Carrying Onward

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

CARRYING ONWARD

Rom 15:1-4

15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."   4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

NIV

Well, now we get down to the nitty gritty of it. The strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please themselves. Then it is true that the weak are the greatest influence on the life of the church. The weak than cause the whole of the church to be living in the weakness of their faith. However, then how can each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up? This would imply, at least to us, that it would be the responsibility of the weak, as much as it is for the strong to please each other. Why should the strong not build up the weak with the truth of faith, rather than allowing them to remain in their crippled state of faith? Then would not it be right for the weak not to please themselves and do good for their neighbor, which, in this context, would be the strong? Should there not be harmony between the strong of faith and the weak of faith? Yet it seems again that it is not good to allow those who are weak in their faith to remain that way. Is it not right to build each other up until we reach unity in the faith? That would imply we all would have the same faith, which should be strong, and not weak. But how do the strong convince the weak it is alright to eat meat, in a sense of the context Paul has been talking? He had just said that each should live according to their own faith, but then if that is the case, then why should the strong live according to the faith of the weak, or bear with the failings of the weak, especially when he is saying the weak of faith is a failing, that is their infirmities. Alright, at least the strong of faith should be able to eat their meat in the privacy of their own homes, out of the sight of the weak of faith, but that still comes back to the life of the church being influenced by the weak of faith, which again, seems that would mean the whole church would live a crippled life of faith, as well as it would mean the strong are living a lie in some sense, pretending for the sake of the weak of faith, to live by their weakness. How do we all get along, having this unity in the faith? It seems to be a mystery, at least to us. However, if the strong are to bear with the infirmities of the weak, that would mean we are to carry them, or in one way to see this Greek word it would be to take up in order to carry, to take it upon oneself. If that is the way Paul is using this word then the strong would take up the faith of the weak upon themselves, which does not seem to fit, as then, once again, the whole of the church would be weak. It would seem right that in taking up their burden of weak faith, the strong would be carrying them onward and upward strengthening their faith, building  their faith up, and lifting them up so to have that unity in faith. The strong should carry the weak, for the weak cannot carry the strong.