Romans pt 9: Paul’s Strategy to Fight Polarization in the Church (Ro 15:1-13)
Verses 1-4 Are Pauls Strategy to the Cultural Majority in the Church.
This is the meat and bones portion of Paul's instruction; this is where he stops telling them theoretical ideas and starts telling them what he wants them to do. What Paul is offering is a solution to this entrenchment. He writes that the church is to show proslambanesthe (v1, Greek), a word that translates to “help carry.” Instead of striving to maintain our own identity, we Christians ought strive to help others maintain theirs, especially those with majority status. Paul argues that this is how Jesus and his disciples lived together and that this should become their behavior as well.
Let's start off looking at VS 1; the NIV says:
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak” (Ro 15:1).
There is some debate about two specific words in this text; first is the word astheneo, which is the same word that is translated as weak in several other places, but the NIV translates the word as “failing” in verse 1. Second, there is the Greek word bastazo, translated by the NIV as “bear with,” but in our modern language, it comes across as condescending, as if someone is suffering inconvenience but doesn’t want to make a scene about it. Basically, it comes across as pejorative, patronizing, even insulting to the week, but this is likely not the intention.
New Testament scholars like N.T. Wright believes that the NIV and the NRSV got it wrong in this instance. He sides with the wording used in translations like the CEB, which states: “We who are powerful need to be patient with the weakness of those who don’t have power, and not please ourselves” (Ro 15:1). For Wright, this seems to get to the heart of what Paul is trying to communicate. (1)
Romans 14 is a call to those among us with power and privilege to do what we can to offer support when the weakness of the powerless is exposed. Paul emphasizes this several times when he says: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Ro 14:19), and “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Ro 12:18).
In order to understand Pauls request, we must take a minute to talk about power, how it functions, and how it is attained.
Where do the Powerful Get Their Power?
We should start with a simple observable statement: If one person has power, that means there is another who does not. If one is wealthy, that means that there is one who is poor. If someone is at the top, that necessitates someone at the bottom. In fact, the only reason that anyone is powerful is that another is weak; the powerful draw their power from the minority; that is the only place it could come from.
Everybody can’t be in the majority;
Not everyone can be at the top;
All can’t be first;
Someone has to go last…
And this is where Jesus steps in. Paul says “those of you in power have to make a choice between maintaining that power by drawing it from the weak day after day; or you can follow the example of Jesus, becoming Christlike.” Paul calls upon those with more resources and power to live a sacrificial life, and he asks them, where possible, to give up some of their own power and wealth for the benefit of those who have less than them. And when Paul includes himself in his description of The Strong, he is both leading by example, and following the example of Christ.
The Christian, the Christlike one, ought to be the one who see’s those at the bottom and says:
“I see your powerlessness, and I will lower myself below you, so that you may never be last.”
Principles for Navigating the Weak and the Strong in our midst:
When it comes to dwelling in Christian Community, there are certain principles which I believe can help us maintain our cross-shaped lifestyle and identity in the midst of a world that thrives on strength, honor, success, and social status.
1) Everyone is deserving of community with God through his church.
We must view learn to see how God draws people in from every corner of human society, and like the Jews, we must see our journey’s as leading to each other, to communion together.
2) Labeling others in the church should be avoided.
The labels used by Paul in the book of Romans (weak and strong) came from the church in Rome, not from Paul. If they had different words to describe each other, Paul would likely have used those labels to make the same point. “Labels” can be anything that we call ourselves today that either lift us up, or sets us apart from others in the church.
Sometimes when Christians read Romans 14, their first instinct is to start labeling all the weak and strong in the church, which, perhaps you’ve found, is harder than it looks because very few things in this world are binary, black and white. There is always nuance. Nearly every label is untrue in one way or another; no two people are the same, and when you try and simplify them with labels, you are creating the atmosphere for abuse to creep in.
The safest bet for Christians: If you want to label them anything, call them brother/sister, and view them as higher than yourself.
3) No one is all weak or all strong.
There are many ways that I am strong: I am a straight, white, cis-gendered, English-speaking American man. I have some very specific religious/spiritual views that the majority of American Evangelicals reject, which makes me weak in some ways. Depending on the subject being discussed or debated, I might find myself among the minority in terms of thought; even at Watermark, the church where I’ve pastored for nearly two decades, I’ve had many meetings where the whole room is against my personal conviction on how things should be done. I have also been in meetings where I am in the position of the majority, making me among the strong.
And so I must regularly pray that I will be able to assess when I am in a position of power so that — with God's help — I can use that power, not to remain over others, but under them, to lift them up. I should always acknowledge that the Christlike thing to do is to “bear with the failings of the weak… for their good, to build them up” (Ro 15:1).
Verses 5-6 are a Prayer
Paul asks the Spirit for the strength to live this difficult way. Let's end today by praying this prayer together, and perhaps every day this week, both on our own and when we gather in our homes around the table.
Discussion Questions:
In which parts of your life are you in the position of the Strong and Weak?
Have you ever been coerced by the strong in the church?
Have you ever had someone with higher status than you lower themselves so that you could be included/heard/served?
How might a faithful display of Christlike power change the church in America?
Footnotes:
(1) N.T. Wright, New Interpreters Bible Vol IX, 740-745.