H. A. Ironside in his book Illustrations of Bible Truth narrates an incident in the life of one Bishop Potter. Bishop Potter boarded a ship for Europe. On going aboard, he discovered that he was to share the cabin with another man. He quickly studied the man, left the room and went to the purser's desk to ask if he could deposit his gold watch and other valuables in the ship's safe. He explained that he was asking for this service because he was pairing with a man who he did not think was a trustworthy man, judging from the man's appearance. The purser accepted the valuables and replied "It's all right, Bishop, I'll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!" What a cute illustration of the folly of judging others.

Today's 2^nd reading consists of three short verses, Romans 14:7-9. The passage, read out of context, easily lends itself to misunderstanding. A better understanding emerges when we read the passage in the context of the entire chapter of Romans 14. In isolation, the passage seems to be talking of life after death with the Lord. In context, however, Paul is talking about life in this world. In isolation, the passage appears to be concerned about our relationship with the Lord. Read in context, however, we discover that Paul is actually more concerned with our relationship with one another. We see this point more clearly at the beginning of the chapter: "Accept those whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters" (Romans 14:1).

The problem Paul was addressing was the lack of understanding between those he called the strong and the weak in the faith. He makes a distinction between the strong and the weak Christians with two examples. The strong consider all food clean and eat everything, including pork, which observant Jews would not touch, and meat that had been offered to idols. The weak Christians would abstain from these and prefer to eat a vegetarian diet. Likewise the strong Christians considered all days alike, while the weak Christians would observe certain days as holier than others. Paul teaches that the strong and the weak Christians must not judge or condemn each other since God accepts both of them. God, who is the master of them both, has accepted them. They have, therefore, no grounds to criticize of malign one another. If a servant's conduct is acceptable to the master, who are you to complain against the servant?

It is at this point in his argument that Paul introduces the three verses of today's 2^nd reading:

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 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, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (Romans 14:7-9)

In other words, Paul is saying that holiness or right and wrong is not about us or about what we think or feel but about the Lord. A Christian criticizing another Christian on the ground of differences of opinion and lifestyle is as good as the kettle calling the pot black. Both the kettle and the pot belong to the same owner, who alone determines which one of them is good for his purposes. If the owner says that the pot is good enough, what right has the kettle to complain.

Does this mean that Christians have no right to raise their voice when they see injustice going on in the world? No, Paul is not talking about our relationship with the world but about our relationship with our fellow committed Christians who differ from us because they are on a different level of awareness and maturity. Paul is not talking about the indisputable, essential moral demands of Christianity, such as in murder, dishonesty, infidelity, and greed. He is talking about "disputable matters," the gray areas that are non-essential to being a Christian. Such area abound, for example, in African churches where the issue of women covering their hair or not could tear a church apart. Other examples include women wearing trousers and men wearing earrings - all evidently non-essentials of the faith.

The principle Paul is teaching here is that which St Augustine would later articulate as: "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity." The challenge for us today is to recognize and respect the freedom of fellow Christians in the area of the non-essentials.