Readings for today: 2 Chronicles 29, Romans 14, Psalms 24, Proverbs 20:12
I recently hiked a 14er with my family. It can be a grueling exercise mentally and emotionally and physically. You find yourself often wishing you were further along than you actually are. In fact, I encourage my children not to look ahead lest they get frustrated. Just focus on your feet and take each step. Once you reach the top, it is a surreal experience. There is nothing quite like feeling like you are on top of the world. As you head back down the trail, you meet others who are on their way up and you try to encourage them. You know how they feel.
I think our spiritual life is similar to hiking a 14er. You have people strung out along the trail. Some are at or near the top. Others are just getting started. Some have reached plateaus where they rest. Others are toiling away. Some are battling exhaustion with every step. Still others are making their way back down having experienced the exhilaration of the summit. The key is not to judge a person for where they are but to encourage, challenge, and exhort them along the way.
I love how the Apostle Paul describes it in Romans 14. He’s speaking to a community of Jews and Gentiles who are struggling to get along. Struggling to honor one another. Struggling to recognize and encourage each other on their journey towards God. Some are stronger in their faith. Some are weak. Some are knowledgeable in their faith. Others are not. Some cling to certain laws pertaining to food and drink and days and seasons for comfort. Others do not find comfort in these things. In fact, they often feel restrictive. The point Paul makes to everyone is not to judge. To not use your “rights” to put a stumbling block in front of a brother or sister. To instead seek to serve them in love. To put aside anything that might get in the way of true and authentic fellowship.
“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand…For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For 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. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God…Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” (Romans 14:4, 7-12, 18-19)
Ultimately living together in Christian community puts our faith to the test. Do we truly believe only God can judge the human heart? Do we truly believe our unity rests on Christ alone? Do we truly believe all of us are required to die to self? Do we truly believe no matter what happens, we are the Lord’s?
I have traveled the world. Met Christians in many different cultures and countries. I have worshipped in many different languages. I have fellowshipped with new believers and old believers. Christians who’ve been walking with Christ for a few days and Christians who’ve been walking with Christ for decades. My life has been enriched by these experiences. Do I have my own opinions? My own preferences? My own ideas and way of doing things? Of course. But I surrender all that to Christ. I recognize so much of what I take for granted is culturally conditioned by the world I grew up in. So I surrender it to Christ. And I seek to the paths that make for peace and mutual encouragement. How can you do this for your church family today?
Readings for tomorrow: 2 Chronicles 30-31, Romans 15:1-22, Psalms 25:1-15, Proverbs 20:13-15