#Romans14 - Eat bacon for God!

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2012/10/12/six-pack-bacon-bacon-bacon/

Romans 14: 

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

I like to eat. I'm not a glutton, nor am I even overweight, but I do like to eat. Paul talks a lot about eating in this chapter, so a lot of it stood out to me. :) It was interesting to me that Paul was less concerned about the technicalities of what you eat, and more concerned about how it affected others. We are FREE in Christ to do as we please, so let's use our freedom to help others feel welcomed in Christ. If I do something or say something that I don't necessarily think is wrong in God's eyes, but someone else is convinced it is, I SHOULDN'T DO IT AROUND THEM. The goal is not to be right, but unity in the body of Christ. I do have some questions about this, though (see #4). So that is why Paul says, "Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God." So I say, "Let's eat bacon for God!" :)

Oh, and also, my name is "Daniel" which means "God is my judge." So the fact that this chapter is all about remembering that we will all have to give an account to God, who is the judge, is pretty cool.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

I think to start to understand Paul's logic here, you have to know a little about the Jewish customs he is using as illustrations. One is food. In the old covenant law, God commanded the Israelites to abstain from certain foods, including shellfish, pork, and Colossians 2 for some references to these "holy days."
d others. Some of these can be found in Leviticus 11. Under the new covenant, God himself declared many of these things clean. See Peter's vision about eating clean and unclean food in Acts 10. Another example Paul uses here is if someone "regards one day as special..." This could refer either to the Sabbath day, or to many other festivals and special days that God initiated in the old covenant, that were sort of unnecessary in the new. See Isaiah 1 and

3. So what does this mean for my life?

I was pretty convicted while reading this chapter. It's pretty easy for me to fall more into the "Pharisee" camp and almost add rules to God's rules. Although I have questions about how far to take this (see #4), I have to be careful not to be judgmental of others, especially unbelievers or new believers. For them, some behaviors might not be a really big deal which for me might be off limits. But I have to be careful not to play judge and just call out their behaviors like a tennis match referee. I need to let God be the judge in order to help them come closer to God. I have to trust more that God will convict people as the Holy Spirit begins to grow into all areas of their lives.

4. What questions do I have about this chapter?

I have several. When are we supposed to "judge" the behaviors of others, and help them see that it is not God's desire? I'm not talking about condemning them to hell, I'm talking about things that God clearly outlines as destructive or sinful (i.e. filthy language, sexual immorality, gossiping, etc.). I don't think we're supposed to just plug our ears and close our eyes and hum a merry tune and think, "It's okay if they keep behaving that way. God will judge them in the end." So that's one question.

The second is this: how does this apply to things that aren't explicitly forbidden in the Bible, or at least in the new testament? Like should Christians watch rated R movies, listen to music with sexually immoral lyrics, smoke, get tattoos, etc.? I think this is more what Paul has in mind, but I just don't know.

Those are my thoughts. Again, a short chapter, but some really important life questions. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans13 - Submit to Earthly Authorities

Romans 13: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

The chapter starts out on a note that I think many young people would find challenging. I think in part it's because of that difficult 6-letter word: "submit." Part of gaining independence is to "break free" from rules and those in authority: parents, teachers, city officials and officers, etc. But God's word here is especially striking if you look at the culture to which it was written. Many Jews, and later Christians, saw the Roman government as the enemy - even the Antichrist. Still, God encourages us to submit to the governing authorities, spelling out that God is the one who has allowed people and nations to be in power. So paying taxes, abiding by traffic rules, and following legal business practices are all ways to ultimately submit to God.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

In verses 8-10, Paul talks about love as being the fulfillment of the law. Immediately, and probably obviously, I thought of Jesus' own teaching about love being the summary of the law in Matthew 22. The teachers of the law tried to trick Jesus once again (you'd think they'd get tired of being in the wrong) by asking him which of the commandments is the greatest. Whichever one Jesus picked they would find some fault in his answer. However, Jesus says that loving God and loving neighbors are the two greatest commandments and that all of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (In a side note, Jesus also talks about paying taxes to Caesar earlier in the same chapter.) It's almost as if Paul was taking his cues from Jesus. :)

3. So what does this mean for my life?

I have always been a rules follower (almost to a fault), but I really connected with verse 3 about not fearing authorities if you do what is right. I think of speeding as an example. Whenever I pass a cop car, I never get worried. I never check in my rear view mirror for lights. It's because I am not speeding. On the other hand, for those who are speeding there is that moment of tense anxiety when they see a police officer on the road. So I'll keep doing that. :)

However, another thing that came to mind was that I don't believe this chapter is talking about blind obedience to every rule no matter what. In fact, the Bible has examples where Jews did not follow the ruling laws that were in direct contradiction to God's (i.e. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel, etc.). I believe that we are able to and called to be a part of political process to protect our freedoms to worship. We are blessed to live in a country where we can speak up, vote, and contact our officials and government leaders in order to bring about justice and protect our freedoms and rights. So many people feel helpless to the government's "control," but refuse or neglect to participate in the processes which can affect change.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Two major questions really arise for me from this chapter. First, regarding the submission to authorities, when is it appropriate for Christians to directly disobey the law (i.e. other countries where it is illegal to be a Christian, own a Bible, share your faith, or assemble for worship)? I'm not talking about normal civil laws, but specific laws that prevent people around the world from obeying God's word.

The second question is about verses 11-12. The writers of the new testament all seemed to think the end of the world was near. Why did they think that? 2,000 years later, how do we take these verses? Is it referring to the order of events (i.e. the next event will be Jesus return) or time in years?

There are my thoughts and questions. I was actually surprised how much this little chapter prompted in me. I thought this would be a really quick blog entry, but there's some good stuff. I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans12 - Caterpillars in the Bible? Well, sort of...

Romans 12: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

Romans 12:2 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Recently I paid close attention to the verb tenses in the verse and realized something very important. It says "Do not CONFORM...but BE TRANSFORMED..." Conforming is something we do to ourselves. We try to make ourselves "fit in" and look like everyone else around us. Like in the books of Judges and Samuel, the Israelites wanted a king so they could be like all the other nations around them. God warned them what would happen, but they still wanted one. But in the end, it is something we do to ourselves. On the other hand, the next verb says BE TRANSFORMED. Notice it doesn't say "conform yourselves" or "try harder to look like Jesus" or "transform yourselves." It says, "BE TRANSFORMED." That is a passive verb. Actually the Greek word that is translated "transformed" is "metamorphoo," which is where we get our word for metamorphosis. A caterpillar goes through a transformation, but it's not something that's done on it's own. It simply submits to the process God has created so it can "be transformed" into a new creation. In the same way, we ought to simply "be transformed" by God's word and God's processes to let him shape us into the image of his Son.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know.

One of my favorite illustrations for what the church is supposed to be is found in verses 3-8, namely that the church is like one body with many parts. Each part performs different tasks and has different gifts, but is important to the function of the whole body. One of the longest passages where Paul talks about the body is in 1 Corinthians 12, and he also illustrates the church in this way in Ephesians 4. Each of these three passages provides insight into this illustration, as well as the different gifts found in the body of Christ. If you struggle with what your place is, look in each of these three places and see if any of the gifts describe you.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

I was struck by the end of this passage where Paul talks about loving your enemies. Especially striking was the final verse, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." We use this verse with our children to talk about not "getting revenge" or hitting back, but rather showing love even to those who are being mean to us. It is an simple concept, but not an easy one for anyone to put into practice. I would have a really hard time actually thinking of anyone in my life right now as an "enemy," but there are plenty of times where even the people I love rub me the wrong way for a moment. My reaction is a good indicator of how I'm letting God transform me in this way.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

This is a pretty big question, but how are we as Christians supposed to apply these types of verses to war and terrorism? Or even to self-defense on a personal level? At what point do we still bear arms and defend ourselves in the world, and how far is too far? I find myself having a hard time justifying 100% pacifism and 100% war mentality with a biblical backing. Yet everything in between is gray. That's hard.

Some big thoughts from a very practical chapter. I'd love to hear thoughts from others.

In Christ,
Dan