I see where the Apostle Paul was coming from, and why he encouraged patience with "letter of the law" saints.The early saints were right in the thick of the controversy about whether they could eat meat (seen as kosher when prepared correctly) that may have been sacrificed to Greek and Roman idols (not kosher according to the Jewish law). Paul apparently felt this particular law was no longer relevant to Christ's followers, but he didn't want to be divisive by offending these "weak" saints, as he calls them, by eating suspect meat in front of them. It would be a kindness to refrain, perhaps as a way to allow his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ more time to adjust to the huge changes going on as the church drew in more and more Gentiles.
Similarly, wearing a beard was the norm, even venerable, for Latter-day Saints until facial hair became associated with the free-love, anti-authoritarian, anti-war (with buzzed heads being symbolic of the hated military draft) rebellions of the 1960's and 70's. Suddenly beards took on a negative connotation and were prohibited at BYU and for those in church leadership positions (which included a majority of devout Mormon men at some point or another). That was more than a half a century ago, and as fashions have come and gone, the stigma has been falling by the wayside for a long time. A few years ago, I walked into a ward in Salt Lake and saw an entire bishopric on the stand sporting well-kept beards, beaming happily as an older man with a pony-tail and a guitar led a small group of Primary children in song.
It seems to me that at this point, with plenty of time and opportunity to adjust to the changing times, divisiveness about this non-essential, culturally-driven stuff now tends to creep in from those who haven't been able to shed their 1960's (or whatever era) lenses. They/We don't realize it, but that kind of misplaced inflexibility can easily lead to self-righteous judgement. That, in turn, can lead to harmful self-righteous speech and behavior, which breeds divisiveness, whether it comes from the offender or the offended. It is no wonder that Paul's letter to the divided Corinthian saints ultimately teaches that charity--that pure love which dispels self-righteousness--is the greatest and most Godly virtue of all. Sunday School lesson over for now 
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