A Life of Thanks-Givingنموونە

Thankfulness Is Our Common Ground

While the first part of Paul's letter to the church in Rome was primarily theological and about the message he preached, there are some practical issues Paul addressed in the second half of his letter.

One of the key issues was the diversity in the church in Rome. There were Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. They'd all come to faith in different ways, some through Paul, some through Peter, some through other faithful preachers.

As you can imagine, there were some nuances in understanding and applying the faith in their day to day lives. Some for example, clung tightly to the holy days and festivals of the Old Testament, while others felt that every day was a special gift of grace. There were some Christians who didn't feel comfortable eating the meat sold in temple butcheries because they felt this dishonoured God, whereas others felt that because God is king over all, they could simply thank Him as the one who created the world (and their meat) and eating it in thankfulness would glorify Him. There were even some Christians who became vegetarians.

People started looking down on those who worshipped God differently and the potential for division and acrimony was very real.

Paul presents an approach that one might naively label as "tolerant." but when one looks deeply, Paul calls us to live God-centered lives and this starts with thankfulness.

When we take our eyes off God we begin to focus on each other and see the differences. When our eyes are on Christ and we are filled with gratitude for what He has done for us, we are more likely to appreciate the similarities rather than the differences we have with our fellow believers.

A critical spirit is often the symptom of a lack of gratitude.