Jeremiah 35

"It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall." 

Romans 14:21 (NIV) 

I find Jeremiah chapter 35 very intriguing, for on the surface it seems to be in opposite to the spirit of Romans 14. These people don’t drink wine or build houses or plant anything, because their forefather told them not to, yet Jeremiah brings them to the temple compound, gives them wine and tells them to drink it. Talk about trying to cause your brother and sister to fall; the man of God pours free wine into a cup at church and tells you to drink it! They won’t do it, because they are staying true to their way of life dictated by their founding father.

Now this story is very similar to my story - not in the nomadic sense, but in the sense that I was taught to avoid alcohol by my father. He told me that alcohol was dangerous because none of us know whether or not we are an alcoholic until we started to drink, and if we are, it would be too late! He was speaking from a life of experience, and so I listened to him.

Any person who has seen what alcoholism does in a family situation and to the person gripped by alcoholism, warns their children and loved ones to stay away from alcohol. Paul, in Romans 14, is addressing Christians who come from various and diverse backgrounds; not only do some drink alcohol and some abstain from alcohol, but some eat meat, and others only eat vegetables. Paul’s approach is Spirit focused. He doesn’t make it a matter of Law but a matter of Love. He places the responsibility on the stronger party to refrain from judging (vs 1 thru 13) and he tells us that our behaviour should be constrained by concern for others spiritual welfare.

Those of us who have been Christians a long time, and hopefully we have been growing in the Lord and His grace over that period of time, should listen to Paul’s words. We should be careful about eating meat (if we eat meat) in front of vegetarians and we should be careful about drinking (if we drink) in front of people who abstain. We should also be careful about judging those who behave differently in these two areas from us: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit..." (Romans 14:17)

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