Love Your Church - Week 5 - Chapter 4 

CHAPTER 4 — CARING: DISPLAYING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

One of the most remarked-upon aspects of the early church was how its members cared for one another. The pagan writer Tertullian recorded non-Christians saying of Christians: “See how they love one another.” This was not primarily a reference to their theology. It was a description of their behaviour — how they treated the sick, visited prisoners, welcomed strangers, and supported widows. If someone spied on your church today, what would they say — “Behold, how they love one another”? Or “Behold, how they gossip”? The “one another” passages in the New Testament are non-negotiable: love one another, honor one another, bear one another’s burdens, encourage one another, confess sins to one another, show hospitality to one another, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. Paul moves directly from the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5) into church care (Galatians 6) — Spirit-filled life is about faithful Christians living in joyful devotion to Christ and to one another in ordinary familial care.

Galatians 6 opens with a specific call to restore the fallen “in a spirit of gentleness.” Tim Keller notes that the word translated “restore” was used in Greek for setting a dislocated bone back in place — a healing pain that aims not at condemnation but at restoration. What makes this hard is that we often swing to extremes: we abandon the fallen brother and let him wander, or we confront him harshly, more interested in being right than in helping him heal. Paul charts a third way: firm, gentle, restorative. Paul then turns to burden-bearing: he wisely distinguishes between heavy burdens that require community support and ordinary loads that are each person’s own responsibility. The single mother with four children has every right to expect care from her church. If you are the burdened believer, make sure someone in your community knows — Christians often don’t help simply because they don’t know. Biblical community requires both the transparency to express our burdens and the humility to help carry the burdens of others.

The list of “one another” commands is worth pausing over. The New Testament instructs believers to love one another (John 13:34), honour one another (Romans 12:10), accept one another (Romans 15:7), instruct one another (Romans 15:14), bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2), be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32), submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21), forgive one another (Colossians 3:13), confess to one another (James 5:16), and pray for one another (James 5:16). These commands aren’t soft suggestions. They are a program for community transformation, and they require actual community — people who know each other well enough to honor, bear with, forgive, confess to, and pray for.
Our personal lives directly affect our relational lives; we never really sin in isolation. The books you read, the people you spend time with, the entertainment you choose — these are all acts of sowing. “Do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (v. 9). Keep loving one another. Keep bearing burdens. Keep resisting bickering. “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (v. 10).
 

Questions - CARING Read Galatians 5 v 16 – 6 v 10

1.  In 5 v 16-25, what reasons does Paul give for doing good to one another? What makes it possible to be caring and not selfish?

2.  What dangers might we fall into as we seek to care for one another (6 v 1, 3-4, 9)? What ideas do you have on how you can avoid those while not holding back on caring for others?

3.  What is our aim and ultimate hope as we do good to one another? How does this help us to persevere?

4.  What is the greatest challenge in these verses for you personally?

5.  Is your church one in which restoring, burden-bearing, sharing, and doing good take place? Which one is your weak point? What could you do to step up in that area?

6.  What steps could you take to educate or train yourself (whether personally or as a congregation) in how to care for others effectively?