Chapter BY Chapter

Are you able to bear the failings of another?

No matter how weak you are, you can always find someone weaker.  Are you able to bear the failings of another who may be weaker than you?  

More importantly, are you WILLING to bear the failings of another who is weaker than you?

The apostle Paul Begins closing his letter to the Romans with this statement. "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves."

Now, you may be wondering who are the strong and who are the weak?  In the previous chapter, Paul talks about a contoversy that was in the early Roman church.  The early Roman church had both Jewish converts to Christianity and pagan converts to Christianity.  Some of the Jewish converts to Christianity had a tendancy to continue some of the Jewish observances including abstaining from eating certain meats defined as 'unclean' by Mosaic Law in the Old Testament.

In chapter 14, we read, "The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them."  So, it is very likely that those that kept the Jewish tradition of abstaining from certain meats considered those who did not as weak while those that did not observe abstinence from eating certain meats considered those who did as weak.

So when we come to chapter 15, and Paul says, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves."  Paul is telling us to bear with our Christian brothers even when we have a difference of opinion.  He is telling us not to be there just for our opinion, but for others.  

This is the whole key to the Christian life.  We may accept Jesus Christ as our Savior for our own sake, but from there on out, our life should be all for others.

This is the crux of how Jesus taught we should live our lives.  Jesus said, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:28-34)."

This teaching of Jesus sets his teaching apart from all others.

Many people today are just trying to survive. In this struggle for survival, some may justify in their minds things like theft and violence to ensure their own survival. Even some religions have had a similar ideology, some of which are in existence today. "Take from the wealth of others for your own charity," is an accurate paraphrase of one religious figure. One can also research the religion of Kali, once practiced in India, which preached murdering others for the plunder of their own wealth.

Instead of struggling for life, Jesus said to just thank God that he is caring for you and concentrate on helping others and doing what is right along the way. If you can thank God for anything at all, you are thriving. If you concentrate of doing what is right by others, God will reward you.

I can testify from personal experience that this really works. When I first came to upstate New York, I was homeless. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and $150 in my wallet. I slept in my Jeep in a state park at night and in the morning I washed myself off in a creek to get ready for the day in the local library sending out resumes. I helped old lady's and moms at the grocery store by pushing their cart back to the store for them.

One day, while I was washing off in the creek, I received a job interview call on my cell phone. The caller was a local business owner, who asked me, "Where are you right now?" I thought it was ironic, because I was standing naked in a creek in a state park. The caller was actually referring to my phone number because it was an out of state phone number. The job prospect didn't work out, but the caller is now one of my friends on Facebook.  

Shortly thereafter, I found myself in a shelter for homeless people. Since I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I gave people rides to job interviews and such. After a couple weeks, my gas tank was below 1/4 full and I had about $5 left. I asked everyone in the car I was driving to work to pray about the gas situation. For some reason, the gas indicator never went below that point for the several weeks that followed.  It stayed right on 1/4 full. After which time, I acquired 3 jobs.

Paul continues to emphasize this same principle that Jesus taught in verses 2-4:

"Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."

You see, our purpose in life is to build up and encourage others. If we all came together to build up ourselves, how would we look to everyone else?  Who would we glorify?  Is our purpose in life to glorify ourselves?  

No, our purpose in life is to glorify God.  as it says in verse 5-6, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Is it God's purpose to fill his church with people that are all exactly alike?  Paul is writing to a group of people that had both Jewish converts and converts from paganism.  This was a very diverse buch of people.

The Jews in this group had to accept the Gentiles and the Gentiles had to accept the Jews. Just as he says in the next 2 verses:

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy."

The apostle Paul then proves this was God's plan all along by quoting from 4 places in the Old Testament.

"As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”

Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”

And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”

What God has ordained in these verses is exactly what the apostle Paul wishes for people as we see in verse 13:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

The remainder of chapter 15 is about how the apostle Paul relishes in the fact that he is so fortunate to be someone who is being used by God to fulfill God's prophecies and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In verse 16, Paul says, "He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

Yet, Paul does not take credit as though this is all his own work alone. In verse 14, he is confident that the Christians in Rome are all so filled with goodness and knowledge that they can instruct one another on their own.

The apostle Paul feels that it is his personal mission to preach to those that have never heard.  He makes mention of his plans to go to Spain and preach there.  So, the apostle Paul took it upon himself to just go out and preach the gospel where it had never been preached.

Post New Testament writings confirm that the apostle Paul not only reached Spain, but also Britain as well.

Now even Paul realizes that he is also one of the weak ones as he asks people to pray for him as he goes to Jerusalem to offer a gift to the Jewish Christians there. Because of Paul's willingness to preach where the gospel had not been preached, he now had many supporters.

Ants have been known to build bridges with their own bodies.  They run in and grab hold of another ant and support another ant. Then, yet another ant will run in and support the ant that just ran in and supported someone.  It is the same in God's church.  You won't get what you should be getting out of church until you come in and just start supporting others.

Are you willing to bear the failings of another?