
Christ's goal for his church is unity not uniformity. The church has always been very diverse because it incorporates people from every nation, tribe and tongue. However this diversity can often pose a challenge when it comes to maintaining the unity of the church.
The church in Rome was a culturally diverse congregation. It included believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds and as a result there were tensions over secondary issues that were threatening the unity of the church. In chapter 14 Paul seeks to address this and to show how as brothers and sisters in Christ we need to build a culture of toleration and acceptance when it comes to nonessential matters. The teaching of Paul here can be summed this way - 'In essentials unity, on nonessentials liberty, in all things love.'
Main Points:
- The Need to Genuinely Accept One Another
- The Acceptance of Non Essentials
- The Acceptance of the Lordship of Christ