“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.”
Romans 15:1-2 ESV
The principle here is staggering. It’s common for us to take things for granted. It’s easy. But the example of Christ has far reaching implications in our lives, conduct, vocations, and relationships. The first big one here is that the Christian – every Christian – should aspire to strength. Spiritual strength. We aren’t talking about the ability to lift heavy things (not that that’s a bad thing, of course). We aren’t talking about strength in the sense that the world sees it. We’re talking about the spiritual power that comes from wisdom.
This deserves a little attention.
Quick quiz. What is it that your mind runs to when you think of power? What is it that you think of when you think of being strong, secure in your future, and full of confidence in a world gone mad? The mind that’s set on the flesh, the worldly mind, is naturally going to seek prestige and income. It’s going to equate strength with the very things the Bible tells you are deceptive. The Message translation of Proverbs 8, the great chapter of the personification of wisdom renders it thus:
“Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling? Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice? She’s taken her stand at First and Main, at the busiest intersection. Right in the city square where the traffic is thickest, she shouts, “You—I’m talking to all of you, everyone out here on the streets! Listen, you idiots—learn good sense! You blockheads—shape up! Don’t miss a word of this—I’m telling you how to live well, I’m telling you how to live at your best. My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth— I can’t stand the taste of evil! You’ll only hear true and right words from my mouth; not one syllable will be twisted or skewed. You’ll recognize this as true—you with open minds; truth-ready minds will see it at once. Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career. For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.”
Proverbs 8:1-11 MSG
Who is the Bible calling simpletons and doofuses (a heavy technical theology term, that)? People who eschew the wisdom of God and go off in life looking at things “under the sun.” One of the primary points of Proverbs is that there’s a way that seems right unto a man but its end is catastrophe. Indeed, Proverbs 8 finishes with a loud bang of philosophy and ethical wisdom. It says that everyone who ignores God’s wisdom hates his own life and chooses death.
This means that wisdom is an active force in life because God isn’t just real, but personal. The Lord Jesus Christ isn’t merely an abstraction. He’s the living Truth. And those who are in Him, putting their complete trust in Him for not only their salvation but their everything, are made strong in the same way that Elon Musk’s wealth makes him appear strong. The strength of a Christian is the active and living wisdom of Jesus Christ in their lives. Those that are led by the Spirit are led by the living Wisdom of God. Education is something that a man or woman attains and it’s outside of them. It’s not like this with wisdom. Since God is the personal and creator God, He is both the source and direction of life. He is the goal, the reality, and the sustainer of every aspect of life. The wisdom of God is in Jesus Christ. He’s not an absentee landlord. He hasn’t gone off to get some tea. Wisdom, in Christ, is personal and active in the life of the one who trusts in Him because to know life and to live right requires a God-centered focus.
The strong in the faith, therefore, are those who presume Him in all their reasoning, actions and goals. There’s power in living by the Word precisely because the Word is active! The God we serve isn’t a deistic god. The Biblical God is absolutely sovereign, loving, and true. To feed on this truth daily, the way a great athlete trains and eats well, is the meaning of life (to know God and love Him!) and the source of strength. As Van Til said, there’s no fact in life that’s a fact unto itself. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is that. He’s the alpha and omega. All facts, therefore, are in need of interpretation. Get it? The fallen minds insists upon seeing life’s varied facts as unrelated phenomenon whereas the Christian mind is built up in the principles of God’s Word. The renewed mind rejoices in the knowledge that this is their Father’s world.
Weak Christians are those that haven’t yet embraced or for whatever reason still resist this amazing fact. Weak Christians are looking at things from the “old lens.” They still think this world is a place of scattered kingdoms, of authorities and principles that exist outside of the Lord’s law/word. But all authority is in Him. All truth is in Him. And this means that all love is too. The weak Christian is eating Cheetos for dinner when there’s a full and succulent meal awaiting them. The weak Christian is, in their heart, afraid of the world, afraid of calamity at every turn. The weak Christian is restricted on every side. Legalistic to himself and others in what he approves because he hasn’t reckoned with the amazing freedom that’s in Christ. The weak Christian is living backwards, slow walking their faith, unwilling to come to the treasure and power of wisdom.
It’s like this that the strong have an obligation to bear with the weak. The strong “bear” with them not by appeasing them but by serving them in the Lord, pointing them to Him, and laying down their own privileges and rights in cases where the larger principles of the faith aren’t in play. The stronger Christian is the one who knows the One so well that fear has no permanent bedroom in the home of their soul. The weak Christian is getting tossed to and fro by life’s cares and worries. The strong Christian is meek like their Lord and is like a great boxing champion sparring with a novice. He builds up. He encourages. He is always trying to help – and real help, he knows, is always and only in the strength of faith. This is wisdom. This is true strength.
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