It’s all about the love. Romans 14.13-18

Come and let me tell you bout a man named Michael.

Michael. I stepped up to the Post Office window and said, ‘do you by any chance have any lavender stamps to match these invitations? See, they are for Bible study, and women really like when things match…’you know what I mean?’

‘Bible study, huh?’ the postal worker said. To which he said, ‘You know, Heaven is a place of wonder, color, and beautiful music …’

‘Uh-huh…I think I need about 120 stamps,’ I said, approving of the lovely stamps he showed me.

‘You know, Heaven is beyond your wildest imagination!’

‘That’s what Scripture says … so, do you have enough stamps there?’ I queried.

‘Yes, but when you get to Heaven, you will feel so loved… so warm, you won’t even believe it!’

Okay, he got my attention, so I looked up and said, ‘Sounds like you’ve been there.’

‘Yeah, I have,’ he said.

Such was the gist of my first conversation with Michael (about five years ago). After his comments that day, I ventured, ‘Do you think you could sit down and tell me what happened to you—what you experienced?’ He hesitantly agreed, and we established a time to meet at a nearby Denny’s Restaurant.

And so began my friendship with a humble Christian man who said he had been ‘on the other side’, following a horrific motorcycle accident about 22 years ago, which he should not have survived. In several coffee shop meetings, I asked leading questions, and he would answer … sometimes apologizing for getting emotional … sometimes having to regroup and collect himself. Whatever I wrote on my lined paper, I would go home and stack it up against Scripture---did anything Michael claimed to have experienced ‘fly in the face’ of the Word? Actually, no, it did not. I camped in Revelation 21 and 22 … and became absolutely enraptured by what I could grasp of Heaven.

Of all the things Michael said—he said that in Heaven, everything surrounds the Lamb of God, and in Heaven, it’s all about the love.’

For the Christian … whether in Paul’s day--in the first century—or today, it’s all about the love. Looking again at our context of Romans chapter 14—we should not judge others, (whether inside the Church or outside), but rather love them. And now, Paul takes it another step----

“Each of us will have to answer to God. For that reason, we should stop judging each other. We must make up our minds not to do anything that will make another Christian sin. I am in the Lord Jesus, and I know that there is no food that is wrong to eat. But if a person believes something is wrong, that thing is wrong for him. If you hurt your brother's or sister's faith because of something you eat, you are not really following the way of love. Do not destroy someone's faith by eating food he thinks is wrong, because Christ died for him. Do not allow what you think is good to become what others say is evil. In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. The important things are living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Anyone who serves Christ by living this way is pleasing God and will be accepted by other people. Romans 14.13-18

Essentially, Paul is establishing a new standard. While you personally may not have an issue with a certain ‘gray area’ of behavior—things like alcohol consumption, gambling, etc.--if your Christian brother struggles in that area, you are to take the high road, and refrain from that thing. Because of the love you share in Christ, your greater concern is whether or not you will cause your brother to stumble. So then, you do not make your choice because it is lawful or permissible for you, but you make your choice out of love for how it affects another believer who is weaker in that area. Why? Because it’s all about the love. Not judgment, but love.

Christine