The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. -Romans 14:17-19
We all know just how rich and developed Paul's theology is in his letter to the Romans, but when one reads through then entire epistle one can't help but feel that Paul's most immediate concern for that diverse group of believers in the ancient world's most cosmopolitan city is for church unity. Chapter 12's line-of-thinking commences with a short Greek word which most English Bibles translate as "therefore," and seems to be Paul's way of saying, "Now that I've established this rich theological stuff, here's why all that stuff is important." We in the church cannot discard the latter chapters of Romans, though we are often guilty of it.
Now the above quote is from Romans 14, and it caps off Paul's rather striking argument that views on food practices should not divide the Body of Christ. Imagine the shock that it must've been to the Jewish contingency of the church to hear Paul - that self-proclaimed member of the tribe of Benjamin - basically telling them, "I know what Leviticus says, but kosher-smosher! Let's spend more time building one another up rather than tearing each other down."
If I were a Jewish believer in Rome, I would've had to find a way to send a letter back to Paul (who, by the way, hadn't even visited the Roman church to that point) demanding a more satisfactory explanation than chapters 14-15 give. I would've needed more than "make every effort to be a peacemaker in the Body of Christ." That's far too idealistic - naive, really - for me. But such is the call which not only went out to the Jews and Gentiles which worshiped in opposition at Rome, but to the church today as well. Forget denominational fractions, our local churches can't even get past petulant quarrels when all who are involved agree on the consequences of not having a singular focus.
This past Sunday I again witnessed the powerful devastation which occurs when members of the body abandon peace and mutual edification for the sake of individual pride, ego, and comfort. There were no winners - everyone was a loser in this one. Although shock was the initial emotion felt by most people, it is only a matter of time before anger bubbles over and chokes out any momentum which this particular church has been given by the Spirit to save souls and disciple children of God.
Still, there are signs even in this tragic situation that something good and powerful can come about through this experience. But as long as we use our secondary and tertiary differences to mask our dislike of one another (which is the true foundation of the situation mentioned above), the church will never realize her full potential, and the cause of Christ will be weakened by the very people who claim the Name.
