Variety: Romans 14v3–4
‘The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them’ (Romans 14:3–4).
Sometimes there can be friction between those of us who count calories and those of us who don’t, because both groups can be tempted to look down on the other group.
When speaking to the divided Roman church on this very topic, Paul said: ‘The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them’ (Romans 14:3–4). Where it’s a matter of personal preference, we’re told there’s no place for judgementalism because God doesn’t judge us for our food choices. That said, he does care about us fuelling our bodies well and making choices that enable our emotional and physical flourishing.
God accepts us and invites us to feast at his table whether we’re carnivores, pescatarians, flexitarians, vegetarians, vegans, or don’t fit into any of these categories. Because whilst diet culture tells us we are what we eat, Jesus tells us our value is based on who we are in him.
The passage goes on to tell us that we’re to ‘make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification’ and that it’s ‘wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble’ (Romans 14:19–21). Because, in all that we do, we’re called to love our neighbours lavishly and sacrificially, just like Jesus.
What might this look like in our everyday lives? It might be putting your preference for pizza aside and finding a salad bar to meet your friend who’s struggling to get their type 2 diabetes under control. Or simply not passing judgement on your spouse when they take seconds or give intermittent fasting a go.
Because ultimately, Jesus hasn’t provided us with prescriptive meal plans. And so, many of us can rejoice in having food on our plate – and some can even rejoice in having choice, too. This is the Jesus diet. And I’m excited to start following it.