Romans 14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Herein lies the problem; “to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials” of Faith. Do you ever wonder how much baggage we add to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How many times do we allow our opinions and thoughts to give ourselves the freedom to live as the world does? How many times have churches split and friendships lost because there was no way found to reconcile between essentials and non-essentials? There are those who establish their walk by faith in ways that do not make sense to us. They refrain from certain things we do not. Paul is saying do not look down on them. In the essentials they are solid. In the non-essentials, they have differing opinions and thoughts. This brings us to points about how we live and grow in faith – “eating solid food and not just milk”, “Unity”, “allowing ourselves to be wronged”, “Keeping your eyes on Jesus”, “honoring and glorifying Jesus”, “letting no unwholesome talk come from your mouth”, “not causing other to stumble”, etc…. It is in our ability to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials where divisions, arguments, disagreements, and separations occur. Society will try to invade this space as well. It is very good at making arguments (by twisting selected scripture) to allow certain acts or actions into the essential space. We should be able to distinguish these and call them out. Abortion, LGBTQ, Pornography, Sex Trafficking, Rioting, Drunkenness, All paths lead to heaven, There is more than one God, etc…. are all creeping their way into being allowed into the Christian walk. This should never be and it should be called out as neither good for the soul or God-honoring.
Being able to discern and allow distinguish non-essential acts takes wisdom and understanding given to us by God. As we grow in our faith we come to the understanding and knowledge that all things are acceptable to mankind (in their own eyes), but not all things are acceptable in the eyes of God. He has given His written Word to us so that we might know Him and grow in our faith, understanding, and knowledge of what it means to humbly honor, glorify, follow, trust, and obey Him. If you are not growing in this ability to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials they will forever become a cloudy fog in your mind. James said that you will become like a ship tossed this way and that way by stormy waters. Think about how much you have grown in your wisdom and understanding by the working of the Holy Spirit in your life since you first believed. (If there is not much difference – there should be) Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little you have grown in understanding and knowledge and being able to more clearly see what it means to follow God. Essentials become rock solid, non-essentials become malleable clay, and though they are recognized they do not cause your faith to turn or your mind to judge others but rather keep you thankful for how God has given you understanding, growth, and has put light to His plans and purposes for your life. We are not all alike, nor are we all at the same level of faith in our walk with God. Some are old, some are young, and many in between. Tolerate the non-essentials that do not dishonor God but be ever intolerant of those which are and those who wish to apply them to the things of God.
