Why is it important not to let the good be spoken of as evil?

For the good gifts of God to remain appreciated for what they are, it is vital that they be embraced in joy and love, and not be slandered by unbelievers, who can thereby cause those who are weak in the faith to stumble. If someone were to then lose their joy because of the actions of their brothers and sisters and consequently falls back into their former unbelief, this would also only embolden people to speak ill of God’s good gifts: So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil (Romans 14:16). The original Greek clarifies that the action of speaking evil here entails slandering and speaking ill of others. Many interpret the good here as referring to the gospel, or at any rate something shared by all Christians and which distinguishes them from unbelieving slanderers. Others restrict it to referring specifically to the conviction of those who are not weak in the faith, namely, that it is permissible to eat everything God causes to grow.¹

These two interpretations do not have to be understood as being at odds, as the freedom to eat all things also constitutes a general Christian good, even if the problem with it is that not all are able to adopt it freely because of their weakness. Dealing with the good of the Christian church in such a way that the weak in faith turn away in disappointment entails surrounding the good with a negative aura.²