We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. (Rom. 15:1)
Expanded Passage: Romans 15:1-4
David started attending our church the week after he was released from jail. Raised in a non-Christian home, as a teenager he had walked out to live on the streets. Trouble with the law put him behind bars. There he was led to faith in Christ through a lay minister.
David knew little about the Christian faith and nothing about attending church when he arrived. His behavior was certainly nonconventional. To exit the service, he crawled over the pews like one might at a baseball stadium. On one hot he stripped off his T-shirt and listened to the sermon bare-chested. Despite his inappropriate actions, David had a convert’s passion for Jesus and a deep desire to be one of his followers.
At a church board meeting soon after his arrival, a stalwart member posed the question, “What are we going to do with David?” Another board member quietly replied, “We are going to love him and help him to grow up in his faith.” David became a mission for the entire congregation, who sometimes tolerated his strange behavior and other times gently rebuked and guided him in paths of righteousness.
Eventually, David moved on. We had taught him the basics of the Christian faith. But David had taught us as well. We learned to love and accept new believers in Christ and build them up in faith.
Connect with a new convert and offer words of encouragement and guidance.
Clarence (Bud) Bence is a retired Wesleyan pastor and college professor, and lives with his wife, Carol, in Marion, Indiana.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
