Do We Support Other Christians and Jews in Their Need?
A blessing enjoyed in Christ is to support other Christians and Jews in times of spiritual crisis…and physical needs as well. Do we do this? Those who are strong are to support the weak – Ro 15:1. Those who are spiritual are to help those overcome who are not – Ga 6:1. It is part of the “law of Christ” to thus bear one another’s burdens – Ga 6:2. To those who claim to be Christian and would ever say they hate the Jews…shame on you. Jesus came to this earth as a Jew. The Jews are God’s chosen ones so to hate them you are telling God you don’t care what or who He loves.
At the same time, we have a responsibility to become strong in the Lord, and each Christian has a responsibility to “bear his own load” – Ga 6:4-5. We will all be held accountable for our own actions – Ro 14:12. We are not to blame any one else for the choices we make in life. We have a choice in what we choose to do or don’t do. It is thus our responsibility to pick ourselves up as well – He 12:12-13.
Some Christians never seem to progress from being supported to supporting themselves. If you look around the world there are an awful lot of people like this. They remain very dependent upon parents and others. They live in a fantasy that everyone will always owe them “whatever”, and many will never work for what they want. Unless constantly nurtured by others they fall away or become apathetic. Such people are what might be described in the lingo as “high maintenance”. They want and believe they are owed and that if they don’t get what they think they should get…all those freebies and such…they whine, they protest, and they throw their little fits in life. [Are you “high maintenance”?
What is a Definition of High Maintenance?
It can refer to the need for a lot of attention. Just look around you in this world today. What a bunch of babies are out there demanding this and that and expecting the world to just give them everything. Shame on them. They need to grow up, get a job, provide for themselves and their family and stop expecting others to take care of them. They require a lot of time, energy, or money but do nothing to earn it. Again, shame on them.
Any person or thing that requires a lot of attention is high maintenance also. Things like: Cars that require a lot of work to keep running, Employees that require close supervision to do their jobs right, Significant others that require a lot of gifts or dates or they lose interest. Don’t these things remind you even of some of the people you know…and even family and friends?
Christians are “high maintenance” yes…they very well can be. Many of them require a lot of attention in order to remain faithful. Is that you? Is that someone you care about? What about people who seem to require a lot of coddling or pampering to be active? How many high maintenance Christians are nothing more than babies in Christ? They might know who Jesus is, but they really don’t have that personal relationship with Him. Then you also have slothful Christians who only do, study, praise, pray, and encourage others when they are somehow prodded to do so.
Even churches can be “high maintenance” The church in Corinth certainly was – cf. 1Co 3:1-4; . The church in Phillipi was not – cf. Php 1:3-7. Some “high maintenance” is good and necessary in the work of the local church. But when it exists where it should not, then there can be some problems. There is difficulty in the life of Christians and churches if they are not doing as God says to do.
What We Need Now
We need “high maintenance” when we are babes in Christ, but we should reach a point where we do not need it. We need God…of course we do and must, but we also need others in our life to help us as well. Strength from others is certainly helpful when we need it, but we should also reach a point where our strength comes from God. Where we can become the producers, not just the consumers. For we are to bear one another’s burden – Ga 6:2. And the strong are to bear with the infirmities of the weak – Ro 15:1.
When a burden becomes unbearable, that is when we need “high maintenance” from our Christian brothers and sisters, and those we love and trust their opinions. When failure to bear our own load requires “high maintenance”, that is when we hinder the cause of Christ…!
“He who is slothful in his work as a Christian to them…is one who is a great destroyer.” (Pr 18:9) We must stay always attached to our Lord Jesus in every area of our life. If we don’t do this…we will find ourselves not just “high maintenance, but we will find ourselves lost in our walk with the Lord”. Let us be mindful of our walk with God and stay focused on Him.