Acceptance

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. (Romans 14:1)

I keep wondering what the implications are that might be embedded in this little word accept. I sense that this may mean different things to different people depending very much on the filters that we have in place and our willingness to think beyond our comfort zone. I may have examined this word previously but I am not stuck on being bound to a schedule in my study of the Word so I want to look at it again.

There are several means by which I try to expose the true meaning of words that I read from the Bible. One of the most important ones is to first of all give the Bible opportunity to define its own terms from the immediate context and then the larger context. That requires that I also have to be willing to lay aside my own preconceived ideas and prejudices as much as possible to make room for the Word of God to introduce different perspectives that may conflict with what I already suppose or assume. This has certainly happened quite a bit in the last few years for me and has led me to discover exciting new dimensions about reality and about God from the Word.

The second thing I like to do in looking for the true meaning is to sometimes check the Greek or Hebrew to see what light that may shed on the passage. This has usually also been very fruitful in exposing nuances and directions of meaning that are sometimes missing in the typical understanding associated with the English words. Since there is usually a number of different possibilities for definition I tend to gravitate toward definitions that agree most and are consistent with the positive things that I have been learning about God over the past few years from my own study and from the strong impressions of the Holy Spirit.

And that leads me to the third criteria that I use to unpack the word or phrase. While I do not want to force something to fit into a pre-hardened mold, I am very skeptical of accepting definitions that conflict with what I have been learning about God's character and glory and goodness. I have been seeing more and more clearly over the past few years the immense deception that permeates everything we believe and assume about God in religion, and the effects of this mass of deception is appalling. So I am divorcing my beliefs as much as possible from the typical dark views of God embraced by nearly all world religions as well as embedded in the thinking of those who claim to not follow any religion, in favor of viewing the Word of God from the perspective of a truly righteous God who does not harbor a dark side waiting to lash out at those who don't agree with Him or choose to love Him.

Well, that turned into another long explanation for how I approach my personal study, but I occasionally feel the need to reexamine it and to remind myself as well. I have found that using this criteria has been very useful for finding beauty, consistency and fresh new revelations of truth and in sometimes very unexpected places in the Word. But this is the context in which I operate as I work my way through any passage of Scripture.

In that vein, I looked up the Greek word for accept again this morning and found that it was very similar to what I thought it might mean but with interesting nuances. The word is made up of two other Greek words which is often the case. The first is a word denoting direction and movement as well as intent of destination. In this case it would imply that I should actively engage in drawing someone toward me in whatever ways may apply.

The second part of this word is also an action type of word but seems even stronger. It can mean to take hold of or even seize. In my opinion that would imply at times the act of embracing someone intentionally either physically or at the least emotionally and with my spirit. Implied in all of this is that my spirit is in harmony with the rest of my actions and I am not just pretending to embrace someone who is weak in faith but that I deliberately choose to make them a part of my life and draw them into community and real fellowship with me and those around me. I am willing to identify with them.

Then to employ another principle of discovery I took a little time this morning to look around the context to see what connections this may have with other instructions nearby. Sure enough, I noticed a number of words and phrases that likely have bearing on what this should mean.

First of all I remember that this whole passage is not long after an extended description of the body of Christ in chapter twelve. Then the next section deals with authority and our relationship to it and then immediately reminds us that love is the most important element in that body to which we belong. Some of the key phrases that shed light on this word accept might be:

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; (Romans 12:10)

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. (Romans 12:16)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. (Romans 12:18)

...let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)

Let us behave properly as in the day... (Romans 13:13)

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Romans 13:14)

One of the lusts of the flesh is to make myself look better by putting others down or comparing myself with them. This can be very subtle in the church and strangely, religious folk seem to sometimes have a harder time at spotting this sort of thing than unbelievers. We tend to play these political games within the church of maneuvering for position and power and influence while ignoring the damage being caused by our unwillingness to obey the teaching of this verse. But when we do this we are failing to truly accept each other and embrace them as of equal value before God with us. We end up engaging in all sorts of judging but in the wrong sense of judgment.

I want to make it a habit to act on this verse in my own life and in my relationships with others, particularly in the body of Christ. Though I am just as prone to judging others and comparing my level of faith against theirs, I want to be rid of that evil propensity and be free to really love others who have a different relationship with God than I do. I want to experience being devoted to them in brotherly love and even giving preference to them in honor. I want to see the results of such attitudes and the freedom that this could give for the Holy Spirit to begin working in ways that were inhibited before because of my disobedience to these words. I want to see revival and healing and joy begin to break out in my church and among my friends and family like a highly contagious infection. I choose to act and make choices that will release the Holy Spirit to do what God longs to do among us – to reveal His glory so that the world will know that we are actually children of our Father in heaven.

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