¹⁴ I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

Baseball, the all-American pastime—what could be controversial about a Christian spending a few hours at the old ball game? Well, for one believer, this caused great problems. “How could Christians engage in such a worldly activity when we are told in Scripture to redeem the time” (see Eph 5:16 KJV)? His Christian group had decided that would be their Saturday afternoon social time and relationship-building activity. But he adamantly resisted the idea and felt the others in the group were worldly to consider it.

What do you do with someone like that? To be sure, we should not allow others’ scruples to create shackles on our freedoms in Christ. If we let every issue be decided by the most sensitive soul or the most narrow-minded individual, there would be very little joy “under the sun.” Christian fellowship would degenerate into a legalism controlled by anyone wanting to impose their particular (sometimes peculiar) views on the rest of the Christian community.

Is there not a place for warning others of the proverbial slippery slope? Of course there is. But rather than pontificate on how to specifically apply the “non-judgmental” teaching of Paul’s, we would do better to take the issue to a different level and ask, “How can I love my brother?” That should prompt us to further ask, “What is at the heart of my brother’s concern?” In the illustration above, why was the young believer so adamant about resisting his fellowship group going to a baseball game? We too easily think the worst.

Fortunately, those who knew him well understood that prior to his recently becoming a committed follower of Christ, he was obsessed with the game of baseball. He went to every home game; he sacrificed considerably to buy all the paraphernalia, hanging player posters on his dorm wall. Baseball dominated his life, his thinking and his passions. Now as a believer, God had freed him from what he now saw as idolatry in his heart, the worship of the game. He feared that going to even just one game would be too great a temptation to lead him back into that idolatry again. Being young in the faith, he had not yet learned that this was not a temptation to all believers. His college fellowship group wisely and sensitively (and I believe Spirit-led) changed their plans and did something else for their fellowship day. They loved him and did not want to lose him to baseball and thereby cause him to stumble. That is love!

Lord, help me respond to the weakness in others with love, not judgment.