“Who are you to pass judgment?” This is the mantra of the modern world, and it has been used to justify everything from tattoos and piercings to sex-change operations. In fact, to many modern people, the only sinful thing is to assume that there are any universal, absolute truths that always apply everywhere to everyone.

Well, since Paul asks this very question in verse 4, is he thus taking a modern stand on moral relativism? Is he observing with Cole Porter (way back in 1934) that anything goes?

Well, Paul obviously agrees that there are many areas of the Christian life that do, in fact, allow for differences of opinion. In his day, Christians from Jewish backgrounds insisted that everyone should still follow the Old Testament calendar of festivals, and should still maintain a kosher diet. In contrast, those who had begun life as Gentiles didn’t see the point of observing rituals that had all been fulfilled by the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. And Paul allowed room for both points of view in the Church (v. 6).

But in embracing such diversity in non-essential matters, Paul places two very important limits on any relativism we might choose to embrace. For notice that in verse 6 he makes it clear that Christians who take a position on dietary laws or the religious calendar must do this “in honor of the Lord.” And that’s because we are servants of God (v. 4), belonging to the One Who created us and redeemed us (v. 8). “We live to the Lord,” Paul says in verse 7, so that means God’s Word places boundaries on every decision we make, whether seemingly important or trivial. Thus, while we may be free to make decisions about non-essential matters, we must trust God enough to follow whatever His Word says.

Yes, since all our brothers and sisters in Christ are servants of God, it is not our place to pass judgment on any of them – that’s God’s job (v. 4, 13). But even if God’s Word might be silent on a certain issue, we must also take into account what other people might think about our actions. For example, we might think it’s okay to drink alcoholic beverages, since Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:9). But what if someone with a tendency to alcoholism saw us taking advantage of what we consider to be our Christian freedom, and were to come to the conclusion that he didn’t need to maintain his sobriety? If my freedom causes another Christian to stumble, I’m not acting in a very loving way, am I (Romans 14:21)?

So, if Christians shouldn’t sit in judgment on anyone else, we are called to examine our own behavior closely, measuring all our actions according to the Scriptures so that we glorify God in everything we do, and so that we don’t place stumbling blocks in anyone else’s path. Can there be any other way to live in faith and love?

Romans 14:1-23 (ESV)

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.
15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.
21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.
23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.