Romans 15:1-2 says:
"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."
This is an interesting perspective on grace shared between believers. Unfortunately it’s not regarded very often.
The context of this verse, if you go back into chapter 14, Paul starts out exhorting them not to quarrel over opinions with those of weaker faith. He uses a standard example of Jewish dietary laws. He explains that the weaker in faith is still constrained under these laws, but for the sake of defending their faith, the stronger in faith ought to bear with them.
Later he goes as far as to say that we ought to constrain ourselves under their weakness for their sake (v.14:15).
Dietary laws might be the epitome of what some consider fringe issues. In a community of Christians, this is probably something akin to proper baptism procedures, or tithing issues.
But realistically, this should probably be applied to any non-salvation issue. Because people are not saved by good doctrine. They’re saved by grace, through faith in the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf. Therefore, there is only a minimal amount of doctrine actually necessary for faith.
Unfortunately, we’re not going to agree on who in the church would qualify as the "weaker" in faith. But we don’t necessarily need to. Because underneath what Paul is saying is that grace between us is really what’s important:
"For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord." (v.14:8)
Now, this doesn’t exclude discussing biblical truths, in some contexts even debating, for the sake of coming to deeper understandings of what we believe and why. But it does mean that we must do it with grace and love for one another and remember that good doctrine is not what makes us brothers and sisters, it’s faith in the one Lord, Jesus Christ.
