As my children get older, I realize even more that I’m leaving behind certain stages of childhood. We do not have an infant, so there’s no more teaching a child how to crawl or walk or even to eat with a spoon. While there’s a lot of stress in that stage of a child’s life, there are many things I miss. But let’s say I didn’t miss any of it. Let’s also say that as I look back on my child’s infancy, I recount to you how often I mocked the child. When I first held the child, I said, “Why is his head bobbing around? Can’t he hold it up on his own?” When the child was learning how to eat, I would say, “Pick up the spoon. It’s not that hard!” Clearly, we would label that verbal abuse, right? And why would we do that? We do that because the child is physically weak and incapable of certain things. We need to keep that weakness into consideration or else we could be abusive.
Now, think of that illustration as we ponder the Fighter Verses from this past week: “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.” In the context of Romans 15, the apostle Paul is talking to a church where there were Christians who disagreed on certain things (we’ve never experienced that, right?). But as a result of the disagreements, those who were more mature were putting down the less mature through their words and actions. Paul then says to the mature ones, “bear with the failings” and “build up” the weak ones.
Think of how practical this is. Within a church context, there are people who may not want to serve or reach out. Or, maybe there are people who think they can just receive, receive, receive. Or there are those who disagree with you and you know you’re right. Do we have to bear with those people? Actually, yes. It’s our obligation! That’s a strong word. This isn’t to say that we allow sin to go on unchecked. Patience with an infant does not mean that I want them to always wear a diaper either. Instead, this is the mindset we ought to have towards one another. Love and patience that leads to the person’s spiritual good – which could mean there’s a necessary confrontation. But the confrontation is to be done understanding where they are at in their relationship with God.
And why are we obligated to care for and reach out to other Christians who may be weaker than we are? Because Jesus bore our failings. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. And on the cross, he bore our sins in his body. And if Jesus did that for us – then we ought to do that for others! Instead of looking at other Christians saying, “Why do I always have to do this or that for you? Why must I serve,” we ought to say, “Oh Lord, thank you for bearing with me and let me bear with others even here today.” So, let’s rejoice that God brings together his children who are at various levels of maturity! Our unity isn’t around how mature we are. Our unity is in Jesus who makes us mature.