Romans 14 (KJV) - "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.  Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.  But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.  I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.  Let not then your good be evil spoken of:  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.  Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

One of the biggest issues in Christianity today is the incredible and growing division between believers.  I'm not talking about the divide between the righteous, those who hold true to the entirety of God's word, and the profane, those who adhear to strange doctrines, the "prosperity" gospel, and other gross heresies.  I'm talking about good, honest, forthright believers who fight with each other over little jot and tittle stuff as demonstrated in this verse.  It needs not be so, as the people of the late middle ages would say.

At one time I myself was a strong disputer in the camp of jot and tittle accuracy.  I was among those who said, "You'd better snap to and agree with me 100% or you're a heathen!"  In fact, I was such a stickler on some things as to almost be legalistic.  But time and experience have greatly softened that sharp knife's edge and I've come to understand this verse a whole lot better than I ever did before.  Am I saying I'm now open to every wind of doctrine that comes my way?  NOT.  A.  CHANCE.  JACK.  No, no, no, no, and no, period.  If the bible is explicit about it, and calls it sin, then I will have no part of it.

However, all too often we don't end up arguing over the big stuff, like homosexuality, adultery, when the rapture will occur, and so on.  We start fights over stupid stuff, like the color we should paint the fellowship hall.  Or, we should go to church on Saturday, or we shouldn't have guitars in church, or that bikers are stinky people and we should never let them into church because we all know that those who ride Harleys will never go to Heaven.  Ya know, it's dumb stuff like this that we fight over, and in doing so we forsake the truth of the Gospel that it's for everyone, and we forsake the truth of God's word.  In fact, it makes you no better than the Pharisees who argued with Christ.

I've come to call this "jot and tittle arguing", in reference to the mention about "not one jot, nor one tittle" made by Christ in reference to the two smallest marks in Hebrew.  In English we might call it "period and comma arguing".  Or even perhaps arguing about the dot on the top of the letter I.  In other words, unless the bible is solid as stone on something, and most especially when the passage is left to interpretation, such as in cases where one small mention is made of something, such as Mathias in Acts, and whether or not he was a "true" apostle, we should leave stuff like that alone.

As the verse above says, STOP ARGUING ABOUT IT!  And I point that finger squarely at myself too, so don't think I'm just saying this against others.  I've been such a powerful defender of God for so long that I too get tripped up by the jot and tittle crowd and dragged into pointless fights as well.  It's something I'm working on prayerfully myself.  So if you too are fighting this battle, know that you're in good company.  Really, this kind of fighting is pointless.  If nothing else I would tell people to pick your fights carefully.  If there is sound doctrine and biblical backing for something, then by all means defend it.  If not, then leave it alone.

I will also add the caveat that, when defending it, before you haul out the heavy artillery, MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND IT YOURSELF!  There's nothing worse than carpet bombing someone only to discover YOU are the one in the wrong, and not the other person.  Lots of great friendships and relationships are destroyed because of needless fights like this.  In fact, churches have had some very bitter and contentious splits in the past over things like this.  Seriously, I've seen entire churches split and go their separate ways just because someone didn't like the color of the paint on the walls.

So really, be kind to one another, fellowship, and share with one another, and lift each other up.  If it's a true and honest error in doctrine, use the rules and guidelines of church discipline as an outline of how to deal with this and then go to them individually and quietly and talk this out.  It may be a simple misunderstanding on their part that you can correct.  It may also turn out to be an error on your part, so study well before you go.  If it's not an issue of doctrine, and it's more of a jot or tittle thing, which most arguments are, then simply draw your brother and sister close to your heart and love them with all the love you have in you, and if that isn't enough, then pray to God for an even larger outpouring in your soul.  Because love overcometh all, and love will solve all ills and woes.

After all, wasn't it love for you that nailed Jesus to the cross?  Think about it.  If He didn't love you, would He have come to this earth, or allowed Himself to be whipped and beaten, and then ultimately nailed to a cross where He died to take away your sins?  If it wasn't for His love, you'd right now still have a one way ticket to Hell with no way out.  So if Jesus loved you that much, doesn't it seem reasonable to try and love your brother or sister in Christ the same way?  I think it does, and in loving them also seek unity, because in this darkening time in history, unity is both the one thing we lack and need most right now!