Monday the 20th

Romans 14:  ¹Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

 

This is a great passage, and it continues through verse 4. I did not include the whole thing, but if you get a chance read the whole thing. Accept him whose faith is weak….it seems like a no brainer when you say it. When we really look at it though, it is not as much of a given as one might think. We have a nasty habit of placing very high expectations on people. The funny thing is when we find someone who is lost, who does not have Christ in their life, we often treat them with kid gloves, as we should. We encourage them, we gently bring them along, we foster that love that Christ so undeniably sowed and continues to show the world. Oh but when we find someone who has just got on the Jesus train…..what is the first thing we do? We hammer them, “oh ok, well you have to do this, you need to do that, you have to be here, read this, say that, and above all if you are going to do it right you HAVE to do this!” We go from the nurturing loving Christian into some combat express training, and if they don’t follow every step….all too often they are looked down on….we judge them, we wonder why their faith is sooooo weak?!? What about when we see Church friends (and the very fact that we have that term is a problem) friends that are out and about, and we see them doing something that we think there is no need for them to do, or maybe something that we think they should not be doing (nothing major mind you)…..what do we think….DO you catch the thought of “oh I am so much further ahead in my spirituality”, or “I am a better Christian than they are” We are holding our brethren to a higher standard than the lost soul that they were just a short while ago! We have to accept all people at every spot along the path to Christ. The ones in front of us (and that can be just as challenging) the ones right behind us, and the ones that just started out. We all progress at the rate the Lord needs us to. We are all at the spot we are supposed to be at right now. It is not up to us, nor is it our place to judge another who is doing their best at the moment to serve the Lord. It is block and tackle stuff, we support, we encourage, we love, those around us. In the big picture, no matter how long you have been following the Lord, it was just the other day that you too were that lost soul, it was then that you need the support of your fellow Christians, not their distain. You needed their love, because at the time it might have been the only love you received….you did not need their judgment, for the world was, and is still today, busy judging each and everyone of us enough already. Accept those whose faith is weak, it is the only hope of strengthening that faith!

 

God Bless,

Brian