Judging And Eating

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: "As surely as I live," says the Lord, "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God." 

          So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For 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 receives human approval (Romans 14:1-18) 

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God  And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (I Corinthians 6:9-11)

          It seems to me that consideration of today’s first passage must begin with the question of Paul’s scope and definition, or with what he did not say. He uses word “unclean,” or “common,” not wrong or sinful. He uses the word “eat” not “do.” Paul was convinced that nothing one could eat was unclean or common. That does not mean that He was convinced that nothing one could do was wrong or sinful. The passage from I Corinthians makes it clear that Paul doesn’t think that every behavior is acceptable and up to the individual conscience. He never teaches that they are. What he wrote about in the first passage dealt specifically with eating what had been sacrificed to idols. From what he said before, it might extend as far as “disputable matters.”

I have a Jewish friend with whom I’m discussing something related to this. He told me that the Jewish word for pig is pronounced “kha-ZEER.” The Hebrew word for “fit” is kashér. According to a prophecy (I’m not sure where it’s found), when the Messiah comes, He will make the Kha-ZEER, kasher. But, Paul says, if you still consider it unclean, then it is unclean and no one has a right to judge you for it.

Paul says that it’s wrong for us to judge one another with regard to these things. Even if we include among “these things” the behaviors listed in I Corinthians 6:9-11, those who say, “You have no right to judge me!” aren’t reading the passage fully, because what Paul says is that while they have no right to judge, if what you are doing damages the faith of another, it is wrong.

It seems to me that this passage is really talking about a two-way street. We must not judge one another in either direction. The one who can’t eat must not judge the one who can, and the one who can must not judge the one who can’t. But it seems to me that the one who eats is given the greater responsibility, because in addition to not judging, he is called to not offend, and therefore to not eat.