In a number of places in scripture we are told to not say we don't need the other members (1 Cor 12:21)... especially weaker members.
Romans 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.
We are to welcome, not refuse weaker members of the Body. We are not to quarrel with them over their opinions, although many of us do. The basic principle of scripture is this: If Christ accepts them, we accept them. If they have believed in Christ and are born of God, it is enough... no matter what their outward condition.
We may think this refers only to those in our local church, or denomination, but it refers to any believer, anywhere, in any time or any space.
The Body of Christ includes all the believers gone before us, alive today and who will be born again in future.
The Lord Jesus cherishes the weakest members in His body.
Perhaps someones faith is weak, they eat only vegetables, they keep the Sabbath on Saturday, they believe in circumcision,
they don't eat pork, perhaps they are fearful, or unable to trust in the Lord's provision of their daily needs. Perhaps they
don't understand the importance of water baptism by full immersion, perhaps they use a childrens version of the Bible and not the authorized
King James. Perhaps they believe we should only use a particular bible version.
These are all matters of opinion which the Lord says we are not to dispute over.. and we are definitely not authorized to divide
ourselves over.
A sign of spiritual maturity is reflecting the Lord's likeness, by being able to fellowship and meet with any believer in Christ,
no matter what their outward condition, no matter what their opinions on certain matters.
Why does the Lord cherish the weakest believers? The simple reason is.. because they are part of His body.
We have many parts in our body that seem to serve no purpose.. the little toe.. the appendix.. our second kidney.. we can survive without these
parts.. some seem to have no purpose or function, perhaps they don't have any purpose of function.. but they are there in our body
there is no reason to get rid of them. We cherish and want to keep these parts simply because they are part of our body.
In our body these parts which seem to have no purpose, seem to be the parts that cause us the most trouble. We often stub our little toe..
the appendix can easily get inflamed.. it's a general principle that the weakest members can often cause us the most pain and trouble..
Church should have a mixture of believers from the very young to the very old. The idea of segregating believers according to their
spiritual maturity, age, or status is really not supported in scripture. The weaker members are strengthened by fellowshipping
with the stronger members, and the stronger members are humbled and tested, and reflect the nature of christ by fellowshipping with the weaker.
If we only fellowship with believers who are at the same level as us, or who have the same opinions over non-essential matters as us, then
we will have no way for our faith to be challenged and tested, and no way for us to learn to bear the cross.
We may think Sunday services are a time for us to focus on God, and be renewed spiritually, and have a time of enjoyment, we like
to be comfortable. But they are often the times when someone says something negative about you or to you, or gives
you a funny look or ignores you. Or someone complains about their health problems for 1 hour after the service and makes you feel drained and low
after you were on a high worshipping God. These are all things the Lord uses to help us grow in Him. I believe the Lord doesn't measure us by how much joy we experience in our worship singing, how much knowledge we have, or how much we say we love Him. He measures us by the testings that come after the service...eg by your reaction to not getting the invitation to after church lunch that others got but you didn't get.
The internet is both a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing for those who cannot find fellowship in their area or wish to be
strengthened in their faith by interacting with other believers from all over the world. On the other hand it can be a curse
if we use it to withdraw from our local church and we become isolated, independent, in ourselves.. we feel we are too perfect
or holy to ever meet with our local church in our neighbourhood. Or we may feel inadequate imperfect, and too weak that other believes in our local church won't care for us.. fear of rejection can be powerful. But staying in ourselves is as much against the Lord's will as going to church frequently
out of religious habit and tradition.
That we are members of Christ's body is an accomplished fact by what Christ did for us on the cross. The enemy to the Body of Christ is the self.. and satan through manipulation and
exploitation of the self. If our self is truly dead we would always be considering others better than ourselves, we would not react when offended, we would not even know we have been offended, because our self is dead.
Without self we would not have a desire to correct others about their non-essential opinions out of our own sense of self-righteousness and correctness before God. We would not feel the need to improve on what is the Lord's work in someone else. This does not mean we have to agree, or even 'agree to disagree', we
simply accept that others are different from ourselves, and we are all covered by the same blood of Christ, and we don't see the differences. Our self is also what keeps us in fear or rejection, fear of being offended or being hurt by meeting in our local church. This is all still the self. Denying self, taking up cross and following Christ is the only way to grow in the Body of Christ and be one Body in the Lord. This is not of ourself but
occurs over time as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit who brings us through a range of experiences to deny our self, learn to bear the cross and take the way of Christ. This is the journey each of us are on as the Lord brings us to greater spiritual maturity in Him.
Romans 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.
We are to welcome, not refuse weaker members of the Body. We are not to quarrel with them over their opinions, although many of us do. The basic principle of scripture is this: If Christ accepts them, we accept them. If they have believed in Christ and are born of God, it is enough... no matter what their outward condition.
We may think this refers only to those in our local church, or denomination, but it refers to any believer, anywhere, in any time or any space.
The Body of Christ includes all the believers gone before us, alive today and who will be born again in future.
The Lord Jesus cherishes the weakest members in His body.
Perhaps someones faith is weak, they eat only vegetables, they keep the Sabbath on Saturday, they believe in circumcision,
they don't eat pork, perhaps they are fearful, or unable to trust in the Lord's provision of their daily needs. Perhaps they
don't understand the importance of water baptism by full immersion, perhaps they use a childrens version of the Bible and not the authorized
King James. Perhaps they believe we should only use a particular bible version.
These are all matters of opinion which the Lord says we are not to dispute over.. and we are definitely not authorized to divide
ourselves over.
A sign of spiritual maturity is reflecting the Lord's likeness, by being able to fellowship and meet with any believer in Christ,
no matter what their outward condition, no matter what their opinions on certain matters.
Why does the Lord cherish the weakest believers? The simple reason is.. because they are part of His body.
We have many parts in our body that seem to serve no purpose.. the little toe.. the appendix.. our second kidney.. we can survive without these
parts.. some seem to have no purpose or function, perhaps they don't have any purpose of function.. but they are there in our body
there is no reason to get rid of them. We cherish and want to keep these parts simply because they are part of our body.
In our body these parts which seem to have no purpose, seem to be the parts that cause us the most trouble. We often stub our little toe..
the appendix can easily get inflamed.. it's a general principle that the weakest members can often cause us the most pain and trouble..
Church should have a mixture of believers from the very young to the very old. The idea of segregating believers according to their
spiritual maturity, age, or status is really not supported in scripture. The weaker members are strengthened by fellowshipping
with the stronger members, and the stronger members are humbled and tested, and reflect the nature of christ by fellowshipping with the weaker.
If we only fellowship with believers who are at the same level as us, or who have the same opinions over non-essential matters as us, then
we will have no way for our faith to be challenged and tested, and no way for us to learn to bear the cross.
We may think Sunday services are a time for us to focus on God, and be renewed spiritually, and have a time of enjoyment, we like
to be comfortable. But they are often the times when someone says something negative about you or to you, or gives
you a funny look or ignores you. Or someone complains about their health problems for 1 hour after the service and makes you feel drained and low
after you were on a high worshipping God. These are all things the Lord uses to help us grow in Him. I believe the Lord doesn't measure us by how much joy we experience in our worship singing, how much knowledge we have, or how much we say we love Him. He measures us by the testings that come after the service...eg by your reaction to not getting the invitation to after church lunch that others got but you didn't get.
The internet is both a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing for those who cannot find fellowship in their area or wish to be
strengthened in their faith by interacting with other believers from all over the world. On the other hand it can be a curse
if we use it to withdraw from our local church and we become isolated, independent, in ourselves.. we feel we are too perfect
or holy to ever meet with our local church in our neighbourhood. Or we may feel inadequate imperfect, and too weak that other believes in our local church won't care for us.. fear of rejection can be powerful. But staying in ourselves is as much against the Lord's will as going to church frequently
out of religious habit and tradition.
That we are members of Christ's body is an accomplished fact by what Christ did for us on the cross. The enemy to the Body of Christ is the self.. and satan through manipulation and
exploitation of the self. If our self is truly dead we would always be considering others better than ourselves, we would not react when offended, we would not even know we have been offended, because our self is dead.
Without self we would not have a desire to correct others about their non-essential opinions out of our own sense of self-righteousness and correctness before God. We would not feel the need to improve on what is the Lord's work in someone else. This does not mean we have to agree, or even 'agree to disagree', we
simply accept that others are different from ourselves, and we are all covered by the same blood of Christ, and we don't see the differences. Our self is also what keeps us in fear or rejection, fear of being offended or being hurt by meeting in our local church. This is all still the self. Denying self, taking up cross and following Christ is the only way to grow in the Body of Christ and be one Body in the Lord. This is not of ourself but
occurs over time as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit who brings us through a range of experiences to deny our self, learn to bear the cross and take the way of Christ. This is the journey each of us are on as the Lord brings us to greater spiritual maturity in Him.
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