Who is the Weaker Brother?

WHO IS THE WEAKER BROTHER?

I think that this is one of the most difficult subjects, practically.

It’s not just about alcohol. This subject of “weaker brothers” and Christian liberty touches on so many things. Attending movies and what kinds of movies, certain types of music, practicing martial arts or even contact sports, dancing, smoking, recreational gambling, using medication, tattoos.

This is one of those biblical teachings where the application is the meaning. If we aren’t applying it right, we don’t understand what it means.

I must confess, I did not understand the teaching on weaker brothers and how to act accordingly for most of my life. This changed when I read the last chapter in Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen.

Friesen says,

…part of Paul’s objective in Romans and 1 Corinthians was to make his readers aware of the nature of the disagreement: “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat” (1 Corinthians 8:8). Eating meat is, in itself, neutral. But if a person is convinced that by eating meat he violates God’s standard of holiness, then eating meat becomes sinful to him (Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 8:7).
—Garry Friesen, Decision Making and the Will of God pg. 379

The Scriptural principles at play in the issue of “weaker brothers” (Friesen deals with 1-3 in chapter 25: “Wisdom When Christians Differ) are:

DECISION MAKING WHEN CHRISTIANS DIFFER
ROMANS 14:1–15:13

1. Learn to distinguish between matters of command and matters of freedom (14:14, 20).

2. On debatable issues, cultivate your own convictions (14:5).

3. Allow your brother the freedom to determine his own convictions, even when they differ from yours (14:1–12).

4. Let your liberty be limited, when necessary, by love (14:13–15:2).

5. Follow Christ as the model and motivator of servanthood (15:3–13).
   —Ibid., pg. 377

WEAKER BROTHER
The weaker brother (or sister) is weak in four ways.

Weak in conviction. “Accept anyone who is weak in faith . . .But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and everything that is not from a conviction is sin” (Romans 14:1, 23). He isn’t fully convinced of the rightness of his actions, and of his liberty.
Weak in biblical knowledge. “However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled” (1 Corinthians 8:7). For the specific issue Paul was addressing, the weak didn’t know that an idol was nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4)
Weak in conscience, meaning they feel condemned for doing things that aren’t wrong (1 Corinthians 8:7). The conscience is overly sensitive.
Weak in his will, meaning “he can be influenced to act contrary to his conscience” (Ibid., pg. 398). Weakness of will was evidenced in the Corinthian situation since Paul said “For if someone sees you, the one who has this knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols?” (1 Corinthians 8:10)
That last point is crucial and almost single-handedly clears up most of the confusion regarding weaker brothers and how stronger brothers can exercise Christian liberty. The true weaker brother or sister, as Paul is defining them, may follow stronger Christians in what they are doing, due to a lack of conviction, and thereby violate their conscience.

Friesen helpfully addresses what a weaker brother is not.

He is not just any new or immature believer. He is not any Christian who disagrees with me on some issue. Neither is he simply a brother who disagrees with me and gets upset because he thinks I am wrong. Such people may have weaknesses, but they do not fit Paul’s qualifications for “weaker brothers.”

A weaker brother (or sister) is a Christian who, because of the weakness of his faith, knowledge, conscience, and will, can be influenced to sin against his conscience by the example of a differing stronger brother.
—Ibid., pg. 398

Pause for a moment and let God’s definition of the weaker brother sink in. You may have to read it again (like, 5 times). “A weaker brother (or sister) is a Christian who, because of the weakness of his faith, knowledge, conscience, and will, can be influenced to sin against his conscience by the example of a differing stronger brother.”

If the (perceived) quantity of “weaker brothers” in your world just plummeted, you’re welcome.

I’ll be honest, after I first read these things and realized what defines a real weaker brother, I said to myself, “I don’t think I actually know a real, biblically defined weaker brother. Not a single one.” I used to know many “weaker brothers”, but not anymore. Next time, we’ll go into what those “weaker brothers” really are.

STRONGER BROTHER
It makes sense that the stronger brothers and sisters are strong where the weaker brothers and sisters are weak (Ibid., pg. 398).

Faith (conviction) – “Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is blessed.” (Romans 14:22),
Knowledge – “However, not everyone has this knowledge.” (1 Corinthians 8:7, 10)
Conscience – Romans 14:22
Will – “I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? If I partake with thanks, why am I slandered because of something I give thanks for?” (1 Corinthians 10:29-30)
A very important detail to note is that the influencing is always in one direction: it is the weaker brothers who are influenced by the stronger. The reverse is never true. That’s why Paul gives the responsibility to the stronger brothers and sisters.

Equally important to note is that the stronger brother is right.

I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.
—Romans 14:14

About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

yet for us there is one God, the Father.
All things are from Him,
and we exist for Him.
And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ.
All things are through Him,
and we exist through Him.

However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
—1 Corinthians 8:4-7

Paul exhorts that the stronger brothers, though correct, also need to display love: “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Romans 15:1-2)

Friesen summarizes the Bible’s definition of the stronger brother (or sister):

The stronger brother (or sister) is a Christian who, because of his understanding of Christian freedom and the strength of his conviction, exercises his liberty in good conscience without being improperly influenced by the differing opinions of others.
—Ibid., pg. 399

STUMBLING BLOCK
Now to one of the most confusing elements of this whole issue concerning weaker brothers and liberty: the ever illusive, and seemingly ever present, stumbling block. I cannot count how many times I have heard the cautionary “don’t cause your brother to stumble.” I can’t count either how many times I have seen that accusation thrown about. “That’s a stumbling block!” “Your causing people to stumble!” It’s all too easy to say.

What on earth does it actually mean, according to God’s Word?

“It refers to the tripping up of a person in some moral sense. That is, the individual stumbles into sin or unbelief” (Ibid., pg. 399). Friesen heads this little section in the book with “Thou Shalt Not Kick Thy Brother’s Crutch.” What an image.

What is often overlooked by all of us is that this figurative expression of “stumbling block” doesn’t have just one meaning.

It is significant that stumbling block is employed in two different senses throughout the New Testament. When the verb is in the active voice, it means “to cause to fall or stumble.” For example, Jesus had severe words for anyone who caused a little child who believed in Him to stumble or fall into sin (Matthew 18:6).9 In such instances, the fault is charged to the one who puts the stumbling block in the way of another.

But when the verb is in the passive voice, it signifies “to stumble over, to be offended.” In such cases, the blame is placed on the one who stumbles. For instance, when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth, the people “took offense at Him” (Matthew 13:57). Literally, “they stumbled over Him.” He was the stumbling block, but they were at fault. For they did not believe in Him (Matthew 13:58).
—Ibid., pg. 399

The two senses of “stumbling block” are to give offense (active voice) and to take offense (passive voice). So in what sense was Paul using the expression? The first sense: the giving of offense. This distinction, and the sense in which Paul uses “stumbling block”, is vital for understanding the biblical teaching on weaker brothers and liberty and is extremely practical.

Based on Paul’s teaching in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, “… a stumbling block is an action taken by a stronger brother (or sister) that, though it would ordinarily qualify as a permissible act of freedom, influences a weaker brother (or sister) to sin against his conscience. The responsibility for the sin is charged to the stronger brother because of his insensitivity to the weaker brother’s vulnerability.” (Ibid., pg. 400). Again, notice how vital it is to properly understand the weaker brother, namely that he can be influenced to act. This connects to what really constitutes a stumbling block: an action taken by a stronger brother (not sin, but ordinarily permissible) that influences a weaker brother to sin against his conscience. It’s so simple. What “stumbling block” does not mean is an action that offends someone else.

Once again, let the biblical definition sink in. Has the number of “stumbling blocks” in your world suddenly fallen through the floor? I myself have a very difficult time recalling if I know anyone that has been influenced to act against there conscience by the action of a stronger brother. Rather, I know a lot of people offended by other’s exercise of liberty.

Finally, why does Paul command the stronger brother’s to care for the weaker?

The reason the stronger brother must be careful about harming a weaker brother through his liberty is twofold: (1) the weaker brother might be influenced to sin against his conscience, which is to sin against God; and (2) such an act could be the first step in the downhill slide from liberty into license.
—Ibid., pg. 404

BEING CAREFUL
Now we tackle a common mis-application of what Paul teaches. Sometimes it is taken to the extreme that you had better not exercise any liberty in public, because you never know when a weaker brother is going to walk around the corner and be stumbled. This overreaction is trumped by Paul himself:

Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake, for the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. If one of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions of conscience.
—1 Corinthians 10:25-27

Paul is saying (contrary to much “conservative” opinion) that our freedom is to be enjoyed. We are not obligated to worry about covert weaker brothers hovering about. If we are aware of any, biblically defined of course, then we refrain. Otherwise, you are free to “Love God, and do what you want” (St. Augustine). However, if you live in a context where there is much lack of knowledge and an abundance of weak consciences regarding an issue, meaning it is likely that you will influence someone to follow your example, then you need to be wise in where you do whatever that thing is. That of course, is based on there being real weaker brothers, not just people who disagree with what you are doing.

What makes applying this so hard now is social media. On the one hand, we are liberated and don’t have to take a “weaker brother survey” on Facebook before posting a photo of you doing such-and-such activity. On the other hand, you may in fact know that some of your friends truly are weaker brothers that may do what you do without conviction that it is right. A possibility that’s now possible is to limit the audience that can see what you’re sharing. Or don’t publicize at all. However, the reason should not be that some may disagree and throw out the (easy to make) accusation that you are “stumbling” people. We are talking about real weaker brothers that will be influenced by stronger brothers. Use wisdom and discretion. The bottom line is to give careful thought to how and where.

I highly recommend Friesen’s book, Decision Making and the Will of God. The last two chapters (from which I cited) are worth the price of book.

Parts in this series:

Who Is the Weaker Brother?
Who is Not the Weaker Brother?
Responding to Pharisees