally went all the way down and set

on the second row, and it was for that reason

during telecast, they want the lower bowl that section to

look more filled in. Yeah so yeah, that was a

cool experience.

Well, the funny thing is, we spent minutes on this,

but it's not even close to why I was mad.

Yeah.

So anyway, that's all besides the fact I was down

there for the Pro Bowl. But we had stayed in

a hotel. Yeah okay, now the hotel that we'd stayed in.

I was there for five nights. We at a great time,

saw some shows and it was really fun. But we

were down there. We stayed one night at a hotel

called the Wind.

Okay, yeah, I've heard of them.

In The Wind is like one thousand dollars a night.

We didn't pay that through it doesn't matter. We only

paid like two hundred something bucks a night. But it

was a thousand dollars a nights like hotel. And there

was a pair of boxer shorts left in the hotel.

I kid, do not have you ever seen like like

a master bathroom where the toilet has its own door.

Yeah, okay, well it has its own little room.

Well, if you opened the door, the door opened against

the wall and so a lot of times people would

just sort of leave that open. Well, because I was

there with my friend, he was in the bathroom, I

closed the door. So apparently whoever was in there before

me had left a pair of boxers, and then they

had opened the door and it got trapped between the

door and the wall. And so I go in there

and I closed the door, and I see this pair

of boxers and I think to myself, Oh, I didn't

know Jeff were boxers, right, because about he had boxer breathe,

you know, And I'm like, huh. So I ended up

grabbing these boxers. I put my hands on them.

By the way, oh.

No, this is going downhill quick, and I threw them.

In the middle of the floor, expecting him to grab

them and put him in his luggage. Well, after like

three hours, they're still sitting and I go, dude, I go,

I threw those there so you can clean up your mess.

I said, grab your boxers. He goes, those.

Aren't my boxers, because I thought they were your boxers.

And I said, are you kidding me?

I said, I just grabbed boxers.

It's just some guests.

Guess you know, I should have watched my mans oh,

actually I did because I went to the restaurant.

But I thought to.

Myself, I can't believe that I did that. And so

we actually mentioned and we weren't trying to get a discount,

we really weren't. We just mentioned, hey, you probably should

know that there were boxers, and we took a photo

of them and here they were in the middle, and

they're like, we're so sorry. We're going to give you

one hundred dollars off your room.

Oh wow, for your inconvenience. And I was like, man,

I should try that.

Every time, kidding.

But they did.

They were very generous and compensating us.

It was hilarious.

It made me mad.

So we found out this is what made Chris mad.

Wouldn't you be.

Mad if you if you sign up for a thousand

dollars hotel experience and found out that this, you know,

servers left boxers in there from the previous owner.

That's hilarious.

That's enough to make you mad. So anyway, hey, listen,

we are way into this here. We have to go

ahead and read Roman chapter fourteen. We're gonna read the

whole chapter, so I'll just give it over to you.

Yeah, I'm gonna fly through this because you've used up

a little time. YEP. Chapter fourteen, Verse one accept others

accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don't

argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.

For instance, one person believes it's all right to eat anything,

but another believer with the sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.

Those who feel free to eat anything must not look

down on those who don't, and those who don't eat

certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God

has accepted them. Or are you to condemn someone else's servants.

Their own Master will judge whether they stand or fall,

and with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive

his approval. In the same way, some think one day

is more holy than another day, while others think every

day is alike. You should be fully convinced that whichever

day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord

on a special day do it to honor him. Those

who eat any kind of food do so to honor

the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating.

And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want

to please the Lord and give thanks to God. For

we don't live for ourselves. Or die for ourselves. If

we live, it's to honor the Lord, and if we die,

it's to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die,

we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again

for this very purpose, to be the Lord, both of

the living and of the dead. Why do we condemn

another believer? Why do you look down on another believer?

Remember we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For the scriptures say, as surely as I live, says

the Lord, every need will bend to me, and every

tongue will declare allegiance to God. Yes, each of us

will give a personal account to God. So let's stop

condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a

way that you will not cause another believer to stumble

and fall. I know I am convinced on the authority

of the Lord Jesus that no food in and of

itself is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it

is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And

if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you

are not acting in love. If you eat it, don't

let your eating ruin someone from whom Christ died. Then

you will not be criticized for doing something you believe

is good for the Kingdom of God is not a

matter of what we eat or drink, but of living

a life of goodness and peace and joy in the

Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you

will please God, and others will approve of you too.

So then let us aim for harmony in the church

and try to build each other up. Verse twenty. Don't

tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember,

all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat

something if it makes another person stumble. It is better

not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything

else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You

may believe there's nothing wrong with what you are doing,

but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those

who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided

is right. But if you have doubts about whether or

not you should eat something, you are sinning. If you

go ahead and do it for you are not following

your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right,

you are sinning.

Yeah, So here we go. We have a whole chapter

here about.

Criticism, criticism of eating and drinking, and and that mixed

with the beliefs of other believers. Right, what's so interesting

about this is it's really not about eating and drinking.

Paul is just using the example of eating and drinking

because in their culture and at that time, eating and

drinking was a very big deal because after all, remember

they're in They're in Rome, and Rome was polytheistic, not monotheistic,

so in other words, not having one god, but many gods,

and so consequently they would offer sacrifices to all these gods.

And they would say like, well, this steak is offered

to the god of Molek, you know, this steak is

offered to the god of you know, of raw or

whatever it is. And what they would do is they would,

you know, put it in front of a person. And

here's what Paul is saying. Paul saying like, okay, you

and I know that that God of Molek is nothing

more than a fake statue. It is not connected to

anything bad or good, right, And they think it's good.

Other people think it's bad. It's nothing, it's a piece

of metal. He's saying, we know that this steak is

just steak, right, and we know that it's good to

eat and throwing it away would be a crime.

It'd be a waste. Right.

So if we're up to me and you know, and

if I'm with another believer who understands that, we both agree,

this is not a big deal for me to eat

this steak, even though it was offered to fall sidle.

But what he's also saying is he's saying, now there

are people who believe he talks about them having a

more sensitive conscious. In other parts of the scripture, he

actually says he calls them the weaker believer.

He says the weaker.

Believer would stumble, and he's using the same language here stumble,

which is interesting because those who are offended are actually categorized.

As the weaker believer because they don't understand.

And Paul is saying, we who are mature have a

greater understanding that this is just a cow right, or

a goat or an ox or a dove, whatever it is.

But they don't understand that they're the weaker believer. They're

going to be offended. And think about that how that

applies for our lives. There are a lot of people

who misunderstand the Scripture about a lot of things, right,

they would think, oh, it's wrong to have the drums

in the church because if you tap your toe.

I've been told this, if you tap your.

Toe more than you're praising Jesus, and something's wrong with that,

that carnal desire to tap your toe.

And I'm thinking to myself, I want to, you know.

Plunch you the face for even throwing that out my

You know, you're trying to yell at me for tapping

my toe, you know, and that's just me being human.

Right, But here's what Paul is saying.

Paul saying, like, listen, if it's not too much trouble,

then choose a song where you're not going to tap

your toe in this case, right, is this guy, even

though he's completely in the wrong about tapping your toe,

you know, if he's going to stumble, then you need

to consider that. So do whatever you can to make

sure that you don't offend the weaker believer who has

a conviction that's not correct.

I want to camp out just for a quick moment

on that concept of not doing something to cost someone

else to stumble. So I'm a pastor. I don't drink.

There's at our church we have celebrate Recovery, which is

an awesome, awesome ministry for anyone wants to know. If

you have any kind of hurt, habit or hang up,

dive into Celebrate Recovery. It's a great group of people.

You'll love it. Because I am aware that there are

people from Celebrate Recovery. I am cautious of the things

that I do. Let me give you a clear example.

So my wife and I and my daughter, we like

going to Red Robin, So they're down the street from

the church. You can get burgers and belts and like

all kinds of stuff if you get a carry out

from there. This is pre COVID, it's different now they

do carry out a different way. But before, if you

had to carry out, they would say, well, come in,

have a seat at the bar. So you have a

seat at the bar, and then while you're waiting there,

they'll say, oh, if it's a long wait, we'll give

you something to drink. Do you want to a coke

or something like that. So you have to get the

imagery here. Someone, let's say, from Celebrate Recovery, who are

struggling with alcohol. They walk in and they see Pastor

Wesley sitting at the bar with a dark glass. They

don't know what's in the glass, but I'm at the

bar with something in a dark glass that now may

cause them to slip, That may cause them to say, well,

you know what, and maybe okay, to just go ahead

and take a drink. Pastor Wesley is so I think

that's very true. As mature believers, we have to be

conscious of our surroundings and conscious of the fact that

there are other people who may not be as advanced

in their faith or weak in a certain area, and

we don't want to do anything even though it's not

a hindrance to us. We don't want to do anything

that will cause a stumbling block for someone else.

Yeah, you know, it's really interesting that you brought that up,

because Paul, I think, is pretty specific when he talks

about another believer who thinks a certain way, and so

there's sort of two schools of thought on this area.

So you could either So for you, you're not thinking

of a specific person.

You're not thinking of.

Like you know, like oh, this one guy I know

named Bill. Right, you're just saying this is a blanket

behavior just in case, by some random chance, somebody should

number one come in. Number two, think that way. Well,

you know, it's so interesting because it is a nuance,

it's a dance. And the reason why I believe, you know,

throughout my life, I having a pastor for thirty one

years this year, I believe it's a dance because it

can go one extreme or the other.

So think about this, So extremes would be the problem.

Yeah, well yet, but yet where's the line, right, because

because like your.

Conviction, I don't have that conviction, right, But it's.

Probably only because the way I was raised, Right, So

I grew up in a bar, right, so I don't

view it as a bad thing, and and I should.

And I think to myself, somebodys sitting at a bar

and they're drinking a coke. You know, if somebody assumes

that it's something other than a coke, then that's their problem.

Not But but at the same time, though, if I

knew somebody was specifically in that restaurant, I would immediately pivot, right,

because because here's the extremes. Here's why I'm saying this

because like, for instance, uh, here here's the extreme.

In in the blanket way.

But when I when I attended my college, it was

it was a conservative Baptist College in Missouri. Here's what

they would say. They'd say, if you go to a movie,

you're expelled forever. And I'd say, whoa, that's incredible. I'm

like why And they said, well because and this is

this is the same concept, only taking it to extreme.

He says, well, and this is the exact quote. I'm

just giving you the He says, well, how do we

know that you're walking in the movie theater to see

The Little Mermaid? Or Debbie does Dallas, so and so.

In other words, so to avoid that so that other

believers won't stumble, we're just saying.

No movie is allowed. And so it's like, so you

can take it to the extreme.

So you're like, you're like, okay, Well, to make matters worse,

you can say, well, you shouldn't even be in that

restaurant because it has a bar, right, because who's to

stop you from ordering a coke.

At your table? Right?

So, so the only way then to not a fund

a believer is to attend a restaurant that doesn't even

have a chance of giving you liquor. You see how

there you see how they're the same, right, So all

you did was sort of move the marker toward your proximity.

So you said, well, because of it at a bar,

you're going to assume it's something.

But if I'm at a table, they won't assume. Well,

how do you know? But I understand how it looks worse.

But so I've wrestled.

With this nuance my whole life because I think Jesus

drank wine. Clearly, there's no doubt in my mind.

The Bible acts.

He says that Jesus was accused of being a drunkard,

which means like you don't you're not accused of being

a drunkard unless you drink wine. And he was accused

of drinking in areas where prostitutes and sinners were. So

in my mind, Jesus would be the guy, you know

who has a mission in a ministry at someplace like

a bar. But let me give you another example. My

college also said this. My college also said we had

this place called Legends, and it was a sports bar. Now,

back in the remember this, in the eighties, there was

really no There was really no way to view a

Cleveland Brown's game in Missouri.

Back then.

There was no NFL ticket, right, So so the only

way to do it was to do satellite and.

The bars had satellites.

Yes, And so the only place that we knew that

had satellite to watch the Cleveland Browns game while in

Missouri was Legends. But Legends was a sports bar. It

was a restaurant, but it was a sports bar. And

so I went to the dean of men and I said, please, please,

please please allow us to watch the Cleveland Browns game.

He says, well, that's a bar. He says, you can't

walk in. I said, but it's also a restaurant and

he says, no, no, it's against the rules. How do

you know that, people? I said, well, I want to

sit at the bar. To your point, right, I said,

I want to sit at the bar. I'll sit at

the table. And he says, but it's still a bar,

and I said, okay, listen. I said, let me ask

you a question. I said, where do you shop for

your groceries? He said, I shop a Kroger? And I said,

shame on you.

I said, I literally said this.

He was so angry.

I said, how does anybody know you're going to walk

into Kroger and you're not going to go grab a

bottle of wine? I said, do you do you choose

clear bags or do you choose plastic or paper?

And he says, what I usually choose paper.

Well, that's that's a sin, right, because.

You shoot what I'm saying. So the extreme goes back

and forth. So here's what I belie.

I believe that when Paul talks about another persons of

the Scripture, he says, all things are expedient, right, or

all things are are lawful, but not all things are beneficial, right,

he says, So, so you're a free to do whatever

you want, but you have to understand that not all

your actions are beneficial, So listen.

I firmly support the bar theory. If I know for

a fact.

That there's somebody who is going to be, you know

there that's going to stumble, I do. And I firmly

support the theory of not sitting at the bar at

legends being a being a Bible college student.

Right.

So I believe that. But at the same because that's

because that's what they demanded. At the same time, I

have to say that, like Paul gives us the freedom

to say, let us use our lives in such a

way to where you know, we're not going to intentionally

make other people stumble and so and so, if we

were to avoid all things that make people stumble, I

would never buy a thousand or two thousand dollars TV

because I should be giving that money to the poor.

Right.

So it really is a thing where God gives us freedom,

and I'm so grateful for it because He allows us

to use our own conscious And I completely support your conviction.

The way that you were raised, the way that I

was raised. God calls me to you know, let me

let me wrap up with one last story. There's a

couple that goes to our church, and in fact, they

went to my previous church and say were with me

for ten years. And if they're listening to this podcast,

they know who they are because they're the owner of

a bar that's located on our street or Shiner, only

their south and they've been with me for ten years.

But about a year ago they said, you know what

we heard from the stage today that you.

Love live music and we have you.

Know, it's a bar, but it's also a restaurant and

we have live music every Friday Saturday.

We love to invite you. And they have invited me

like three.

Different times, but I haven't talked to them in six months, right.

And so one day I was taking one of our

staff members out to lunch and we had, you know,

the choice of where to go, and I said, you

know what, something inside is telling me to go to

this bar for lunch so that I could basically, you know,

visit these owners who go to our church. So we did,

and we sat at the bar, he and I both

we ordered, of course a die coke, so you know,

we weren't ordering anything bad. And by the way, there's

only like five people there that were like seventy five

years old.

You know, in the whole place.

You know, it's like a Tuesday afternoon, like nude.

Or something like this.

And so I asked the bartender, I said, is so

and so here and and she says, yeah, she's in

the back. Who should I tell her is here? I said,

tell her Chris is here. She says, Chris who? And

I said she'll know. So then she comes out and

she immediately starts weeping. Right, So Treye was with me,

He'll tell you this.

She's weeping. And she goes, you have no idea.

How this has solidified my faith? She goes, I fell

down by the way, washer by the dishwasher. And it's

so funny how she even, like I think she even cussed,

like yeah, she's like I fell down by the f

and washer, right, she doesn't even know not to cuss, right.

And she goes, and I just prayed, God, you need

to show me some signs that you love me, that

you're paying attention to me, Like, please, God, minister to

me in such a way because her daughter is in

a terrible situation. She's incarcerated and she's watching her kids

and there's there's there's bad things involved, things that are

not my story to tell, but let me just tell

you it is. It is the worst situation ever. And

she says, and I was at the end of myself

saying like, you know, please, God showed me. And she's weeping,

and she says, and here you are that God has

sent you to me today. And she goes and for

no reason at all, you felt like coming and visiting

me here today. And I said, well, can we go

back in the office and pray for your daughter? So

we went in the back and she opened it up

and we prayed, and she's just bawling and she's like,

God has set you here today, and so and here.

Everybody there in the whole restaurant is listening to this,

and here's the owner who normally doesn't behave this way.

And we're sitting right there in close proximity with everybody

in the stools, and they're looking over. These guys are regulars,

and they're like, I'm sorry, what is your name again?

Like you're a pastor, like and you're here with us today,

like God bless you. And I was clearly the pastor

there on the mission. And I walked out of there

and Trey looked at me and said, that was one

of the most amazing things we could have done with.

Our time today.

And so you know, it's one of those things where

I believe that God gives us the ability to say,

you know, always have your wits about you, always use

good wisdom.

I think that's the key part. That's the key using wisdom. Motive. Yes,

so your motive wasn't to go in there is already

the lights out right right right.

So anyway, I have to say, we've gone a little

bit over our time, but this was.

I think this segment will really help someone.

I'll be honest.

It's a great debate because these are the kind of

podcasts that people really want to know.

And when you brought that up, I thought that. I

bet you people thought I wonder what zaraba?

Right? Yes, because it's like, you know, I just had.

An entirely different background, and God, I believe, sometimes calls

me to the gritty people of the world, you know.

So anyway, hey, listen, that's all we have time for

and we will see you next time on the Bible.

Guys,