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17. THE WEAK AND THE STRONG

To the class of the Jew-Gentile divide, Paul now adds another class to his apostolic attention: the weak and the strong.
     Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
     We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please
     ourselves. - Romans 14:1; 15:1

The first question that comes immediately to mind is: Who are the weak and, corollarily, who are the strong? Four proposals have been put forth as to the identity of the weak: (1) former pagan idolaters, (2) ascetics, (3) legalists, and (4) certain Jewish Christians (after Stott). While not much can be said in favour of the first three views, the context of Romans 14 and 15 appears to support the fourth. In his discussion on the relationship between the weak and the strong, Paul gives two illustrative examples of how the weak can differ from the strong in their behaviour: the matter of eating food (meat or vegetables) and the observance of certain days as holy days. Some have thought that these two discussed examples would point to the weak as being Jews who are still particularly susceptible to wanting to keep their kosher dietary habits and to observing the sabbaths and other Jewish festival days. Still, the evidence is only indicative and not conclusive. It is arguable that Gentile Christians are also capable of falling into the side of the weak in the two matters of food and days.

Yet a more significant issue at hand is the meaning of ‘the weak’ and its counterpart, ‘the strong’. The weak are those ‘whose faith is weak’, per Paul. This does not mean that their faith or belief in God and in Christ is tottering. ‘Faith’ in the context does not touch on the particularity of one’s basic belief in God. Both the weak and the strong equally believe in God. What separates them is their belief and practice on certain things that Paul calls dialogismoi (‘disputable matters’, NIV; ‘doubtful points’, NEB; ‘opinions’, RSV; ‘doubtful things’, NKJV; and ‘doubtful disputations’, KJV). These disputable matters are neutral morally, ethically, and religiously. They do not have any inherent wrongness or rightness in and of themselves. They are right to those who think them right and wrong to those who think them wrong. The weak, then, are those who attach certain values of rightness or wrongness to these disputable matters and are greatly troubled by them one way or another. They will either abstain from or indulge in these disputable matters thinking that their practice (or, non-practice) is necessitated by the dictates of their religion when such is not the case. And they are greatly distressed when they see others doing the contrary to them. In short, their conscience is weak relative to these nonessentials and it interferes with their faith assurance; thus, ‘whose faith is weak’.

When there is such a divide on disputable and nonessential matters, it is all too easy for the strong to be carried away by their ‘strength’ and ‘knowledge’ and for them to sneer at the weak either in outright haughtiness, or, in careless disregard to the weak’s distress. Paul would have none of these. Having put forward the rule of love as the supreme rule in community relationships (13:8-10), the apostle is now wont to show how this rule can be lived out in the arena of the weak and the strong.

‘Accept him whose faith is weak’ (14:1) and ‘stop passing judgment on one another’ (14:13), that is how Paul wants the strong to behave towards the weak. He goes further, ‘the strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak’ (15:1).

Eating or not eating certain kinds of food may seem trivial; and similarly, observing days may look very unimportant. Yet, in a community setting, how one relates to another on such seemingly insignificant issues determines the unity and health of the community. They may be nonstarters, but they have the potential to tear down the whole fabric of community harmony if they are not handled aright. That Paul should spend so much space to these disputable matters speaks volumes of their potential for volatility. That he should give theological arguments further heightens the underlying issues. Thus, it is not just a matter of eating or not eating; but undergirding the issue is a greater issue of far more significant import for community building. It is a matter of accepting or condemning, edifying or destroying, living the love-for-the-neighbour ethic or the self-pleasing ethic.

To Paul, all food is clean and whoever eats a certain kind of food eats it ‘to the Lord’ (14:6). If he abstains, he does so on account of the Lord too. No one is to judge him negatively either way. If he has certain qualms about not eating a particular food (religiously), then it is best for others not to eat that food before his presence. ‘Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died,’ intones Paul (14:15). The bottom-line is to ‘make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification’ (14:19) and to keep whatever one may believe about these disputable matters to oneself and God (14:22).

Archive
The Romans Series
1. Being the Community of God’s People
2. Ethno-Religious Tensions
3. The Power and the Wrath of God
4. Justification by Faith
5. Justification Brings Blessings
6. While We Were Still Sinners
7. Died to Sin
8. Slaves to Righteousness
9. The Difference of the Spirit
10. The Israel Problem
11. The Gentile Problem
12. Community Living
13. Community Unity
14. Community Ethics
15. Loving the Enemy Ethic
16. Extra-Community Ethics
17. The Weak and the Strong
18. Community Formation
19. Paul, the Minister
20. Gems in Greetings

Articles on The Da Vinci Code, Gnosticism and
the Gospel of Judas
1. The Da Vinci Code: A Christian Response
2. The Nag Hammadi Documents and Gnosticism
3. The Gospel of Judas
4. The Gospel of Judas - A Retake
5. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 1)
6. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 2)
7. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 3)
8. Canonicity and the Gospel of Judas

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