"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn him who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." Romans 14:1-4 (NIV)
A great enemy of the church is Denominational Doctrines which divide rather than unit the family of God. For as the old saying goes, "United we stand; divided we fall." And with all the forces outside the Church determined to destroy it, we must be strong in our unity in order to hold together the body of the living Lord.
There simply is no room for the arrogant, self-righteous judgment passed by one so-called Christian against another of questionable faith. For we know, as Paul teaches, that all are equal in sin, and all are equally saved by the faith in Christ Jesus which is itself a gift of the grace of God, that no man may boast. And each man will receive that instruction and that freedom of behavior as the Holy Spirit directs him according to the will and purpose of God. Therefor, let no man tell another that he is not doing right by God by dancing or not dancing, observing a custom or not observing a custom, drinking wine or beer or not drinking, or any of the other myriad of doctrines invented by the multitude of denominations. And, let's be honest; all of the various denominations arose when one group of Christians got mad at another group of Christians over some disputable matter, and decided to go off and start their own denomination. So the body of Christ has already been fragment by petty arguing and stupid arrogance. Let us not divide it more, lest it be nothing but unattached toes and fingers unable to do God's work.
As the man Christ was able to heal all ailments and unite men of diverse backgrounds, let us free the Holy Spirit to unite His body into one powerful force able to defeat the powers of darkness, and bring the light of Life and Truth to the whole world. For this is our mission. The Great Commission Christ Jesus himself gave to us before he went to be with the Father to prepare our place in God's kingdom. Let us not be distracted from our commission with petty squabbling within the family of God.
May God the Father, the son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit be with and give you peace. Amen.
As we continue to be honest, lets keep in mind the rest of Romans 14, where Paul finishes his thoughts about judgment, by striving "not to put any obstacle or stumbling block in your brother's way."
DavidPaul referred to people in this passage as the stronger brother and the weaker brother. The stronger brother is the one whose faith is not distressed by a given issue. The weaker brother IS distressed by a given issue. As Christians, we are strong on some issues, and weak on others.
If we distress a weaker brother's faith, we are in danger of putting ourselves first, rather than God's kingdom. It distresses me that some people may not understand your use of words like "arrogant" and "petty squabbling". Since you may be perceived under the very condition of unnecessary judgment you are encouraging us to avoid (See Rom 14:22,23).
Denominations are not a bad thing. They are merely a group expression on matters of faith or practice which help distinguish parts of the body of Christ. Yes, there are nonessential matters that denominations disagree on. On the essential matters, such as Christ's death and resurrection and His impact on our eternal destiny -- on such things, the body remains united.
I would encourage people to study some denominational history. As an example, slavery in the civil war era of the US divided a couple denominations. It is too simplistic to refer to "one group getting mad at another group". It was a matter of differences in faith that found the other groups' beliefs too inconsistent with Christian teaching.
Find the 'plus' in the denomination or the person, and in love, help them with the 'minus. Our task should be all about the "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit...pleasing to God and approved by men" and also in Paul's words, lets "make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification" (Rom 14:19)
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