"Welcome the man who is weak in faith, but not with a view to pass judgment on his scruples" (Rom.14.1 Barclay). Paul uses the word for 'welcome' again in v.7 to include everyone in the church at Rome so why this special word about the 'scrupulous'?

Evidently, this community of Christians was a mixed group, some of whom were of Jewish origin and some had a Gentile background. Perhaps some of the Gentiles in the Rome church had been greatly influenced by Jewish teachers, but not so strongly that they insisted that all men in the Church should keep the Law of Moses and be circumcised, as Jews had in the church of Galatia about ten years before. These 'scrupulous' brethren were being fussy about what they ate and in the keeping Jewish traditional 'feast days'. They were also fussy about what they ate because they refused to eat meat.

In those days, where Gentiles were prevalent in a town, there would be widespread worship of idols and the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods. Nothing really happened to such food and the meat was then sold in the 'shambles' or market place. It may have been difficult to buy meat that was not under suspicion of having been offered to idols or of having been killed by other means than 'kosher' method.

Now the broad-minded Christians were looking down on those who refused meat offered to idols and who observed certain days for religious purposes, and criticised this 'weakness'. But why was it wrong to be fussy? Surely it was good to be careful ‑ circumspect? One of the problems in religious communities is that some feel they can 'buy' their salvation by being 'good' ‑ by keeping rules and regulations. This was the problem with the Pharisees and lawyers of Jesus' day. They lacked faith that God can pardon sin without any help from the sinner. It is an external practice of religion instead of an inward living faith. Religious people must be seen by those around them to be 'good'. This is spiritual weakness and in the Christian context is a failure to trust in Christ for complete salvation from sin. In Rome there were members of the community, who relied entirely upon Christ to forgive their sins and for Him to live within them. Their faith was strong but they were faultfinders and critics of their brethren. Worse, they appeared to be failing to welcome their Christian brothers and sisters into the family. If they were indeed more spiritual, more full of the Spirit, mature and strong in the faith, then they should have shown it by expressing their Christian love in a hearty welcome to their brethren whom they regarded as 'weak'.

Gossip behind the back, criticism to the face, is often due to envy. The one being 'judged' has in reality qualities that the critic would like to have. If this is so, then the way to develop those qualities is to stop judging and be positive by admiring what is good about others. Jesus had something to say about 'judging others' in the 'Sermon on the Mount', recorded in Matt.7. "Judge not," he says, "that you be not judged" and then goes on to give a parabolic lesson in the 'log and splinter'. We just cannot see the speck in our brother's or our sister's eye because of the log or plank in our own. We must remove the obstruction from our own spiritual vision before we dare attempt to remove the infinitesimal dust in our brother's. Criticism is a very dangerous and damaging weapon and it can be deadly. Who are we to damage or destroy the good name of one for whom Christ died? Who are we to criticise, says Paul, the servant of another ‑ especially when that 'other' is the Master Himself?

Paul (in Rom.14) knew perfectly well that meat offered to idols was fit to be eaten. If idols are meaningless lifeless statues, putting food in front them will not hurt the food. Paul knew also that all days were the 'Lord's day' ‑ all were Sabbaths or days of resting in Christ. Keeping days special was an outward ritual, harmless in itself but certainly it should not preclude helping others on it. What was really important was that each should be thankful to God for the food He has given and the days of rest from work that He has given.

In Romans 14 Paul had a spiritual lesson that he wanted to impress upon his readers and it concerned the willingness to accept differences of opinion that were conscientiously held. These were about ideas that did not affect the spiritual growth of the individuals. Paul knew that carping criticism did more damage to the spiritual life than the actual behaviour that was being judged. Perhaps by this time Paul was familiar with the life of Jesus who rebutted criticisms of His disciples by the Pharisees about washing before eating and 'threshing corn' with their hands as they nibbled the grain while walking through the fields on the Sabbath. Jesus also rebuked the disciples for their desire to call down fire from heaven upon a Samaritan village that refused Him entry; and also for their criticism of Mary when she anointed Him with costly perfume. As He said, it wasn't what went into a person's mouth that made him unholy and unacceptable to God but what came out as the spoken word, which were expressions of the heart.

The problem arises when traditions and opinions become obligatory observances. The same difficulty occurs when personal opinions are upgraded to vital teaching.. This attitude is apparent today in Christian communities that elevate their personal interpretations to the rank of doctrines but which do not affect spiritual growth. When this takes place within a Christian community true piety is obscured and eventually is lost. Sadly, really important aspects of the faith ‑ notably the relationship with God, is not developed in an atmosphere where scoring debating points is important. This occurs because groups of individuals criticise one another. It occurs because of envy. It occurred in Corinth. "Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time" (1Cor 4.5) "There is only one lawgiver and judge and he is able to save - who are you to judge your neighbour" (Jas 4.12).