That’s the way it is when you have different people in the body of Christ as well. None of us are at exactly the same stages in our growth. Sometimes it is because we are just starting and have little or no background in the scriptures. Sometimes it is because we have brought a lot of mistaken beliefs to the table that we have to overcome. And some of us are just a little slower than others to grasp new ideas, either from lack of comprehension or cautious skepticism.
God never expected us all to be in the same place at the same time. He spent quite a few chapters in the New Testament epistles telling us to respect one another regardless. Jesus told a whole parable about accepting the late-comers without resentment. After all, who is accepted is God’s business not ours.
Some of us seem to have a problem with this. I have heard far too many comments about “them” lately, referring to the ones we see as holding us back. It usually comes in a tone of disdain, while making of ourselves some elite spiritually mature group that ought to be looked up to and heeded automatically. After all, look how much more knowledgeable we are. The epistles talk a lot about that attitude too. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant, (1 Cor 13:4), comes quickly to mind. We all know the word “longsuffering,” but we seem to ignore the “long” and home in on the “suffering,” which we don’t think we have to do for “them”--and which, of course, no one ever has to do for us. After all, “they” are the ones holding back the progress of the gospel, while "we" are God's gift to the church.
Truth to be told, when stubborn self-will enters the picture, that may be the case. In that instance, the wisdom of the elders decides when it is time to move on, even if some get left behind—or in fact, leave. That is why we have those men—to be strong enough to make those unpopular decisions and wise enough to know when to.
Far more often, God expects us to “wait for one another” in all its various applications. He expects us not to “set at nought” the one who just can’t quite get it yet. Check your other translations of Rom 14:3. That phrase means to despise, to disrespect, and to count as nothing. It means we think his opinion is worthless. The words may not have been used, but the contempt in them says exactly the same thing.
God would certainly expect better of those who are supposedly so much more advanced. Of all people, they should be tolerant with the many varieties of azalea among us. We all bloom in our own time. We are all beautiful to God, if not to each other. As long as everyone is striving to grow and serve the Lord to the best of their abilities, we are all equal in God’s eyes, and certainly should be to one another.
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand...Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God, Rom 14:4,10-12.
Dene Ward