It's ok to be different

Romans 14:1-4 (NLT)
1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval.

In these verses the apostles tells us how we are to handle differences in belief between each other. There were some who had strong convictions it was ok to eat anything, while there were some who would only eat vegetables. The bottom line was one group should not condemn the other for God had accepted them. If we are God’s servants and responsible to the Lord; then we have no right to judge each other. In the end God will give his approval to those who are doing right.


Improvisation is the willingness to live within the bounds of the past and yet search for the future at the same time. Improvisation is the desire to make something new out of something old.… It is experienced in being open to letting the people around you…have impact on what you are creating. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director of jazz at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. He's earned a Pulitzer Prize, written several books, and plays a mean trumpet. On a Tuesday evening late in August 2001 at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village, he was playing "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" on his trumpet without accompaniment. As he neared the end of the song, the sound of a cell phone intruded into the drama of the moment. A jazz critic in the audience scrawled on a sheet of notepaper, "MAGIC, RUINED," and people began to chatter. Marsalis improvised. He played the notes of the cell phone ring tone—slow, fast, and in different keys—and when all ears were back on him, he seamlessly transitioned the silly cell phone tune back to the ballad and finished the song. In the words of the jazz critic, "The ovation was tremendous." [Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove (Zondervan, 2008), pp. 33-34]

There are many of us called by Christ to perform His work within His church and yet many of us are different. We have different feelings about how things should be done. We have different thoughts about what is good for us and what is not. Yet we can bring all those differences together and use them as a great contribution to the Lord. For instance, in the verses above those who only ate vegetables could relate to those who followed the same manner of eating and could lead them to the Lord. Some enjoyed eating whatever they pleased and they too could appeal to a certain group. We should always be willing to embrace the differences of others as long as we are all following and serving our Lord and Savior.