If My Homie Falls It Ain't Worth It!

Romans 14:21

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

We live in a very liberal time. Our social mores have loosened to the point where we are not sure of what is right or wrong. There is a lot of talk of “boundary” issues because people keep moving the old boundary markers and people are stepping all over what used to be sacred or taboo. Some of our bold new moves are the result of laws that have been changed for our good and some to our detriment. In a greater spiritual sense there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and symbolically we are like Peter when God spoke to him on the rooftop about not calling anything unclean that he now made clean. Jesus gave Peter a green card to go eat with Gentiles to share the gospel. As a result of this freedom from the law as it pertained to food, there was great anxiety in the early church over what was clean or unclean. There was confusion over clean or unclean meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Mature believers who did not worship the gods, who the meat was sacrificed to, ate it and had no problems with their conscious but the weaker, more traditional believers still had hang-ups about the meat that had been offered to false gods.

Paul said neither of the two were wrong in their theological understanding in trying to live their lives out before God but the stronger in the faith have more responsibility to make sure the weaker-more traditional is not offended by his/her freedom. Whether it's eating meat, drinking wine, dancing, smoking cigars, listening to secular music, whatever it is if it offends those weaker in the faith then we ought not do it. In other words, you and God can have an understanding that what you do does not breach a Holy contract with you and him. It's not a deal breaker, but here’s the caveat. If it offends your homie/neighbor/friend/spouse then you have to give it up even though you believe it's all good. Paul says do not let your good be spoken of as evil. There are some things you have to give up for the greater good of others and the Kingdom.

The other reason you have to give up some “border line” offenses is just that, they are “border line.” When you waiver between your own viewpoints of it being good or not good then it’s probably offensive. If there is “cognitive dissonance” your conscious is torn, then that’s a good sign that this particular act shouldn’t be done until God gives you a ‘rooftop’ revelation that it’s okay. Look at verse 23 but the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith, and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
If what you do causes someone to fall don’t do it.

Dear God, help me to be conscious of others and not just please my own tastes. Help me to be sensitive to my playlists while other people are listening. When no one is listening but you and me, help me not to offend you. In all that I say and all that I do, may it be acceptable to you and my Homies.

In Jesus Name,

Amen