Romans 14:21

It is interesting that the apostle mentioned drinking wine since that is one of the most problematic amoral practices in American evangelicalism. Paul himself was willing to forego any particular food or drink to avoid causing spiritual growth problems for a brother (1 Corinthians 8:13; cf. Mark 9:42). Certainly we should be willing to do the same. We willingly alter our pace of walking while leading a small child by the hand so he or she will not stumble. How much more should we be willing to alter our Christian walk for the benefit of a weaker brother or sister in Christ whom we are leading.

". . . modern Christians who . . . abstain from all alcoholic beverages do so not because they fear ritual contamination. Some abstain because they are leery of a product that has had such a sad history of ’enslaving’ those who partake (see the principle of 1 Corinthians 6:12 b). Many others do not drink because they do not want to set a bad example for others who might not be able to handle alcohol. Abstinence on these grounds may be a laudable course of action; but it has little basis in Paul’s argument in these chapters. For the ’weak’ here are not those who cannot control their drinking. They are people who are not convinced that their faith in Christ allows them to do a particular thing. They are not ’weak’ in respect to handling alcohol; they are ’weak’ in respect to their faith (Romans 14:1). And Paul urges the ’strong’ to abstain, not because their example might lead the ’weak’ to drink to excess but because their example might lead the ’weak’ to drink and so to violate their conscience (Romans 14:22-23)." [Note: Moo, p. 881.]