Romans 15:1-2 Memory/Meditation

"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 passage is connected along the same line of thought with the last passage I shared about (Romans 14:7-8)

Paul is writing to Roman believers who found themselves at odds regarding eating certain foods. Those who were weak in faith likely still had their consciences bound by Jewish law and wanted to be careful not to eat foods potentially offered to idols (meat), whereas the strong in faith had freedom in their conscience to eat whatever they pleased since idols were false gods to begin with. 

Paul however warned the strong in faith against allowing their own freedom to eat to become a stumbling block to those who are weak in faith. He wrote, "For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died... It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." (Romans 14:15, 21)

So from this we can gather that in regard to any particular issue, the freedom of a believer stronger in faith must always be circumscribed by love for their weaker brethren. 

If Paul had ended his exhortation there, we may conclude that all that is practically needed is for the strong in faith to avoid exercising their freedoms the presence of the weaker, and that would be that. Left on its own, one could see the community potentially devolve into the strong separating themselves from the weak. 

But Paul wasn't done. 

He explicitly states that the "strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and to not please ourselves." He calls the strong in faith to "please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." What does this mean practically? 

It means that the strong in faith literally "owe" it to the weak in faith to "carry/take up" their weakness in faith/conscience. 

It means that the strong cannot separate themselves from the weak- they must walk closely enough to lift the weak mental/conscience burden of weaker believers so as to ultimately build him up in faith. This is in line with what Paul writes elsewhere "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

We live in a society where "survival of the fittest" is assumed to be how the world works (be it in biology, socio-politico-economically), and in a culture where one's individual freedom to determine and express their individuality is of utmost importance (aka "Expressive Individualism"). "You do you, and don't let anyone/anything get in your way". 

Even as those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, our own sinful nature still clings to us and deceives us to prefer pleasing ourselves. But brothers and sisters- we've been redeemed to live like Christ- we are free by the power of the Holy Spirit to choose to love deeply, to sacrificially bear one another's real burdens with the other person's good in mind, for their edification and growth in the Lord. As we learn to walk together with one another in this way, may we remember how our Lord did not please himself, but through the cross carried the reproach/condemnation we deserved (Rom. 15:3). 

I want to leave you with a final thought. I think it's easy for us to read such an exhortation and subconsciously assume that we are in the position of the strong believer. However, even as I share these meditations as your elder, I acknowledge that there are (and will continue to be) ways in which I am weak and will need to be born up by others as much as anyone else. On this side of heaven, we will always have stronger and weaker consciences in different ways regarding different issues. The likelihood of the weak in faith of the Roman church being Jews (who were familiar with God's law) versus the strong being the Gentiles is just an example of how even our own culture/upbringing can influence our faith/consciences. May the Lord grow us in humility and love as we seek to honor Him together. 

Grace and Peace,

Mike

 

Romans 14:7-8 Memory/Meditation

Hi EACF family,

We have just come through the season of Lent and have celebrated Christ's death and resurrection through Good Friday and Easter- Praise be to God!

But we know that our celebration is not yet finished. While Christ's death and resurrection and thus his victory over death is undoubtedly accomplished- it is also a preview- the firstfruits and foretaste of the renewed heavens and earth that is to come when Jesus returns to judge and rule as King forever! (Maranatha Lord!) 

Likewise, we who are in Christ Jesus through faith are already called new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We who are sealed with His Holy Spirit are also meant to be signposts to the coming reality of a renewed cosmos- the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in full. I believe that our passage has some things for us to consider regarding how we live as faithful signposts in the meantime. 

"For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

In thinking upon this passage, there are two themes that emerge. 

1) Security in the Lord

When one reads this passage in isolation, there is a clear and simple takeaway at the end of it- that in life or in death, "we are the Lord's." That on its own is true, and is an unshakeable comfort we have as those who have been united with Christ through both his death and in his resurrection (Romans 6:4-11). This is why we celebrate Easter as we just have! We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! 

2) Serious implications of belonging to the Lord

This second theme requires a bit more of us- not only in our reading, but for the way we apply this passage to our lives. If we take a step back and read this passage in its context, we'll see that it is embedded in a discourse on life in the Christian community- namely about ways that believers despise and judge one another due to quarreling over strongly-held opinions. 

It is into such a scenario that Paul writes, "For none of us lives to himself...." How should belonging to Christ affect the way we deal with brothers and sisters who disagree with us on views/practices that we hold dear? What if acceding to another's preference/practice would result in a restriction on our own freedoms and preferences? How would you respond? Would such conflict be the point where you cancel them? Would you more or less ignore them and just say that "I don't hold any ill will toward them...." but functionally exclude them from your life? Would you despise them in your heart for being too prudish/legalistic, or judge them for being too liberal? 

Or, if a believer sins against you personally, would you love them enough to openly confront them for their wrong- but for the ultimate purpose of restoring fellowship and not harming them? Or would you out of spite want to make them feel as much shame as possible? I know this scenario is rather stark and seems easy to answer- but perhaps in practice our hearts may not always be so willing to choose forgiveness and restoration over condemnation.  

Do you see how this passage does so much more than just reminding us of our belonging to Christ- how it points us to inevitably real implications for our lives in community as believers? 

Will we choose to live unto the Lord amidst conflict in the Body of Christ? If you haven't experienced such conflict, you will at some point- and if you've already experienced conflicts within church life in the past or even the present- have you thought upon how our belonging to Him should shape or reshape our perspectives through conflict? 

As those who belong to Christ Jesus, we have crucified our fleshly desires and passions (Galatians 5:24). That doesn't mean that such desires and passions disappear- but it means that they are no longer the defining ruler in our lives. We by the Spirit no longer have to obey such desires. So may we live unto the Lord, and die unto the Lord- rejoicing that we belong to Christ- and out of that joy live in faithful love and harmony amidst real conflict living as a community of Christ followers. 

I encourage you to read through all of Romans 14 and up to Romans 15:7. 

In closing, I'm just reminded of the title an old Rich Mullins song: 

"Oh We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are"

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 84:10-12 Memory/Meditation

 "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!"

For those of us who are older- this verse likely reminds you of the worship song written by Matt Redman by the title of "Better is One Day".

This psalm is written from the perspective of an Israelite journeying to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple. If you read the entire psalm, you cannot get past the longing and desire for the psalmist to be in God's presence. Remember at that time, the temple was THE place where God had promised to dwell among His people. The Psalmist simply says that he'd rather have a moment in the Lord's presence than an eternity anywhere else in comparison. 

Have you ever been bitten with the travel bug (aka wanderlust)?  When you see beautiful pictures of pristine beaches, snow-capped mountains, crystal blue lakes, isn't it easy to wish you were there? When life gets hard in any way (and if it isn't so for you now, it will be at some point in your future) isn't it easy to wish you were somewhere else? We've all seen those bumper stickers or license plate frames that show some rendition of "I'd rather be (fill in the blank)", be it fishing, skiing, traveling etc. 

But not only does the Psalmist prefer the Lord's presence than anywhere else- he'd also rather render himself a menial servant in house of the Lord than to live contrary to God's ways. As a predominantly white-collared congregation, many of us at EACF are often conditioned to look ahead for our next job opportunity, the next promotion/raise. As high-achievers (whether pressured from within or externally), we're perhaps used to success and the tangible fruits thereof. 

While such things are certainly not wrong in and of themselves, and can even be gracious gifts granted by God, perhaps we need to be all the more diligent to ask ourselves whether the goodness of God leads our hearts to humbly serve Him? Is God's goodness to us in and through the Gospel moving us towards a self-emptying attitude like Christ's (Philippians 2:3-10)? Will we trust the Lord to be the one who grants us favor and honor, and not run after such in our own strength according to our own desires? 

Will we lay down our mistrustful suspicions that somehow choosing God's way will make us miss out on something better (aka FOMO)? "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Will we take God seriously on His promises? 

This idea of walking uprightly does not mean that God's favor rests on the degree of our good behavior- rather it describes the life of those who choose to live life according to God's ways. This encompasses confession and repentance, seeking to honor the Lord in and through our brokenness and rebellion; as I've encouraged us to do here and there on Sunday mornings- familiarize yourself with the Psalms, and you'll get a multifaceted picture of what life is like walking with God.

May we as EACF grow in our trust in the Lord, not just as individual members but as a body together, and find ourselves truly blessed by our gracious God in more ways we could have asked or imagined!

Grace,

Mike