Here’s my biggest point on this section. Books and movies like this, when they are endorsed and recommended with no caveat, nuance or discipleship can be a major stumbling block for Christians of all maturity levels. I’m going to read you Romans 14:1-23.
“Except the one whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt, the one who does not. And the one who does not eat everything, let’s not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant to the your own master, servant, stand or fall, and they will stand for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another, another considers every day alike. Each of them, to be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day is special, does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat, does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God, and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord. And if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason Christ died and returned to life, so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and living. You then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written as surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me every time we’ll acknowledge God. So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.”
“I am convinced being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regard something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way, is pleasing to God, and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So, whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat because they’re eating is not from faith. Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
This is the entire chapter of Romans 14. I don’t want to get into a full exegesis of this passage, but there are a couple important verses here. What Paul is discussing here is Christian freedom and conviction and how people who are new in the faith or who are growing in their faith, or as he says, those whose faith is weak may still be at a stage where they aren’t as free to participate in certain things because it’s against their conviction. For some, they may get to a point where they feel more free to in this situation as he’s describing, eat meat instead of be vegetarian. Whereas others may continue with that conviction for the rest of their life. He uses the example here of food and alcohol, actually wine and also certain days of the week. Celebrating the Sabbath on a Saturday versus maybe a first day of the week gathering on Sunday.
