Christians have always looked to Romans 14-15 for guidance on
adiaphora or "disputable matters." Typically Christians see these as matters of personal preference for which there is no direct biblical teaching. Thus we see principles for establishing unity in the midst of diversity of opinion and practice: (1) those with "freedom" in a matter are not to show contempt for others (Rom 14:3-13); (2) those "without freedom" in a matter are not to condemn others (14:3-13); and (3) both parties are to focus on the central matters of Christian faith and life (14:17), and to show love to one another and fully accept one another as Christ has done for them (15:7). I think this is a good appropriation of the biblical text, but I also think this unity in diversity runs deeper than is often thought, deeper than merely related to matters of personal preference without direct biblical teaching.
This past week I have been preparing for a
presentation on "Women in Ministry," a contentious topic in evangelical circles if there ever was one. And once again I was struck by a feature of the situation in Romans 14-15 that has not often been brought up in such discussions: the "disputable matters" Paul specifically mentions are ones for which there are direct biblical commands, commands even grounded in creation. Now, of course there is debate among scholars as to precisely what the situation in Rome was: is this a dispute along Jew-Gentile lines, is it an intra-Jewish dispute, or something else entirely? Nevertheless, Paul certainly knew that the issues he describes were significant ones in the biblical narrative: food and sacred days (Rom 14:2, 5). These were matters crucial to Jewish identity and surely significant to Jewish Christians, not merely matters of personal preference. They were also matters for which there were clear and direct commands in the Torah, the Scriptures of Jews and Christians alike. Furthermore, the direct biblical command regarding the sacred day of the Sabbath was explicitly grounded in creation: "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God . . . For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it" (Exod 20:8-11).
Now, someone could certainly argue that there are other factors at work which make this clear biblical command now a matter of conscience (on which see below), but my point here is that Paul does not work within a concept of biblical authority which says: "This is a direct biblical command (even grounded in creation), and therefore it is a matter of central importance for all Christians." His understanding of what determines the central matters of Christian life and faith--what should unite Christians--is not delimited by the directness or "creation-groundedness" of its biblical teaching. Rather, Paul's understanding of "centrality" in Christian life and faith seems more to be grounded in what God has done in Christ. On this one should note Romans 14:17, where Paul highlights "what really matters": "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"--all important themes in Paul's exposition of his gospel in Romans. And one should also note 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, where Paul outlines the gospel uniformly preached by all the apostles and eyewitnesses, the gospel which is "of first importance," the gospel by which one is saved, the gospel centred on Jesus' death for sins and resurrection on the third day.
All this leads to an important conclusion for the general matter of unity in diversity in matters of dispute:
a view based upon a direct biblical command and/or a biblical appeal to creation is not therefore necessarily a central matter to Christian life and faith. Other factors contribute to determining "centrality" or unity in Christian belief and practice, especially the work of God in Christ as expressed in the apostolic gospel.
[As an addendum related to the particular issue of "Women in Ministry," one could push this even further.
Complementarians typically appeal to what they see as direct biblical commands, especially commands which are grounded in creation (e.g. 1 Tim 2:11-14). However, the discussion above based on Romans 14-15 may point to this conclusion:
in determining what is a "biblical" position on a matter, a direct biblical command and/or a biblical appeal to creation do not trump all other considerations; other, more general biblical theological factors must also be considered. Of course, a complementarian could well say that there are good "Christo-eschatological" reasons for not seeing Exodus 20:8-11 as normative for Christians: one must consider the further revelation of God in Christ, and in Christ the people of God are defined not by the works of Torah but by the faithfulness of Christ/faith in Christ. But then an
egalitarian could well respond: "Exactly."]
Labels: evangelicals and evangelicalism, paul and his letters
