Romans 14:13

My Notes

What Does Romans 14:13 Mean?

Paul makes a word play on "judge" — krinō — using it in two different senses in a single sentence. "Let us not therefore judge one another any more" — mēketi allēlous krinōmen, stop evaluating each other's spiritual standing. "But judge this rather" — alla touto krinate mallon — but use your judgment for this instead: make sure you're not putting a stumblingblock (proskomma) or an occasion to fall (skandalon) in your brother's path.

The Greek proskomma is a stone you trip over. Skandalon is a trap or a snare — something that catches you and takes you down. Paul redirects the judging energy: stop directing it at other people's choices and start directing it at your own behavior's impact on others. The question isn't "is my brother doing it right?" The question is "am I causing my brother to stumble?"

The context is the dispute between "strong" and "weak" believers (chapter 14) over food and holy days. Some believed all foods were clean. Others ate only vegetables. Some observed special days. Others didn't. Paul's solution isn't to determine who's theologically correct (though he leans toward the strong — v. 14: "nothing is unclean of itself"). His solution is to redirect the judgment from doctrinal correctness to relational impact. Even if you're right, you can be right in a way that destroys your brother. And destroying your brother with your rightness is worse than being wrong.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Where have you been judging other believers' choices when you should have been examining the impact of your own?
• 2.Is there a freedom you exercise that might be a stumbling block for someone with a more sensitive conscience?
• 3.What's the difference between legitimate discernment and the kind of judging Paul tells you to stop?
• 4.When has someone else's exercise of freedom caused you to stumble — and when has your freedom done the same to someone else?

Devotional

Stop judging your brother. Start judging yourself — specifically, start examining whether your freedom is becoming someone else's stumbling block. That's Paul's redirect. The energy you've been spending on evaluating other people's spiritual choices? Aim it somewhere useful: at the impact your choices have on the people around you.

This verse doesn't say all judgments are wrong. It says redirect the target. You have discernment — use it. But use it on yourself. Am I putting something in my brother's path that will trip him? Am I exercising my freedom in a way that becomes a trap for someone whose conscience is more sensitive than mine? The question isn't whether I'm allowed to do this. It's whether my doing it will cause someone else to fall.

That's a radically other-centered way of making decisions. Most of us decide based on what we're free to do. Paul says decide based on what your freedom does to the people watching you do it. Your rights are real. Your freedom in Christ is genuine. But freedom wielded without regard for its impact on weaker believers isn't maturity. It's selfishness wearing a theological costume. The strong don't prove their strength by exercising their freedom at someone else's expense. They prove it by voluntarily limiting their freedom for someone else's sake. That's the judgment worth making.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture