Editorial: “The Weak Sister & the Coffee Urn”
I remember once, in a church where I was a pastor, that the suggestion was made that we set up a coffee urn in the lobby. I’m not a big coffee drinker—a cup is about all the caffeine I can handle—but I didn’t see what it could hurt. Virtually everyone in the meeting admitted they drank coffee, and thought they’d enjoy a cup while visiting with one another between Sabbath School and church.
But then someone said, “But Mrs. Smith would be very upset.” “Then she doesn’t have to drink it,” another responded. “No, just having it in church would shake her faith,” said the first person. “We can’t do that.”
With that, the idea was dropped.
When Paul spoke about not offending the weaker brother or sister, did he mean that one person—the one who has the most hangups, the most confined view of a situation—gets veto power over anything that might happen in the community? That seems to be the interpretation that has taken hold. I’ve seen it happen with music, with fellowship dinner, with how Sabbath School is run, with just about anything we do together: nothing can get past the most opinionated person in the church. Everyone has to bow to their scruples, rather than expecting them to be flexible.
Of course, Mrs Smith didn’t think she was weak. She thought she was the strongest one in church: she stood for the right beverage no matter who would disagree with her. And the others, out of fear or insecurity, supported her in that.
Yet that’s not what Paul meant. He explicitly defined the person who wouldn’t eat certain things as the weak one. And he was fairly confrontational with some of those who tried to complicate the gospel by sidetracking the conversation into minor matters.
But as long as we confuse weakness with strength, the weakest will control everyone, and the mission of the church will be drowned in insignificancies.
Let’s try to do better. The living of the gospel is not food or drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy.
By the way, as a thank you to all our readers for a wonderful year-end fundraiser, we’re offering this month a free magazine subscription. Just write to atoday@atoday.org, with your name, address, and email.
Loren Seibold
Executive Editor, Adventist Today
18 January 2025
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