… and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
Summary: Paul’s instruction about food provides a jumping-off place for understanding the frictions between Jew and Gentile and a warning against falling under false “religious laws.”
When I was about five years old, my parents moved to a small mill town on the Willamette River. Our house overlooked the river, and the street we lived on was named “River Street.” Most of the property around our house was undeveloped woods, but nearby was another house owned by the town dentist. He had two children about the same age as my brothers and me.
Because there were no other kids on our end of the street, we played together often, and occasionally I would spend the night at my friend’s house. This meant I would eat dinner there, and I also had to submit to their “house rules.”
Two memories come back immediately when I think of this part of my personal history. One was sitting at the dinner table staring at the stewed spinach I was supposed to eat (Yecch!), and the other was having to brush my teeth using a timer (Keep brushing for two full minutes!).
At the time, I didn’t think stewed spinach was “good,” and I certainly didn’t receive it with thanksgiving. So what does all this have to do with our meditation?
There are reasons to reject certain foods other than personal taste. One example that comes to mind is bacon.
Bacon, as everyone knows, comes from pigs, and pigs, because they do not ‘chew the cud,’ are forbidden for Jews to eat (Leviticus 11:7-8). (This is just one example of many food laws that the Jews lived under.)
Jesus, as you know, was a Jew.
Do you see the problem?
If Jesus were a Jew, then people who believe in Jesus should follow the Jewish laws about food. Right?
RIGHT?
What a lot of people missed were Jesus’ teachings about food (Mark 7:18-20) and the fact that the coming of the Messiah did not extend the Mosaic Covenant, but in reality ended it.*
This is one of the things that the Jews “stumbled” over: When the Mosaic Covenant was fulfilled, so were the food laws (Mark 7:18-20, Acts 10:9-23). This is not the same as God’s Moral Law (Exodus 20:1-17). They are two different things.
The world between Jewish tradition and Gentile freedom is a challenging one for believers. God does not forbid Jewish Christians from following the Mosaic food laws. At the same time, God does not require Christians to obey these same food laws.
What are we to do?
Paul gives us the answer. We are to receive food with thanksgiving because when we give thanks to God, the food is “consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
Application: Do not let someone put you under a religious law that does not come from God.
“Food” for Thought: How much of what Christians argue about today might fall under this category of “religious laws?”
*See the following: Mark 2:21-22, Luke 22:20, Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 10:4, Hebrews 8:13.
I reckon the honest answer is “I don’t know.” What I do know is that I have many things in my time that range from when to go to church, what to wear to church, how often to go to church, volunteering at the church, communion, tithe, offerings, tattoos, drinking alcohol, social media, entertainment choices, school for your children, and what “being in the world, but not of the world” means. Much of these types of things are not issues of Divine morality, but rather speak to tradition and justification by works rather than conviction of an individual by the Holy Spirit. For followers of Christ, we are to shine the light of Christ to the world, Christ lives in us, and our lifestyle should reflect His Glory. Dependence on adhering to a set of rules as evidence that Christ lives within us is going down the wrong path. The transformation that Christ brings causes sinful desires to fall away. Then our obedience to Him is rooted in our love for Him.
Romans 14:1-9
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Thank you, Chris!
I appreciate the “honest” answer. In fact, I think you pegged it. Sometimes people who feel challenged by the Spirit to improve a specific area of life respond by challenging others. This can be a good thing if handled properly, or it can become a “works righteousness” test if handled improperly.
Hi Guy’s! Just home from triple bypass surgery. Happened fast, doctors were great, home now, get a little recovery and will join in review & comment soon.
Ron,
Thanks for letting us know! Glad to hear you survived and are on the path to recovery. Praise God!!