Regarding the Weak

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of
trouble. Psalm 41:1

It was in basic training where the weak were really brought to my attention.
We had a relentless drill instructor who demanded completion from every
member of the squad before anyone was finished with the exercise. If it
was a ten mile run in full gear then everyone ran in place until the last guy
crossed the five-mile finish line. If we were set to conquer a two hundred
rung monkey-bar section and someone couldn’t make it to finish we all
started over again. If we were doing fifty push-ups and someone fell out at
twenty then we all were given the order to begin again. Needless to say the
weak were quickly brought to our attention as those who would inevitably
cost the rest of us.
The weak were usually those who were overweight out of shape and unable to
perform physically, but to our surprise they were not to be left behind.
What was being molded into our understanding was that we were a team and
a team was only as good as its weakest player. It didn’t take long for us as a
team to begin devising our own ways to overcome the obstacle of weaker
members.
At first the weak soldiers were badgered by stronger soldiers to pick up
their performance, but we soon learned peer-pressure and threats do not
equate to physical strength. Trying harder wasn’t the problem, they were
giving all they had – these guys were just physically weaker. What did work
was pairing weak and strong together in every task. Strong guys coached and
helped weaker guys in every activity that demanded endurance. In those long
runs soldiers who would start to fall behind would have their gear passed out
among other troops while two stronger team members would run alongside
the weaker member pulling him up by his belt loops, literally carrying him to
the finish line. Those two-hundred rung monkey bars were now more
challenging as the stronger soldiers wrapped their legs around the weaker
soldier’s waists and kept them from falling by moving together as one. Push-
ups could only be performed as a team when our rifles were used as buoys to
hold up a weaker soldier in-between two other stronger soldiers. It was no
simple task and it had to be practiced in the barracks long after a hard day
in the field. But in this way no one was left behind and no one had to start
over. Yes, it was hard and it required a great amount of determination and
trust but what was forged was a team that could battle any foe as one.
There was a great reward gained from regarding the weak.
The same is true of our Christian faith. There are weaker and stronger
Christians. There are those who are more spiritual and fruitful and those
who are less spiritual and fruitless. What generally happens is that the
weaker are over-looked as the stronger continue their quest toward a
greater understanding. The small cliques’ form where members are
separated one from another and the weak will slowly but surely feel left out
and their only escape will be to depart. Unfortunately this scenario is all too
often the case in many of our churches today. We are all ready to see the
salvation of the lost but as for his spiritual growth if he is too weak to keep
up then that’s his loss or is it?
We need to practice the art of pairing because there is much to gain from
strengthening the body together. Psalm forty-one goes on to say “Blessed is
he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.
The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land
and not surrender him to the desires of his foes. The Lord will sustain him
on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.” The promises of God
when we regard the weak are magnificent and mighty. The benefits of
deliverance, protection, preservation, sustentation, and restoration are all
tied to regarding the weak. What a wonderful testimony it would be to point
to this promise of God when you find yourself in a situation where you can
declare “I have regarded the weak and because I have, I know I can trust
you Lord for my healing, my provision, protection and deliverance.” We serve
a covenant God who holds His promises true if we will but meet the
conditions He has laid before us.
Paul, thru his many writings made sure we understand we are in this thing
together. He admonishes us as one body with many parts both weaker and
stronger. He makes it clear we cannot do away with the weaker because
every part serves a purpose. He also makes the declaration in Romans
fifteen verse one that “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of
the weak and not to please ourselves.” The word bear used here indicates a
shouldering together of the load. In other words pairing up to overcome the
failings of a weaker brother, together we can, moreover we should.
There is however a problem in identifying the strong and the weak. We as a
people have all grown so accustomed to wearing the masks of acceptance
that we have convinced ourselves that we are something we are not. We are
players on the stage of life and often it’s more important that we are
recognized as part of the “in crowd” than who we really are. We have
carefully hidden our every weakness so as not to be exploited and cast off
by those we admire. Thus is the nature of a religious people, fit in or be
pushed aside. It was never intended to be that way and it is a sure sign we
have held onto our worldly passions when we allow such.
Where we find transparency is where we find unity. In unity is where we are
able to strengthen one another. There is no strengthening one another
without being able to trust one another even with our deepest sin. This is
where you find out who is really weak and who is really strong; there are
many who presume to be strong but are unable to face their own sin and in
fact are truly weak. By the same token there are many who think themselves
weak because they have at some point sinned. Truly they are strong because
they were able to repent and confess their sin which is now a mighty
testimony hidden beneath the wanting of acceptance. We must always
remember that in Christ weakness is strength because our dependence is not
on self but in Christ. We therefore take confidence in our weakness as it is
our gain to acknowledge Christ’s work in our lives. In any case it is our charge
to regard the weak and therefore we must.