At youth group a couple weeks ago we looked at Romans 14 and those “weak” and “strong” in faith. I think all of us were challenged by the night. We began by asking the question, “who is more godly?” and filling it out with different scenarios:
…the person who gossips or the one who tames their tongue? Yep, a softball to get us going.
…the person who watches rated-R movies or the one who limits himself to rated-G movies? Now it gets dicier.
…the person who believes in courtship or the one who practices some form of dating? Hmm…trickier still.
...the teen who attends youth group or the one who doesn’t?
We had more but you get the idea. So, how do we go about answering these questions? Romans 14 has much to say to us here.
UNDERSTANDING
Firstly, we need to understand Romans 14, and then we can turn to application. He opens the chapter by calling us to “welcome” the “one who is weak in faith.” Sounds wonderfully generous, and yet, in v. 2 we get a small shock as we realize that the “weak person eats only vegetables.” We might have assumed that a “strong” person restricted their diet for Old Testament religious reasons. Paul says the opposite. The reason is that the strong person understands what Christ has done to the OT categories and ceremonial laws. Christ fulfilled them, and we are thus free from them.
Verse 3 then summarizes his teaching on these matters: let the strong not despise the weak (“how could someone be so bound up in laws that are fulfilled!”); let the weak person not judge the strong (“how could a Christian say he loves God and do that!”).
Then in vv. 4-12 he goes after the weak person. His summary command is not to judge others because both you and they have a judge and “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (v. 10). When you judge others in matters that have no explicit biblical command then you are becoming an amateur judge–and in this case, amateurs need to just shut up. If your Christian brother tells you he watched a rated-R movie, then remind yourself that God is their judge, you are not.
In vv. 13-23 he goes after the strong person. If someone feels like it’s wrong to do something–and, again, something where we have no clear biblical command–then because of our obligation to love our brothers in Christ, we should not put them in a position where they are tempted to do it. This is where we can freely shelve our Christian freedom because “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (v. 17). We have what is truly precious–”righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”–so let’s not get bent out of shape because we can’t watch a movie we wanted to see or have that beer we were thirsting for with our steak.
Paul ends the chapter with a firm corrective, however. His chapter might give us the impression that since we’re all free in Christ, we’re all free to do whatever is not clearly forbidden in the Scriptures. Right? Wrong. Rather, “whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats….whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (v. 23). In other words, if your conscience condemns you, you cannot do it. Even if you can argue with yourself about what the reality of justification means, you are sinning to disobey your faith-educated conscience. Of course, we need to train our consciences with the word of God, but at each step of the way we are accountable to them. The sobering implication is that something that is sinful for you is not necessarily sinful for me.
Your rated-R movie might be sinful for me but not for you.
APPLICATION
1. Are we more tempted to judge the Christian freedom of others, or to despise the Christian restraint of others?
2. What are some ways that you could “always think the best” when you are tempted to judge or despise someone else?
3. How does v. 17 encourage us in shelving my Christian freedoms for the sake of fellowship with a brother or sister?
4. What are some other considerations we need to reckon with in choosing movies to watch, a conviction on courtship/dating, and other matters where Christians disagree?
5. Our sermon closed with this exhortation: “know the difference between something that is truly wrong and something that is wrong for you.” What does that mean?
These issues are vast and touch on so many related areas–none of which we have time for. May God give us the grace to love others in a way that honors the gospel that has saved us, and the standard of holiness that God has presented so clearly in his word.
DJB
[...] on Upchurch asks, Is it godly to watch a rated-R movie? and looks to Romans 14 for the answer. We began by asking the question, “who is more godly?” [...]
Just the title of this article confuses me (as a believer). “Is it godly to watch an R-rated movie?”. When scripture talks so much about believers living holy, pure, righteous lives, how can I go watch a movie that drops f-bombs, shows sex scene after sex scene, etc, etc. Sounds like compromise to me? It’s sad that we, as believers, spend so much time trying to justify what we can “get away with”. When we should not try to see how close we can get the “line of sin” but we should be fleeing from it. I just cannot see how this pleases our Lord and Savior. We say, “I can go watch a rated-R movie and handle it.” We take that under our own strength. “I” can handle it. When we start leaning on “I”, we get in trouble. We start trusting ourselves and not in God. And Proverbs 28:26 tells us that “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” And the two statements made seem contridictary 1) “the standard of holiness that God has presented so clearly in his word” and 2) “Your rated-R movie might be sinful for me but not for you”. If it is so “presented so clearly” why has the standard of holiness such a “moving target”.
Dear “C”,
Great comment. Obviously, the title was purely an attention-grabber. I’m also assuming that not all movies are rated-R for the same reason. Further, some of us watch movies almost entirely with remote controls at the ready. Even PG-13s surprise you. Black-and-whites are typically fine, but sometimes the comments are inappropriate for kids or tempting despite the fact everyone is far more clothed than in a contemporary movie. Disney is no automatic winner either if you’re careful about what your kids watch.
The point is that a rating perhaps puts you in the right ballpark when it comes to what’s appropriate for your convictions, but only in the ballpark.
I think your points about a general lack of confidence in ourselves, and a desire to “get away with” with our unbelieving neighbors and friends do, are great ones to make. They point at the attitude of heart we want to have even if we are still left deciding whether to watch this particular movie or not.
Thanks!