Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. – Romans 14:20

Today's Scripture Reading (April 29, 2024):  Romans 14

I was recently preparing for a speaking engagement when I remembered a story I had heard regarding Bishop Desmond Tutu (2031-2021). Bishop Tutu was once asked why he was an Anglican priest. The point the reporter was making was that, in South Africa, most black people at the time were either Methodist or Baptist, but Tutu was an Anglican. Why?

Bishop Tutu responded that in the days of apartheid in South Africa, when a black person met a white person on the sidewalk, the black person was expected to step off the pavement into the gutter to allow the white person to pass, giving the white person this gesture of respect. 

"One day," the Bishop said, "when I was just a little boy, my mother and I were walking down the street when a tall white man dressed in a black suit came toward us. Before my mother and I could step off the sidewalk, as was expected of us, this man stepped off the sidewalk and, as my mother and I passed, he tipped his hat in a gesture of respect to her!"

The Bishop continued, "I was more than surprised at what had happened, and I asked my mother "Why did that white man do that? My mother explained that he's an Anglican priest, a man of God, and that is why he did it."

Bishop Tutu said, "That is when I decided to become an Anglican priest. And what is more, I wanted to be a man of God."

The miracles that can happen when we make the person our focus are amazing. On this day, when Bishop Tutu was a child, an Anglican Priest had a significant impact on the future of South Africa and the rest of the world because he focused his attention on a black woman and her child. And this man did the unexpected; he reversed the roles, and, in this moment, he became the black man, and she and the child became white. That simple act influenced a small boy to dream big, and who knows what this world would look like if we had never had the impact of Bishop Desmond Tutu.

Paul is talking about food laws, but when this Anglican priest stepped off the sidewalk and into the gutter, Paul could have been talking about Black-White societal relations. We minimize the impact of the food laws in our culture, but in Paul's day, it was easily as important as the race laws during apartheid or one of the many debates that we argue over today. But for those of us who are mature in our faith, we must remember that our focus is always on people. It is not about whether the law makes something permissible; if it hurts our brothers and sisters in the faith, then we need to abstain. Our faith is always about people.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 15