God calls us never to do anything—however legitimate in itself—that could cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble. That’s the principle. If the strong ignore the warning and insist on their right to eat meat, they will (among other things) “distress” (14:15), “tear down” (14:20), and even “destroy” a brother or sister in Christ.

In the previous post, I sketched Paul’s argument in Romans 14-15. In this post and the next, I will ask, “Why do disputable matters matter so much to God? What did Paul think was at stake?”

In this post I will seek to trace Paul’s argument in Rom 14-15. I will not get into detailed exegesis. At the same time, I want to do more than just note Paul’s basic thesis. So neither a birds-eye view, nor a detailed mapping of the terrain; more like tracing the contour lines of the argument.

In Romans 14:1–15:13, Paul gives pastoral counsel to the house churches of Rome, with the aim of bringing joyful unity where there is presently judgmentalism and division. It is a masterpiece of pastoral instruction.

This post starts a short series of reflections on these chapters, with a particular eye to where we can easily go astray in either our interpretation or application of Paul’s teaching.

Several years ago, in about 2009-10, I read three books on the Rwandan Genocide. I can’t remember what prompted me to engage such a grim topic at the time—perhaps it was watching Hotel Rwanda—but I remember the gloom that settled over my soul for days afterwards.

Towards the end of Romans 1, the apostle Paul shows the horrific consequences of humanity turning away from God and his truth. People embrace a lie based on the distorted desires of the heart. As punishment, God gives them what they want, or as Paul puts it, “hands them over” (vv. 24, 26, 28) to their desires and allows them to reap the fruit of their folly.