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Beloved in
the Lord, you must not cause any brother to stumble, for it is written:
“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not
to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (Romans
14:13 - NKJV). Someone may ask: ‘How can I put a cause to fall in my
brother’s way?’ Here is my answer. You may cause a brother to fall in this
way. He considers something to be unclean, and even though there is nothing
unclean of itself, you must not grieve him because
of his opinion, otherwise, as Paul says, “if your brother is grieved because
of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your
food the one for whom Christ died” (Romans 14:15 – NKJV).
Therefore, we must see that we don’t destroy with a food or a drink (for
instance, wine) the work of God in the life of our brother. Is it not written
that “the kingdom
of God
is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit” (Romans 14:17
- NKJV)? So we ought to abstain from any food or drink which makes our
brother stumble. Therefore, if you invite a brother to your house or you have
to stay with a brother for some time, and you know that he doesn’t eat rabbit
or pork or he does not drink wine because he considers these things to be
unclean, you must not grieve him by setting before him that kind of meat he
does not eat or that kind of drink he does not drink nor by eating or
drinking those things he considers to be unclean, lest you lose him and
destroy the work of God in him because of things that the Lord one day will
destroy together with the stomach (1 Corinthians 6:13). And love does not
seek its own profit, but the profit of the others that they may be saved.
However, it is good not only to abstain from eating a certain kind of meat or
drinking wine (if these things make our brother stumble), but also to abstain
from doing anything by which our brother stumbles or is offended or is made
weak (Romans 14:21).
Therefore, be careful how you behave toward those brothers who are weak in
the faith, lest you lose them and sin against Christ (1 Corinthians 8:7-13).
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Bear in
mind also that you must not cause any unbeliever to stumble either, for Paul
says: “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God” (1 Corinthians
10:32
– NIV). Therefore, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel you
announce to the lost, because if you evangelize them and in the meantime you give
offense to them, as some do, your scandals will be stumbling blocks to them
and thus you will hinder them from turning to Christ and they won’t feel
attracted to the congregation of the righteous, because they will think that
you are a bunch of hypocrites, who love to sing Christian songs with a loud
voice and play and listen to Christian music but don’t put into practice the
precepts of the Gospel. Remember that many people pay more attention to your
facts than to your words.
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