Does eating and drinking have a place in the kingdom of God?

Yes, in Romans 14:17, Paul is describing the good mentioned in Romans 14:16 as follows: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This good would be slandered if the members of the church were to force each other to eat meat and drink wine, and do what some considered to be dangerous things on forbidden days. But as a result of this teaching the question could arise whether the coming kingdom of God would be all about just eating meat and drinking wine? Is that the big change it brings about? Paul wants to prevent that evil rumour from spreading, and therefore writes that eating and drinking is not the main issue. The point here, however, is not the eating and drinking itself, but rather the manner in which people relate to those who are weak in faith, and that in this way it must become evident that God’s kingdom is all about divine righteousness and the mutual peace and joy through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the strong in faith must ensure that the weak do not break away from the church when too much is demanded of them, leading them to surrender to a sorrowful state. Societal respect is won by making the church a welcome environment for the weak in faith— an environment conducive to each other’s salvation: Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men (Romans 14:18). For the sake of God and for the sake of the good reputation of the Christian community, the members of the church ought to seek peace also with brothers and sisters who are not yet able to embrace all of the open-heartedness that is allowed by the gospel: So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding (Romans 14:19).¹