The objective of this lesson: To stress the commitment of the strong to the weak in the Christian community.
The concept presented in this lesson to people living in Rome at the first century [as well as much of the time previously and many times thereafter] was truly the reverse of "the way things work" in almost every segment of existence. In all of life around them, this principle was at work: it is the right of those who are strong [in power positions] to use or exploit the weak [those who are powerless].
Stress that in every age, in society the strong or powerful have commonly looked upon the weak as those who were to be exploited by them.
However, that is not to be the principle at work in the Christian community! It is the responsibility of the strong to "bear the weaknesses of those without strength ..." This is not the suggestion that those who are weak spiritually are in control of Christian community leadership, determine concerns and directions of the Christian community, and decide what is or is not important among Christians. The apostles were still the persons the Lord appointed, and the Lord Jesus was still Lord. It was the emphasis that weak Christians were still Christians, persons deserving of help and concern.
One of the radical distinctions between the Christian community and society in every age [certainly in first century Rome!] is seen in the commitment of the strong to the weak in their needs. The strong Christian does not view the weak Christian as someone to be exploited for the "benefit of the community" or for selfish ambition. Though the weak are not placed in control of the leadership or the direction of Christ's work, they are encouraged and not exploited.
Weak Christians were "somebodies," not "nobodies." Strong Christians did not look upon weak Christians as insignificant individuals who existed only to be used by "me" for "my" purposes. The weak Christians were neither disposable nor to be used for the advantages of the strong. Christ's kingdom does not exist for "me" to please "me." Jesus came and existed to serve people, not to gratify personal ambitions. Remember Matthew 20:20-28? Strong Christians do not exist to use weak Christians! Strong Christians exist to help weak Christians!
Discuss the power and importance of respect and understanding in the Christian community. The strong Christian accepts the responsibility to maintain respect and understanding for the weak Christian, just as Christ maintains respect and understanding for the Christian who regards himself/herself strong. Weakness is always determined by making a comparison. When compared to Jesus Christ, we all are weak.
Because a person decides to enter Christ through the commitment of faith, repentance, and baptism does not mean the task and challenge is over! Forgiveness is an ongoing need. Spiritual grow is an ongoing need. Spiritual maturity is an ongoing process. Consider again the directive to Christians in 1 John 1:5-10. God continues to be active in the outreach to the lost and in the maturing process of the forgiven. In the community of Christians, we are devoted to calling the lost to Christ and encouraging the saved to continue their journey in Christ.
Initial obedience to Christ is merely the beginning of a long journey in spiritual maturing that will last until death. In 1 John 1:5-10 stress the emphasis of God's involvement in the process of spiritual maturing. God provided the perfect means of continuing involvement--continuing forgiveness! There were and are few [if any] things of more horrible consequence than the Christian saying to God, "I do not need Your solution!"
The weak are not dispensable. They do not exist for the strong [or the accepted and comfortable] to say, "Oh, what a shame!" when the weak abandon the community of Christians and the Savior.
There is no point in bringing people to Christ as spiritual infants if we are going to "kill" some of those spiritual infants! Babies need care, love, attention, and encouragement from the more mature!
Paul cited three reasons for maintaining concern for those who struggle to escape ungodly influences and forces. First, Christ did not please himself. We often make a point of the fact that Jesus suffered unjustly for our mistakes. Is there any more compelling example of the righteous strong bearing the weakness of the unrighteous weak?
Stress the point that Jesus did not come to please himself. Neither do those who belong to Jesus exist to please themselves. That is a major call to unselfishness!
Second, scripture was written to provide hope. God commonly used the weak to achieve His purposes--the Abraham who refused to protect his wife, the blind Isaac, the Jacob who deceived and limped, the arrogant Joseph who bragged in his youth, the Moses who could not speak, the David who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered, the Solomon who listened to the wrong influences, the unattractive John who preached in the wilderness and was later beheaded, the Peter who denied Jesus three times, the Barnabas who allowed himself to be deceived by the Judaizing teachers from Jerusalem, the Paul who helped kill and persecute Christians, etc. God transforms useless, rebellious sinners into useful servants! God's strong were once the weak!
God in every age has typically worked through the weak. Remember 1 Corinthians 1:20-31 and 2 Corinthians 12:5-10? The solution is always God, not us. The strength is always God's, not ours!
Third, Paul used the example of God Himself. God is the source of perseverance. He is the source of encouragement. In Him diverse Christians are "of one mind" regarding His objectives in Jesus Christ. All in Christ respect each other, not because they agree on everything, but because they are in Christ together. By God's design, being in Christ is about oneness, not about confrontation. By His design Christians can be as diverse as body parts and yet still be one body.
Stress the fact that we know how to respect those weaker than us because God respects us in our weakness. God can use diversity to achieve His purpose if we are willing to belong to Him. If God can tolerate "me" in "my" failures in inadequacy, "I" can tolerate those "I" regard spiritually weaker than myself.
What is the end result? The end result is the glorification of God. God causes a reality to exist that exists nowhere else! Anyone can succeed if he/she is surrounded by people who totally agree with him/her. Such agreement rarely happens, and when it does it does not last for a long period. If success depends on a high degree of mutual agreement, success [anywhere--in the church or out] is both rare and temporary.
Stress this fact: the objective is the honoring of God, not the honoring of self. We must learn to take our eyes off of unworthy "me" and focus our eyes on the worthiness of God!
God does something humans do not even attempt! God succeeds in producing a kingdom based on diversity rather than agreement! The kingdom succeeds, not because of the human element, but because of God's leadership exhibited in Jesus Christ. God produces oneness by utilizing different abilities to achieve His objectives. He does not expect everyone in Christ to be the same and do the same thing [remember Romans 12:6-8]. The successful congregation is not the one who most effectively demands conformity but the one who understands it must harness the diverse abilities of its members to achieve God's objectives. By utilizing diverse abilities in diverse ways we, by God's power, produce a functioning body with Christ as the head.
Only God can produce unity in diversity! Humans seek to produce unity in agreement. There is great relief and freedom in realizing that God does not expect us all to be alike and do the same thing. Read 1 Corinthians 7:20-24. There was a vast difference between a slave who was regarded of property [thus having opportunity to make few decisions] and a person who was free to make his/her own decisions!
When this happens, it is not people who are glorified. It is God Who is glorified. Human voices praise God for what He does because what happens obviously is in no way human-like. Humans want to control. God wants to guide. Humans in self-centered fashion are concerned about "me." God in grace, mercy, and humility is concerned about "you." We honor Him for His unselfish compassion! Only if we learn from Him do we understand victory is found in fleeing from arrogance to humility. That is what makes it possible for the strong to serve the weak!
When God's unity occurs, that unity is obviously God's product! Only God could take diversity and create one body that responds to a common head in Jesus Christ. That can occur only when people let God teach them to be "others" focused instead of "me" focused.
For Thought and Discussion
In the discussion should be this fact: God commonly has used weakness to achieve His purposes.
It is the responsibility of the strong to bear the weaknesses of those without strength.
The discussion should include this fact: Jesus came to serve God's purposes by serving people in the sacrifice of self. He did not come to be served.
God does not need a kingdom of immature infants. He needs a kingdom of people committed to spiritual maturity who depend on His forgiveness.
The weak are not dispensable.
The discussion should include the fact that Jesus did not please himself.
The discussion should include the fact that scripture is designed by God to give hope.
The discussion should include God's commitment to us.
The end result is the glorification of God. Only God can teach those who respond to Him how to harness diversity of many different abilities to achieve His objectives.
God creates unity in diversity.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 11