Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Many years ago I was in a quartet group and we got to travel around and sing together. I absolutely love really good harmony where it's different voices blending together. It's so beautiful and amazing and I'd love to think about that kind of harmony when we look at our Verse of the Day today, it's Romans chapter 14 verse 19.
This is what it says: So then let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. I would encourage you, if you have time today, to read the entire chapter of Romans 14 for context. It is such a powerful passage, especially finding ways to work together in and develop this harmony that it's talking about.
Different Convictions, Same Faith
What Paul talks about in the first part of Romans chapter 14 is that some people in the church had a problem with eating meat, and some people in the church didn't have a problem with eating meat. Some in the church had certain days that they believed were holy, and other people believe there were days that weren't holy. He pretty much was saying, it's okay if this person has a conscience about this and it's not clearly spelled out in Scripture, it's okay to let them do that.
In fact, if you have a conscience about this and you actually do this thing that you have a conscience about, to you it's sin. However, it may not be sin to this other person who doesn't have a conscience about it. Why? Because Scripture doesn't necessarily clearly say it's a sin or it's wrong, but it's something where you feel God's given you a conscience about it.
I love what Paul is saying in the context of this passage. We're going to have different things that you may struggle with that I don't struggle with or that I struggle with and you don't struggle with. It's okay to have certain things that I don't necessarily agree with you on.
Choosing Harmony Over Conflict
Paul is focusing on this with this verse: But let's harmonize together. Let's bring harmony together. Typically what we can tend to do is when we get together, we focus on that difference we have in each other. Well, you should eat meat, or you shouldn't eat meat, or you should be looking at this day in a certain way or a certain holiday or a certain holy day. Well, you shouldn't be. It's this conflict about things that are not clearly spelled out in Scripture.
What Paul's saying is, instead of getting together and focusing on what we are not doing to blend together, look for ways to blend our voices together.
The cool thing is, getting back to the quartet group, we spent an entire summer together years ago. We were in a small van and we traveled the entire summer together. I'll tell you what, we got close, and it was the coolest thing because at the end of that, our leader wanted to do something fun. We did a skit routine where we purposefully sang off key with one another just for fun.
Do you know what? We spent so much time singing together and so much time focusing on blending together that we could not pull it off. He laughed at the end, he said, you guys have been spending so much time together and have worked so hard at blending together over the summer that even when you try to sing off key, you can't do it. You still harmonize together.
Music to the Ears of the World
Imagine if that were us as Christians. Imagine if when we got together, we sought to yes, be true to Scripture, because that's what's going to make beautiful music for us spiritually is to follow Scripture. But things that are not clearly spelled out in Scripture, imagine if we focused instead of on the difference, we focused on harmonizing together, and we spent so much time together fixating on developing harmony together, that we couldn't help but bring harmony and unity.
That's where we find at the end of this verse: Try to build each other up there. We're looking to encourage one another. We're looking to build each other up instead of finding fault. That's when we can truly blend together and create amazing music in harmony together as we follow Jesus.
Do you know what that is going to be? Music to the ears of the world to see something that they desperately want. I would encourage you to set some things aside, look to see what you're holding on to that really isn't Scripture and really look for ways to harmonize with your fellow brother and sister as you navigate that together today.
