The Perfect Builder

Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. (Romans 15:2)

Yesterday I saw from the original language that this word please means to lift up, to excite the emotions in a way that builds up, to sail away emotionally. Today as I look at the next verse I see the picture taking even more definite shape. In the kingdom of heaven everyone lives to serve others before themselves. This is not because they have to do that in order to be part of God's family but rather it is because living from the heart will cause one to spontaneously live that way. To live in selfishness is to strangle and stifle the creativity and joy that our heart was created to express.

When God originally designed us, it was to perfectly live and thrive in the energizing atmosphere that will always be found in His authentic family which is His kingdom. That is how our brains and hearts are designed. Obviously a lot of damage has taken place that has terribly distorted our original design and caused a great deal of malfunctions to happen. But that does not detract from the fact that we are still equipped with minds and hearts designed for God's way of thinking and living even though it may seem largely foreign to us right now.

Salvation is really the provision of God to retrain our hearts, rewire our circuits, reeducate our minds and restore us to our original purpose and design which is to reflect His ways of thinking and feeling and be synchronized with Him. This is made even more clear in the demonstration of what God is like in the life of Jesus talked about in the next verse. Jesus came in part to show us by tangible example in human form how God feels about us and wants to relate to us. As our example, as the exhibit of the original pattern from which we have been seriously damaged, His life is a safe source that we can contemplate for our hearts to imitate.

Having a somewhat simple mind and not having much organized “higher” education according to the measurements of the world, I have found it very helpful over the past few years to question any word that raises a question in my mind. I often discover that there are rich meanings hidden within the context and the original language that I had no idea even existed if I only assume I know what a word means. So I looked up this word edification to find out what in the world the purpose is for pleasing my neighbor.

What I found reminds me very strongly of what Paul had spent some time on back in chapter twelve.

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:4-5)

This word edification is directly linked to our word for edifice or a building designed for people to inhabit. When put that way this all starts to make a lot more sense. In recent years I have been alerted to a running theme throughout Scriptures that revolves around this concept of a building or dwelling place. And what I have noticed is that God is in the business of forming a living edifice composed of all who are willing to be incorporated into it, to create a dwelling place for God Himself to live in in a very intimate way. This all comes to an unimaginably wonderful grand climax in Revelation where at the very end of the story of the great war between good and evil the Father God Himself comes to take up residence in this dwelling place that has been prepared for Him in His people. (see Revelation 21:3)

With that background for context it creates a lot more excitement and incentive for me to pay attention and grasp the real implications of these instructions for me here in these verses. I can begin to view these words from a positive perspective instead of simply demands that I suppress my selfishness for the good of others. To have the proper context from the much bigger picture suddenly can transform the details dramatically and give them a whole new light and dimension.

The real purpose of God, the reason God wants me to lift up, build up, encourage, help support spiritually and emotionally my neighbor is so that God's dwelling place, His body on earth, can be prepared in order for Him to feel comfortable living among and in us. If I am willing to obey His request and instructions that I see here I will find myself coming into sympathy and harmony with the very same work that Jesus did while among men and women during His time on earth. And in the process of lifting others up the bonds of love and joy that are essential for adhering the body together effectively will form more strongly between my heart and the hearts of those I seek to strengthen and lift up as well as the heart of Jesus.

For me personally I can see that God is showing me these things right on time. He has been convicting me for quite some time about changing my relationship and attitudes toward the people in the local church to better reflect how Jesus feels about them. I have been taking small steps to dissolve some of the tension and suspicion that has affected their feelings about me and recently they asked me to teach a lesson in church sometime soon. I realize that very possibly in their minds they want to observe in this situation if I am safe to trust in their midst or if I will demonstrate some of the confrontational, disruptive attitudes so often indulged in by my late father in this same church.

As I pondered on this passage this morning I sensed God telling me that I need to pay close attention to the real meaning and implications of these verses in all of my dealings with these people for His reputation's sake. According to these verses it is my job to be patient and sensitive to their weaknesses and mistaken ideas about God, to guard my own spirit and be much more filled with the gentleness and kindness of Jesus in my dealings with them. Instead of just focusing on my own spiritual growth and relishing the freedoms that I am beginning to appreciate in my growing understanding of the real truth about God, I am to be careful not to overwhelm them with what I believe is advanced perspective but to see them through God's eyes and to love and care for them as those who indeed may be weaker but no less important than I am.

I am beginning to perceive that my real purpose should be to help them begin to see their own true identity from God's perspective instead of the mistaken notions they have about themselves and about religion. But this has to be done very gently and under the strict guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is far too easy for me to want to rush in and try to change people's minds too quickly before the Spirit has prepared them for certain changes. Spiritual growth is all about maturing. And like a beautiful rose slowly unfolding its petals, I have to respect the work and timing of God in other people's lives or I can easily damage the buds that are beginning to show promise of future blossoms.

My job is to assist God in any way He shows me – both in spirit, in words and in actions – the work of Jesus in forming His dwelling place made up of each one of us who are willing to be built into it for His pleasure. I am to assist God with the building of His temple by cooperating with His methods that are usually starkly different than my natural impulses. I want to be a good apprentice under the training of the perfect Craftsman who is in charge of building the true new temple for God to live in. As an apprentice I need to watch how He does things, the spirit and techniques He uses, the subtle “tricks of the trade” that makes things go so smoothly when He does them, the extreme attention to little details that He never fails to notice. Yes, I want to be mentored by the perfect Carpenter.

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Bearing the Burdens

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. (Romans 15:1)

I looked up some of the Greek words in this verse to see what I might find to help me understand this better and I found something rather interesting. The word used for bear means to lift up, remove, sustain, take up. What is interesting is that the word used for please has a somewhat similar meaning. It conveys the idea of lifting up our emotions, to be agreeable, to sail away emotionally.

I also noticed that the very same word is used to describe the person who is weak here as was used in verse one of the previous chapter. In reality there is no break in the continuation of thought like that artificially created by this chapter break which is often the case. Paul is still directly addressing the issue of our attitudes and relationship to those in the body of Christ who are at a different level emotionally in their relationship with God than we are.

In contrast to the judgment and contempt that we are warned against indulging in in the previous chapter, here we are told what the alternative should be. Along with accepting them (14:1) we are to give them preference with our emotional strength over pleasing ourselves. Instead of indulging in the legitimate freedoms that cause our own feelings to be excited and feel more free, when we are in the presence of those who are offended and hurt by our choices because of their own immaturity in faith, we should be considerate, gentle and kind in our thoughtfulness for their sensitivities and fears.

This reminds me of a medical analogy that might fit well here. Normally in our physical contact with those around us we might not think much of holding a person's hand or arm or laying our hand on their shoulder in a gesture of affection. But if that person has experienced serious burns and their skin is raw and extremely sensitive it would be the height of inconsideration to touch or grab them in ways that otherwise we might not think anything of. To do so would induce extreme pain and even sometimes cause worse damage than what they had already experienced. Instead we must learn how to treat them with the utmost gentleness, not because they are a bad person or have some character flaw but because they are in a very vulnerable state and need time for healing.

It only makes sense that when dealing with a person who has experienced serious burns on their body we should treat them with the utmost care and sensitivity. But part of the reason for doing so is not just to avoid creating unnecessary further trauma but to assist them toward recovery so that they can once again enjoy the comfort and excitement of being touched and held by those who love them after they are healed.

So too, we should see the person who is weak in faith not as someone who is inferior to us or who is wrong and needs stern correction but someone who has been burned by the effects of sin and is very sensitive in ways that we may not be. This does not make them any less a child of God or an inferior part of the body of Christ. It makes them a sibling in need of careful attention and extra consideration with an eye to helping them heal and be recovered to a condition of more health and joy.

If we would view people who are weak in faith, not as targets to re-shape or coerce into reflecting our own opinions or to convince of our personal ideas and convictions, but people who are potential close friends who right now are suffering from emotional burns and are in need of delicate care until the healing process is more complete; if we would choose to look at them through God's eyes in this way it might be far easier to be patient and kind with them and to look forward to what they will look like when they are healed more fully.

This verse is actually highlighting the core problem of sin in the hearts of each one of us. When I choose to prefer my own spiritual and emotional pleasure and excitement above the need for me to consider the effects of my actions on someone who is hypersensitive and “burned” about that issue, then I am really indulging my selfishness and pride at their expense instead of being led by God's Spirit of gentleness and kindness.

Remember, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (2:4). And if I allow that kind, gentle, patient Spirit to be seen in my relationship to a person who is over-sensitive right now with a view to helping them move toward a more confident relationship with Jesus in their own heart, then I might be able to become a channel of the kindness of God toward them that will draw them to repentance, to more release of their unfounded fears and I can be a source of joy (being willing to be happy to be with them in their immature state) for them. As I help increase their joy capacity by my willingness to accept them in their fears and gently show them how to return to a state of joy themselves from whatever is frightening them in the present, then we will become bonded more closely in our hearts both to each other and to the heart of Jesus.

What I see in this verse is that as a follower of Jesus I need to learn to imitate His example of extreme sensitivity and gentleness with all of us. As I consider the implications of this verse I realize how much I need others to be obedient to these instructions in their dealings with me. I know that there are areas of my belief or emotions where I long to experience more freedom and joy but am still bound by chains of tradition and inhibition. Those who know me very well (I'm not sure who that might be) will recognize that there are things that might bother me but at the same time that I long to be more free to enjoy. Instead of being forced into those things I need to be gently eased into facing my fears and to have someone join me in that exercise with great sensitivity to my raw emotions and fears. Gentleness is far more powerful than we might imagine and gentleness is a sign of true greatness.

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. (Isaiah 42:1-3)

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Good and Evil Reversed

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. (Romans 14:21)

As I pondered this morning over this passage again I noticed a contrast that I had not caught before. In this verse Paul is targeting an attitude that is a source of division within the body of Christ that he wants us to correct for the sake of cooperating with the work that God is doing in building up community. In this verse he is addressing those who might be termed “stronger in faith” to go beyond their supposed superiority and advanced insights and learn to truly think of others first. He wants them to pay attention to the condition of the spirit of those around them.

In a previous post I talked about a scenario that would likely have happened based on the hot-button issues that Paul used in this chapter as illustrations to make his point. A believer who is more advanced in his faith and has more confidence in the power of God as well as a realization that false gods are nothing more than man-made carvings out of lifeless materials will have no problem worrying about whether or not the meat he might eat at a friend's house has been made “unclean” by being previously offered to some idol. He is not concerned that by eating it he could become infected in his spirit with demonic influence and control because he supposedly gave permission for them to have authority in his life by eating this meat. He believes that just because meat was offered to idols does not make it unclean; that clean and unclean is not a definition determined by demons or idols but by the true Creator of all things who is the only authority to be recognized in our life.

But a fellow believer who is “weaker in faith”, who has a long history of superstitions about idols, who has seen first-hand the terrible manipulation and degradation that demons can effect over helpless victims who have allowed them to have control in their lives – this new believer still has a great deal of unresolved fear in his heart and is not yet matured in his faith to the point of believing from his heart that food offered to idols has no power to affect the protection of his spirit from demonic influence. And that very weakness of faith itself could possibly be a loophole that demonic forces just might try to exploit to reinforce his fears, for demons operate totally in the realm of fear and deception. If anyone is basing their actions or beliefs on fear then they are still susceptible to the devices of Satan.

So in this scenario, if these two kinds of believers find themselves at the same meal, Paul is insisting here that for the stronger believer to ignore the fears and superstitions of the weaker one, no matter how unfounded those fears may be, by choosing to intentionally eat food that is offered to idols in order to force his point and accentuate their differences by contrast, he is actually tearing down the work of God going on in the heart of the weaker believer and by doing so he is actually committing an act of evil.

Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. (Romans 14:20)

The believer with “stronger faith”, at least as he fancies himself to have, is still missing the most important point taught and demonstrated by Jesus so explicitly all throughout His life while here on earth.

Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35)

And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant." (Luke 22:25-26)

So God puts higher priority on the attitude of our spirit in how we treat fellow believers, even more so than how accurate our beliefs are upon a particular subject. And ironically we may find ourselves at times in situations where we are committing evil, in the opinion of God, by insisting on acting out of our superior knowledge of truth. This, according to Paul, may happen if we fail to take into account the effect that our actions have on others who are not in a place in their own experience that gives them the level of confidence and assurance that we may presently enjoy.

In explaining this whole situation, Paul is actually up-ending some of our suppositions about what is good and what is evil. We may often assume that exercising our freedoms in Christ is a good thing, and that is true as long as doing so is not tearing down the work of God in someone else's life in the process. But as soon as we indulge in exercising our “rights” when we know that it is offending a fellow believer and is causing them discouragement and amplifying their fears, then what was formerly a good thing for us has now become something evil for us. For in God's eyes, good and evil are not as much based on technicalities of factual truth but is deeply rooted in the condition of our spirit and how our spirit chooses to relate and affects those around us.

Once again I am challenged to examine my own heart and become much more sensitive to how my actions and words may amplify someone else's fears instead of attracting them to the perfect love of the God I am getting to know better. I do not think it is necessary to fall into the trap of constantly stressing about whether or not anything I might have said or done may have troubled someone else without my knowing about it; that is going beyond acting responsibly to encouraging paranoia. I have also lived a number of years under that enslavement and have no desire to be controlled by that demon again.

But it is clear here that I do have a responsibility to adjust or limit my actions and choices when it is clear to me that to exercise my freedoms would become an occasion of stumbling for a fellow struggling soul that is weaker in that area than I am. In fact, this is the exact point that Paul makes emphatically just a few verses later. Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. (Romans 15:1)

Father, thank-you for this most important teaching. But it is not enough to just learn about this with my head as important as that is. Please take me to a much deeper level with this most important truth and integrate it deeply into my heart. Thank-you for providing Your Spirit to convict me and catch my attention whenever I am in danger of pleasing myself at the expense of others. I do not have the wisdom myself to know when it is good and when it is evil for me to do the very same things, but You know. Thank-you for Your words, for Your training, and for Your Spirit to apply and mentor me these things as part of my transformation. Help me to mature much more so that I can be a source of strength for those who are weaker than I am, so that I can be a channel of courage and hope and life that You desire to provide for others. I praise You for Your faithful, patient love, for Your kindness and gentleness.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. (Psalms 18:35)

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