This week we are looking at Romans 15:1-13. We are zooming in here a little bit and taking a smaller bite of Scripture to examine this week because this is Paul's conclusion to his primary point of application that he wants the Roman Christians to get. Next week we will move pretty quickly and finish the book through chapter 16.
In chapter 15 Paul is continuing his discussion of how the "strong" and the "weak" are to relate to one another in the local house churches of Rome. Remember the weak in faith are those who are continuing to follow the dietary laws of the OT along with the holy days and maybe even circumcision. The strong, which he will mention specifically for the first time here in 15:1, are likely those who are free to eat whatever food they want and forego Sabbath practice and circumcision rituals. Their conscience doesn't convict them on these matters. Whereas, these are not specifically ethnic categorical distinctions it is likely that more Jewish Christians are in the weak and more Gentile Christians are in the strong.
Romans 15:1-2, 7
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
In verse 1 he gives a strong imperative to the strong and in v. 7 to both. In verse 1 he calls the strong to "bear with", that is to tolerate and come to the aid of, the weak. They have a responsibility here, having the more freeing position to give up their ability to use their freedom for their own benefit and to instead use it to please their neighbor for their good, that is to build them up. The use of neighbor here would recall Rom. 13:8-10 as well as the command to love your neighbor as yourself from Jesus and Lev. 19:18.
Then he calls both groups to "welcome" one another. Tomorrow we will explore the example of Christ. The idea of the word for welcome is hospitality, that is to receive one into your home or circle of acquaintance. This is especially fitting since these were house churches who aspired to eat a meal together and the primary nature of the conflict revolved around food.
Quickly, how easy would it have been for Paul to just form different house churches that met each one's needs? These were not essential matters as we've covered already and they already likely met in 5 different homes throughout the city. The solution of 2 kosher Sunday meetings and 3 non-kosher Sunday meetings would make sense practically. But Paul will have none of it. They are to tolerate and aide one another with their differences and welcome one another in fellowship.
Venture with me into the weeds here for a moment. Scot McKnight and the Tim Mackey see a socio-political power in view in verses 1-6 as well as strength in faith and the church. They argue that the Gentile Christians would hold a higher status in the Roman social hierarchy that comes into play here as well. They primarily gather this view from the meaning of the word translated here as "strong" (dynatos). Paul also uses the negative form of this word (adynatos) in verse 1 as well, translated weak. This is a different word than he uses in 14:1 for the weak (astheneō). The word carries the meanings "possible, able, mighty, strong, and power". You can see how all those meanings are related theoretically and the context determines which meaning we go with. They would argue that the word should be translated "power", as in socio-political power, instead of strong here. That is certainly a possible translation as it is within this words semantic range and easy to see how it would apply given the social situation at play in the Roman churches, ie. the Jews being recently sent away from Rome. So the text may very well have hints of this.
I've obviously spent a good bit of time exploring this this week and, as you've probably guessed by now, I think their conclusion is a bit of an overreach. When the major English translations all go with the same word in translation, there is usually a reason for it. Here they are relying primarily on the immediate context of Rom. 14:1-15:13. Paul's focus here is the weak in faith, so without any additional contextual clues that he has broadened his scope to the socio-political landscape as well, I think it best to keep our focus on the weak and strong in faith as it pertains to the Mosaic Law within the church. This is not to say that the application isn't true however, only that this text isn't teaching that application.
I've spent so much time wrestling with that this week because this is an application that I want to make as well. It would apply nicely to our current American cultural climate, calling those with power and privilege to help those who do not have power and privilege. But I think we must keep our scope within the church and disputable matters or opinions.
That said Paul's scope is the church and his imperative directed towards those who are right theologically and have the more able, powerful, or strong position in the church. His call to them is consistently to leverage their abilities and strength to benefit those who don't have those same liberties or powers (see also 1 Cor. 8-10; Phil. 2). I hope you know where I'm going with this. Martin Luther King Jr said that 11 am on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours in America. That this statement is largely still true today, is a travesty and unacceptable given the Scripture, theology and leader we claim to follow. If Paul were here today I believe he would give a scathing rebuke against the white evangelical church. The white evangelical church has a position within the church at large that affords them more liberties, ie. more access to good theological education, more resources, better multi-ethnic locations. Too often the white evangelical church uses these positions of strength to their own advantage, not to the advantage of others.
Then the church, as salt and light to the culture, should be the beacon of racial unity that the culture seeks to emulate and follow. But it must start with the church better living out it's theology of unity.
Additional Content
This video is taken from The Gospel Coalition's MLK50 conference done in 2018 to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charlie Dates delivers this talk and for most of us watching this it will be uncomfortable. It sure made me uncomfortable. You may even have a knee-jerk, negative reaction to some things he says here. But I think we must listen! Remember he is not expounding on Romans 15 here, so he expands his talk to the socio-political sphere as well. But he has a lot of good things to say to the church as well that are in line with applying Romans 15.
Reflection
Are there any areas in your Christian life that you have more liberty to practice within your Christian freedom than your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Think of things like personal convictions on what TV shows you can watch, drinking alcohol, practicing sabbath, etc. What is your heart and your mindset in community with others? Is it to bear with one another for their benefit or to prove you're right? To those on both sides of these issues is your heart and motive to welcome one another and worship together?