“No Man Is An Island”
“NO MAN IS AN ISLAND”
ROMANS 14:7-12
In the light of our standing before God as judge, who are we to judge our brother or sister?
Paul now turns from the particular to a universal truth. Distilled from the words that were no doubt directed towards a special problem reported from Rome comes this great passage which touches the heart of our humanity, and our deep responsibility. It is a fact that we are part of a body. This is one of the slender threads which bind this chapter, and this penetrating utterance, to what went before in the letter.
Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, wrote about Thomas Arnold, Rugby’s headmaster: “He taught us that, in this wonderful world, no boy can tell which of his actions is indifferent and which not. He taught us that, by a thoughtless word or look, we may lead astray a brother for whom Christ died. He taught us that a boy’s only safety and only wisdom lies in bringing the whole life into obedience to him who made us for himself and redeemed us with his own precious blood.” This, too, is the theme of the Bible: “she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). Read again 1 Corinthians 8:13; 9:12, and Isaiah 53:6: Christ was “involved in humanity.” Christian hermits, trying to escape such involvement, betray a trust.
For this we shall give account. Consider 14:10,12. Who are we answerable to? There will be a time and place where we shall face ourselves and God, where every word and action shall be seen undistorted and in its true light. We shall one day stand in the full blaze of truth, and that overwhelming fact should be part always of our thinking. In the light of all this, who are we to judge our brother or sister, we who know so little of ourselves, let alone the perplexities of another person? It is only “the gold, silver, the precious stones” which we have built on the foundation of our salvation which will survive that scrutiny.