Schindler’s List, the epic movie by Steven Spielberg, was purposely filmed in black and white. By contemporary movie buff standards, this seems like an odd choice. Yet, after experiencing it, I can’t imagine it being filmed any other way. The same goes for paintings. For example, Vincent van Gogh painted Cart With Black Ox, one of the most famous paintings of all time, in black and white. Once you see it, you know it is perfect just the way it is.

The term ‘black and white’ is a bit of a misnomer because it only describes the polar ends of a chosen color spectrum. Every other color option available to an artist falls on the ‘grayscale’.

Life is filled with significantly more gray than black and white.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

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.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

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.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
- Romans 14:1-13

The hyper-religious folks during Jesus’ incarnation and prior, namely the Pharisees and Scribes, loved to create black and white “laws”, master them for themselves, and then use them as a whip to judge others. This was a form of tyranny.

If we were to remove all grayscale colors from van Gogh’s Cart With Black Ox, the painting would lose its meaning, that which makes it beautiful. Likewise, does not the same thing happen when we attempt to suppress the existence of grays in our lives? Do we not, in effect, oppress the very beauty God has intended when He made us all unique?

Diversity is beautiful. So says God. We ought to embrace it rather than try to extinguish it. We ought to look for it, even, rather than call it out as foul. We have a chance in this lifetime to truly appreciate God’s artwork in others. Together, we are what we are by the grace of God.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
- Romans 12:1-12

The Greek word translated “genuine” in v9 means “unfeigned, without hypocrisy, sincere.” In other words, godly love is unpolluted by religious judgement. Godly love is authentic. As an authentic reproduction of Cart With Black Ox could never be represented in black and white only, godly love must include a love of grays in others.

In Romans 14:5, Paul wrote, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Be sure to dwell on this for a moment. It is critically important to this blog’s intent. It means that the Lord looks at a person’s heart.

If a person’s intention is to please the Lord, then there is goodness in that.

God gives each of us a conscience. That conscience is designed specifically to convict us of right and wrong. We cannot make the mistake of believing that what’s right for us is the same for others. The same goes for wrong. “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” (Romans 14:4).

There are innumerable shades of gray in this life. The Bible does not give us explicit guidance regarding every aspect of living, or even worshipping God. I wrote a blog a while back, titled, Church Ordinances, to highlight this principle. The Bible is relatively silent on how individual churches are constructed and carry out liturgical services, so the particulars are left up to the church leaders. Yet, I’ve seen sophomoric Christians casting aspersions at how some well-intentioned churches choose to operate. This type of behavior can become a real stumbling block to anyone paying attention to it.

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
- Romans 14:12-13

Authentic godly love would never seek to tear down others in the faith. It’s ironic because the same “black and white” judgers seem to miss the simple fact that the Bible does actually give us ample guidance against such behavior! I wrote another blog worth mentioning titled, The Value of Well-Timed Words, which quotes, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life” (Proverbs 15:4).

Let us heed Paul’s words, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). We’ve all been given a good conscience. We’ve all been given some measure of faith, by grace. We need to respect one another and let each other live our lives as unto the Lord. We are family. We are friends. We are going to be spending eternity together. We don’t live in a world of black and white, rather a world filled with grays (I speak as a man, of course, because God is omniscient).

My point is simple. Look between the black and white. See how beautiful God has made His children. Recognize and accept that although God’s Word instructs us in many, many ways, it does not give us explicit guidance on every circumstance in life. There’s a reason for that, my friend. I’ve called it the “gray” areas in this blog, but that’s just my attempt to get you thinking critically about your own tendency to judge others, sowing discord in the process.

God sees the heart. Let God be the Judge. How much beauty have we lost by ruling out all the gray?

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
- Romans 12:18

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins