The Lord’s Servant Stands

Romans 14:4, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” 

This text pointedly asks, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” The question exposes how easily we assume God’s throne. In any household, only the master may appraise a servant’s work. Likewise, Christ is Lord of each conscience. Remember, the context of this chapter is dealing with a first century matter of eating meat that had been offered to idols. Worshipping anyone or anything other than Christ is idolatry, but it was not idolatry to buy bargain meat from pagans. Meat that had been offered to an idol. This was a matter of conscience, not an issue of correct doctrine. So, whether the weaker believer abstains from meat or the stronger enjoys it, he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Spiritual stability comes not from peer approval but from divine support. When we criticize another’s non-essential practice, we imply that Christ’s sustaining grace is insufficient without our critique. Instead, we must entrust fellow disciples to their true Master, praying for their growth and our own. Relinquish the gavel. God alone is the final evaluator of His servants.