Romans 14:15
15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
At times Christians refer to something being a matter of black and white. In other words there is clearly a difference between right and wrong. However, just as there are various shades of color which are spawned by the mixture of the primary colors of yellow, red and blue, so there are various shades of gray. But we must always remember that gray is not a spiritual primary color.
There is absolute right and absolute wrong. In between there are matters of conscience and personal conviction. What may be wrong for a weaker brother may be acceptable for a Christian with stronger faith. The admonition in this passage of Scripture is that there are some things that we must take a stand on. These are teachings in God’s Word. For these biblical conviction, we would be willing to die. However, there are some matters with which the Scriptures do not specifically deal. These are commonly called personal convictions. They are things that we practice because of our family background, traditions, or current culture. They may be loosely connected to scripture although often then are based on an incorrect interpretation of God’s Word.
Stronger Christians will have few if any gray areas in their lives. Their lives will be based solidly on biblical convictions. Weaker Christians will be bound by some, maybe many gray areas of personal conviction. As a result of this disparity, weaker Christians may be prone to condemn stronger Christians who don’t adher to their personal convictions. Stronger Christains may be dismayed that weaker Christians are bound by matters that are not solidly based on God’s Word. Nevertheless, God’s Word requires the stronger Christian to be charitable, patient, and deferential toward the weaker brother less the weaker brother be spiritually damaged.
Dr. Gayle Woods