Vigilante Christians

Romans 14:10-18

The United States Constitution establishes a republican form of government. Under a pure democracy, freedoms are not guaranteed by law, and can be taken away by a majority of the people. Under a republic, the majority is restricted by law from taking away the rights of the minority. The legal system is established to enforce those laws, and as Romans 13 makes very clear, is authorized by God.

Law enforcement officials are not authorized to make the laws. They are only authorized to enforce the laws that have been instituted. When they believe a person has violated the law, they bring him into court where guilt or innocence is determined by the proper authority, and penalties are assessed. They then charged with enforcing the court’s decision.

Sometimes people decide the laws are unsatisfactory and decide to enforce their own rules. Others decide the court system is not performing to their satisfaction and administer their own penalties for proper laws. They are called vigilantes, and usurp the authority of the proper authorities. Christians are not to be vigilantes.

“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:10-11)

We are not authorized to set the standards, to judge whether the standard has been violated, or to assess penalties. Only when God specifies that a certain behavior is wrong, are we authorized to condemn it, and only to the extent God commands. Exceeding our authority brings us under judgment ourselves. We need to be very sure that we do not cause others to sin by setting improper standards, such as not eating certain foods, as described in I Timothy 4:3 “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” Forbidding people to marry or to eat certain foods is clearly contradictory to God’s intent.

We also need to avoid causing contention or rebellion. In I Corinthians 11, Paul talks about hair length for men and women, specifically as distinguishing them. I Corinthians 11:16 makes it clear that this is not to be allowed to become a source of conflict or cause rebellion. “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”

“Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” (Romans 14:13)

The attitude and intention behind an action is more important than the action itself. Even killing someone is affected by the reason behind it. For example, biblically, a person who killed to protect life or property could not be punished. A person who killed another person unintentionally(manslaughter), was sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the cities of refuge. Intentional killing, or murder, required a mandatory death penalty. Intent was inferred by ambush or use of a deadly weapon. A similar principle is true in other areas.

Ro 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” (Romans 14:14)

Insisting on our own standards clearly indicates a lack of love, and thus, that we are not walking in the Spirit. We are more concerned with our way than the spiritual development of others. The conclusion of the apostles as to the responsibility of the Gentile believers to avoid eating things which were strangled or the blood was not that it was wrong to eat them, but that it would be offensive to Jewish Christians. At the same time requiring them to meet the Jewish standard would be pointless. Love is demonstrated in the conclusion described in Acts 15:19-21. “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”

Ro 14:15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.” (Romans 14:15)

Being a Christian is not about keeping a set of rules. It is about living and walking in the Spirit. We have a right to have our own personal standards as to how we live, but they must not be allowed to become an issue, because they have nothing to do with whether we are Christians or not. We will be pleasing to God when the Holy Spirit manifests himself in our lives.

“Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.” (Romans 14;16-18)