A WALK THROUGH ROMANS 15 (Verse 2)

LIFT UP TO BUILD UP

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up...Romans 15:2 (ESV)

Have you ever been asked by someone the following questions:
"Why should I believe you?"

"Why should I believe your Jesus?"

"Why should I go to church, all they want is my money?"

"Why should I go where all the hypocrites go?"

All good questions these are, and for some reason, most professing Christians cannot answer even one of them!

I will attempt to answer each of the above in one short paragraph each:

"Why believe me" - Don't believe me, believe God! If you wish to live Romans 15:2 to your "neighbor" tell them your story through HIS story! Tell what God has done in your life!

"Why believe your Jesus" - Because I know He is real, He is my Savior and the King of the World! Every prophesy from Genesis 3 to the end of the Book of the Revelation, written over 1500 by 40 different authors, point to Jesus!

"Why go to church...all they want is my money" - Do not confuse crooked TV evangelists and their jets and Bentleys with the local corner pastor, who works harder than most men about 8 days a week. When someone is sick, guess who they call! Most people who go to church do not even tithe or give even close to the expected 10%...it is more like between 1%-2% in America! Most people spend more at McDonald's than they give to the church.

"Why should I go where the hypocrites go" - Are you sure you want to go there? Not all people are hypocrites. If someone has been treated rudely, unchristian-like or just plain inhuman by 'church' people, do you blame God for that? If one day, you drink a warm cup of milk from your broken fridge, do you give up drinking milk for life?

These are just some of the examples of things thrown at us all the time, by those we wish to reach out to, both with kindness in their time of need and/or the Gospel. The above attempted responses are equal to the second part of Verse 2 where he says "to build him up" for his own good.

The first part, when actually translated in the spirit of the message from the Lord is "do all you can to "aresketo" or meet with someone's or gain their approval, in order to do what I just said - build them up, lift them up, be an encouragement to them ....and therefore, love them to Jesus! This is the Spirit of the Great Commission!

TOMORROW: VERSE 3

(image courtesy google images)