In today’s reading, there are 2 key statements, and they can be found at the end of each of the two sections of this chapter:

The topics for today are judgement (trying to assess how another person is doing with regards to living out his faith) and really what I would call an extension of the love your neighbor idea, which is being sensitive to another’s journey so as not to cause them to stumble.  I think the most important we can keep in mind in reading this chapter today is the personal nature of faith - that the journey is unique for each of us.

In the first section, Paul is stressing this idea that we should judge others...and he is being specific to the idea that we shouldn’t attempt to judge how another person is doing as it relates to faith.  It isn’t up to us to assess another’s performance as it relates to living out their faith.  This is one of the natural by-products of organized faith that really undermines the church as a whole, trying to assess how well others are doing.  We constantly want to find ways to label things, and people, and to figure out who are the good Christians and who are the people that are REALLY saved, etc.  Paul is reminding us that each of our journeys is unique, and what is true of your journey, and how God calls you to move through life is likely different than how He calls me.  Therefore, we can’t get involved in this line of thinking where we are trying to assess others.  We are only responsible for equipping others with the message of the gospel and the tools for growth; as they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

Then Paul turns to this idea of not being a cause for another to stumble, which I view as an extension of both the love ideal from yesterday, as well as this judgement idea from today - we should be aware of the needs of others, we should seek to understand them, and we should them make our best efforts not to cause them struggles in their faith journey, but to facilitate their growth and development.  He uses the practice of a constrained diet, from the Torah, Jewish Law, to make the point...if controlling my diet is a part of my faith journey, then you should not cause me difficulty in that.  If you like fasting on Sundays, then I shouldn’t cause you trouble in that.  The point is that each of our journeys is unique to us, and that if we are pursuing God out of desire of our hearts, if it is coming from a heart of faith, then it is good.

For me, the big idea today is personalization - God takes us each on a personalized journey.  There are likely to be some shared struggles and some shared victories in terms of our spiritual development, but God’s calling on your life is unique to you, and mine to me...I should in no way be a hindrance to your journey, nor should I be trying to assess to your success of failure as a Christian...that’s between you and God.  I should be additive to the lives of those around me...and if I am not doing that, I should consider how to become that way.  That’s my takeaway today.