Romans 12: Part 21

 Romans 12: Part 21

After telling us to "be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone", Paul goes on to write "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" in verse 18.

After all this time of giving reminders that Paul (or Jesus or whoever was speaking) did NOT give qualifiers to their command, we have qualifiers with this command! The base command is "live at peace with everyone", but it is preceded by two qualifiers, "If it is possible," and "as far as it depends on you,".

Paul knows that sometimes we will try to live at peace with everyone, but we can't control other people. We can only control ourselves and our responses. We can't make another person happy or sad, but we can treat them well or poorly. We are responsible for our emotions and our responses, and other people are responsible for their emotions and their responses. 

Yet, we shouldn't be hasty in writing off large groups of people as "impossible to live at peace with". Paul didn't say "live at peace with everyone from your nation". Everyone is broader than that. Paul didn't say "live at peace with everyone who shares your religion or political affiliations". Everyone is broader than that. It is our human nature, not our spiritual nature, that tries to limit our definition of "everyone". 

But throughout the Bible, God has been broadening our definition of a neighbor, of those we care for, of those we love. So instead of just loving those we like, those who look like us, those who share similar religious or political ties, let us love everyone. Let us love the foreigner just as well as we love the native-born. Let us live at peace with people of different religions and political parties, just as well as we live at peace within our own clique. Let us pray for those who mistreat us and mock us, just as much as we pray for those we like and love. 

But if we can, if it is in our power to do so, we should live at peace with everyone. This verse doesn't come with a promise. Paul doesn't add "and I guarantee you won't be hurt, mocked, killed, or taken advantage of". But we can choose to love our enemies, even when we are being mocked. We can pray for our persecutors, even when we are being threatened. We can pray for those asking for help, even when we doubt their sincerity. 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-How do you do with the base command "live at peace with everyone"?

-How often do you think it is impossible to live at peace with a group of people? 

-How much does living at peace with everyone depend on you? What is in your control when it comes to living at peace with everyone? 

-How do you tend to narrow down "everyone" so you just live at peace with those you like, who look like you, or who believe like you? 

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Romans 12: Part 20

Romans 12: Part 20

After telling us that we should "not repay anyone evil for evil", Paul goes on to write that we should "be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone" in the second part of verse 17. 

This is a harder passage today, because my initial interpretation is "we need to do what everyone sees as right", but everyone has a different version of what they think is right. So it seems impossible to live this out in our divided, polarized, and argumentative country and world. There are people with diametrically opposed views of what is right, so for us to do what is right in Person A's eyes, we are doing what is wrong in Person B's eyes. 

 It would be easier if Paul merely wrote "be careful to do what is right in the eyes of God". That is at least clear cut and definable. God has made it clear in His word that He wants us to love Him and love each other. Then He gave 613 examples (commandments) in the Old Testament to break this down further. Additionally, we have the commands of the New Testament to guide us as well. 

When a passage confuses us, we can look through different translations to shed new light on a confusing passage. On the Bible app on my phone, I can click "compare" and see the verse in every English translation. Yet for many commentaries, it is useful to go a bit old school in our translations. In the King James, this verse is translated as "Provide things honest in the sight of all men." and the New King James translates this verse as "Have regard for good things in the sight of all men".

We can also look into a few Bible commentaries on this verse (here and here). The first commentary (here), using the NKJV, interprets this passage as instructions to live by praising the good in the world. The commentator goes further and states that people should be able to tell what is good (and what is not good), based on our conduct. The second commentary (here), using the KJV, interprets this passage as we should do, study, plan to do, and intentionally do things that are good so that our actions will recommend our religion to everyone we interact with. 

After reading these commentaries, I can see where an alternative interpretation is possible. Instead of being "we need to do what everyone sees as right", it could be interpreted as "we need to do what is right in sight/view of everyone we meet". When we are confused with a passage, we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders and move on. We have resources available to us that can clarify, shed light, and widen our perspectives. 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-How have you been careful to do what is right in the sight of everyone? 

-Which translation of this verse makes the most sense for you? 

-How do the Bible commentaries shed additional light on this passage? 

-How can you apply this verse to your life? 

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 12: Part 19

 Romans 12: Part 19

After Paul writes that we are NOT supposed to be conceited, he goes on, in the first part of verse 17, to tell us that we should "not repay anyone evil for evil." 

This is hard. It is human nature to lash out and attack when we are hurt. If someone wrongs us, either through their actions, words, or some other means, then we want to hurt them back. However, merely getting them back is too light of a retribution. We want to escalate things and get our revenge. 

Yet we are commanded here not to repay anyone evil for evil. Parts 22 and 23 will return to this theme as we finish up this series. If someone wrongs us, we aren't to treat them poorly too. If someone hurts us, we aren't to hurt them back. If someone gossips about us, we aren't to spread lies and rumors about them. 

Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. If we insist on repaying people evil for evil, then we are not following Paul's or Jesus' commands. In this case, our human nature is fully opposite of how we are called to respond to those who do us harm. We can either respond as Jesus commands us to, or we can respond according to our human nature. We can't obey Jesus AND get our revenge. 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-When have you been tempted to repay someone evil for evil? 

-Do you want to repay evil for evil when someone's actions harm you? Their words? Something else? 

-How does your human nature resist Jesus' and Paul's teaching? 

-Do you normally give in to your human nature or follow your spiritual nature? 

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 12: Part 18

Romans 12: Part 18

After telling us to not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position, Paul goes on to tell us to "not be conceited" in the third part of verse 16. Conceited, essentially, means to have an excessively favorable opinion of oneself, according to dictionary.com . We are not to be vain or have an inaccurately positively opinion of ourselves.

Paul also discussed this in Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

Sometimes, we can identify where we hold a conceited opinion of ourselves, by observing when we expect praise for our work and how we react when we don't get it. We can also identify when we try to show off and get people to notice our accomplishments. 

Conceit is the opposite of humility and God calls us to be humble. (See what the Bible says about being HUMBLE and having HUMILITY). God is the source of everything good in our lives AND the Holy Spirit gave us our spiritual gifts. When we are conceited, we are at risk of blaspheming God by claiming credit for what HE has done in our lives. (Blasphemy is more than just cursing God, it is also not showing the reverence God deserves.) 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-How have you been conceited? 

-What areas do you have an excessively favorable opinion of yourself? 

-What do you do so well that you expect thanks and praise for your effort? 

-How do you react when you don't receive the thanks and praise you expect? 

-What tasks/achievements do you try to show off? 

-In what ways do you give God the credit for the good and gifts in your lives? 

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Romans 12: Part 17

Romans 12: Part 17 

Paul just told us that we are to live in harmony with one another. He went on to command us to "not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position" in verse 16b. 

Pride or humility? Which do we lean towards? It's a tricky thing, because if we identify ourselves with the humble, we might be at risk of being proud of that!

We are commanded "do not be proud", yet many of us are proud: of our nationality, our family members, our own achievements. In short, pride is satisfaction in our own accomplishments or other things that make us look good. Whereas God tells us in Jeremiah 9:24 that if we boast, we should boast that we know Him, the God who is kind, just, and righteous. 

Far too often, we make our faith and religion about us: the music we like, the sermon style we prefer, the small group where we're comfortable, etc. We even make salvation and our testimony about ourselves as well! Yet, I would challenge us to learn to shift the focus from ourselves to God, going from "I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. I turned from my sins. I have been practicing the fruit of the Spirit" to "God reached out to me when I was lost. God saved me from my sins. The Holy Spirit has been cultivating these virtues in my life." We cannot save ourselves. We cannot do enough, obey well enough, or purify ourselves enough to be holy. We are holy because GOD made us holy. We are saved because GOD saved us. When we take the credit for our righteousness, we are forgetting who really has been doing the work in our lives. 

There are those who are too proud to do certain types of work or be friends with those workers. Paul is calling out this attitude. We should not avoid rubbing shoulders with the poor or those are the margins of society (the stranger, the widow, the orphan). These are the people that society draws back from, tries to ignore, yet we should not be proud and stand-offish, but should treat them humanely, as we want to be treated (see Matthew 7:12). 

Paul didn't add "if it's convenient" here. Most likely it won't be. Things aren't as neat and tidy as we'd like when we're dealing with real people facing real problems. So once again, we are left with the choice: will we obey or will we disobey this command? 

Questions to Wrestle With

Take time this week to consider: 

-Do you struggle with pride and being prideful? 

-When have you been proud of your humility? 

-What do you take pride in? 

-How have your made your faith about you and your preferences? 

-How can you shift the focus back to God? 

-Are you too proud to do certain types of jobs? 

-Do you tend to avoid certain groups of people because of their social status? 

-When has your willingness to associate with people of low position been inconvenient? Was it still worth it? 

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.