A Mature Community (Galatians 5:25-6:5)

Here’s my message from last Sunday. You can check out the audio and video here.

Last week, our favorite preacher with a man-bun bled over into today’s text, so we’ll have a bit of overlap. But I don’t think two slightly different perspectives on one passage are going to do anyone any permanent spiritual damage.

I’m a proud subscriber of the Columbia Tribune. Yes, two Karis brothers happen to be editors there. But I think reading our town’s newspaper is a critical part of being good citizens and missionaries here. But anyway, there was an interview in the Thursday edition with the programmer of the Ragtag Cinema. That man, Ted Rogers, and the writer, James Owen, discussed lessons learned during the pandemic. To the question, “How is Ragtag doing?”, Rogers responded, “We’re in recovery mode. Last year, at this time, we were in survival mode.” 

I’ve been thinking about that statement. And I think it applies to most of us here. “We’re in recovery mode.” If we’re honest, and we look inside us, as well as all around us, there is a deep soul sickness that’s come about as a result of the last couple of years. And here’s the question I think we need to think about. What do we really need? What do we do about it? How will we recover? How can we get back on our feet and begin to flourish again?     

We’ve been moving through the book of Galatians. We’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit. And He, friends, is what we so desperately need. We need the Spirit of God and what He produces. We need the breath of God, His air, inside of us. We need Him in our lungs. Really, in our hearts.

He is what we need. And yes, that will rejuvenate us. It’ll be “wind in our sails.” And we need that, for sure. But more than that, He’ll keep us alive. But how can that come about? What’s the ventilator - if you will - that can get the Spirit inside us and nurse us back to health? 

I think we see a vision here, in Galatians 5:25-6:5, of exactly what we need. Now here’s what I want to try to accomplish in our time here this morning. We’ll look at two glimpses of what God wants to be seen in us - things that are truly good for us. I’ll zoom in for a minute. And then I’ll talk about it why it all matters so much.

A Picture of Maturity

Here’s the first part of that vision I want you to see. We see a picture of what maturity looks like. Now think about those we tend to gather around today. The loudest. The brashest. The angriest. The most controversial. The most confident. Those types tend to be the influencers in today’s world. But the Spirit of God leads to a different vision of maturity - to the opposite of what we see in verse 26. Paul the apostle writes this: “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” 

Now the word “conceited” there is interesting. Yes, it’s talking about pride. But if you look at the old King James, it translates the verse this way: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory.” That word “conceited” has within it this pursuit of glory for ourselves that’s pointless and endless. It’s vain. This isn’t just pride. It’s empty pride. We’ll never find glory that’s meant for the Lord alone.

Now that pursuit has effects that we see also in this verse. It leads to “provoking one another.” And to “envying one another.” Picture a high school cafeteria. At one table, you have the bullies, looking around the tables, trying to find someone to pick on - to demonstrate who’s below them, to prove where they stand. At another table, you have the outcasts, gazing around that room, wishing they could measure up, thinking about who is above them. 

One group is “provoking.” The other is “envying.” But both groups are deeply insecure. They’re focused on themselves. This is what the Holy Spirit moves us away from - toward maturity. What does the Spirit produce? The opposite of what we see here. Humility. Where we’re not seeking after our own glory. We’re not picking fights to prove it. Or pouting, wishing we had more of it. In fact, we’re thinking of ourselves less. And others more. And that leads to our second point.  

A Picture of Community

Here’s the second part of that vision I want you to see. We see a picture of what community looks like. Now think about how we tend to gather together today. We talk a lot about community - but what it looks most like in our culture is hanging out with people we like, with people that have something to give us. Really, it’s like clubs we joined at school. We come together with people who have the same interests or hobbies or causes. And if we stop seeing benefit in it all, or if that group demands too much of us - we’re out. But the Spirit of Jesus leads to a much different picture of community. To the type of family we see in chapter 6 and verse 2. Hear that verse again. ”Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Now the idea isn’t complicated. We have all have burdens we’re carrying. And we’re not meant to carry them alone. Your burdens are mine. My burdens are yours. We’re meant to be helped by one another. We’re meant to help those around us. What the Spirit produces is this sense of responsibility for those around us. As Romans 12:15 puts it, we “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “we weep with those who weep.” We identify with our family so closely that we feel what they feel. But we also follow through with action. Their problems are ours. We try to solve them together if we can. If we can’t - if they just have to be carried - we commit to bear the weight together. 

Now there are so many examples that take place in Karis every week. But I’ve never felt this as much as during my wife’s cancer treatments over the past year. All the meals - I still haven’t been able to get rid of the pounds. All the notes of encouragement. All the prayers - we could feel them. We could. Doctors like Anna joining us in the appointments. We didn’t feel like we were carrying it alone.

Responsibility. For One another. That’s biblical community. And think about this. That flows out of the humility we just talked about. Why’s that? If we’re humble, we know we’re always in need of help. Right? And also, if we’re humble, we know we’re never above helping a brother and sister out. Only a people of deep humility, truly mature people, see their responsibility for the community around them. And understand that they need people who are also responsible for them. It’s the immature, the foolish - who think they’re above all of this. Isn’t that what Paul’s saying in verse 3? “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” 

Now I can’t spend a ton of time on this, but there are those two puzzling verses at the end of this passage, verses 4 and 5. 

Gal. 6:4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

Gal. 6:5 For each will have to bear his own load.

Here’s what I think God the Spirit is saying to us through Paul. We could take this idea of corporate responsibility too far and not take responsibility for ourselves at all. He’s qualifying what he said above. Tom Schreiner points out that, for us as Americans, we’re so individualistic. We need to be reminded of our responsibility for one another. But for some cultures - Eastern ones, for example - they need to be reminded that they’re accountable for themselves.

At the judgment day, we’re still going to stand before God as individual men and women. We bear responsibility for ourselves. So we can’t just let ourselves go and give ourselves to laziness and foolishness - and constantly just expect our brothers and sisters to bail us out. Especially if we want to be faithful here and contribute to our church community. But don’t get confused. The main thrust of this passage is clear. We’re responsible for one another.  

Now as I said, I want to zoom into one aspect of how we bear each others’ burdens. Let’s dig in to verse 1. It seems to me that verse 1 serves as an example of verse 2. One way we bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters is helping them when they get stuck in sin. 

Now when we first hear about verse 2, about bearing burdens, our minds probably go to the sufferings of our family members. When a sister can’t make ends meet and needs food, that’s our responsibility. When a brother is down and depressed and can’t see the light, that’s our burden - not just his. 

But what about a brother or sister’s sins? When they’re struggling that way? Now our culture would say it’s not our business. We tend to resist when people question what we do. But God here clearly says that’s our responsibility, too. Right? Hear it again: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

Now don’t skip over the word “brothers.” Again, that includes sisters - much like if I say “hermanos” in Spanish, it includes the “hermanas,” as well. But the point is that we’re family. Family has to handle suffering together. They also have to attack sin together. 

We’re given instructions if a sibling “is caught in any transgression.” Now this doesn’t mean we’re always on the lookout, trying to catch someone and “help” them in their sin. As I said a few weeks back, from 1 Peter 4, “love covers a multitude of sins.” Bearing with one another means often overlooking things. Who wants to live in a family where everyone is a referee? Or a cop? Ready to blow a whistle or slap you in cuffs? No, this is talking about someone who gets “caught.” Someone who’s trapped in a pattern of sin. We’re supposed to step in and help. Now again, people today would say that’s out of bounds - that that deserves a whistle - that that’s judgmental and doesn’t fit with love.

But that couldn’t be more wrong. Think about it. You’re a parent. And your child is playing in the middle of the freeway. Or you’re a sibling. And your brother or sister has been making a bad choice. Maybe overusing painkillers. Maybe dating someone unhealthy. Are you going to do something? Of course you are. It’s your responsibility. That’s what family does. And your responsibility is to love. 

Here, Paul says you should “restore” that person. He uses a word that was often used of mending fishing nets or rebuilding dilapidated walls or resetting broken bones. You’re helping restore someone to health. And yes, as with a broken bone, it can be hard. It can be painful. But it’s what’s needed. You’re not trying to hurt them. You’re trying to help them. Sometimes, as Matthew 18 teaches, you may even have to get others involved. But this is where it starts, approaching a brother or sister caught in sin - in love.  

But that requires wisdom, doesn’t it? I heard Pastor Michael Lawrence talk this week about three angles on sin. Weakness - where the issue is immaturity. It’s more growth that’s needed. Woundedness - where people are responding to and living out of hurt they’ve received. And yes, wickedness - where the problem is really rebellion. All three can look like sin, but you don’t respond to each in the same way. It takes a lot of wisdom. 

Now I didn’t forget that word “spiritual” in verse 1. Some scholars say this speaks mainly to Christians who are mature. Those are the ones qualified to help others with sin. I’m with those, though, who think this is referring to everyone. We all have the Holy Spirit, if we’re Christians. We’re all “spiritual.” Look at the context. We all are called to bear the fruit of the Spirit. 

But we should all grow in humility and love so we can restore each other well. You can’t wait until you’re really mature to help someone out, but you should aspire to become more mature so you help out people well. 

Now notice the manner in which we’re to assist our brothers and sisters. We’re to “restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Now don’t forget. “Gentleness” is listed just before, in chapter 5, as a fruit of the Spirit. Many of us have been reading the book Gentle and Lowly. That’s how Jesus describes himself in Matthew 11:29. He says, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” That’s who our Lord is. That’s what His Spirit produces in us. Lowliness - that’s humility again. And gentleness. We come to people as He does - kindly and tenderly. Often we look at all sin like it’s a nail. And we have to bring the hammer. But that’s not the way of those who are trying to look like Jesus.

This week I started reading Ray Ortlund’s new book, The Death of Porn. I think every Christian should read it - men, women, whether or not that’s currently an issue for you. It’s so good. And why do I keep talking about Ray all the time? Well, he’s about 20 years older than me, and as I look at someone I want to look like in 20 years, I’d have to say it’s him. So I’m listening to everything and reading everything by him I can. But anyway, he’s trying to help Christians get free from the grip of pornography. And here’s how we starts out: “Christian, you are royalty.” He talks about how we’re made in the image of God, and we’ve been called to rule over His creation. And He’s saying, “You’re above that, Christian. You’re a king. You’re a queen. You are made for something so much better.”

Now Ray does also say that we’re not just royal, we’re evil. The fall did happen. The image of God in us is marred. But Jesus is about restoring that image if we’re believers. Both aspects are true. It’s a matter of emphasis. We’re royal. We’re evil. But I think Ray shows wisdom in his approach. And I think shows us how we kindly call people to repentance. 

It’s probably not the most effective thing to walk up to a brother and say, “You’re a terrible person. You’re evil. Repent.” Now Jesus pretty much did that with the Pharisees. An extremely proud person might need something more along those lines. But generally speaking, and certainly with the weak, Jesus took the opposite approach. He made paupers feel like Kings. And maybe we should, too. We’re not beating people up for what they’re not. We’re reminding them of who they are in Christ.

And again, think about how important humility is, not thinking too much about ourselves. Remember verse 26 - where Paul speaks against “provoking” and “envying.” If we’re trying to prove ourselves, if we tend toward the provoking side, thinking we’re superior, we’re not going to be gentle at all. We’ll probably be harsh. But if we tend toward the envying side, thinking we’re inferior, our concern with self will probably keep us from saying anything at all. We’ll be enslaved by our desire for approval.

And the same thing goes the other direction. If we’re the one being approached, we’ll be tempted to fight back. Or to cower in embarrassment. But the Lord wants us to be humble, right? And receive this love - this gift of His grace - through our brothers and sisters.    

But notice: there’s another way we have to be humble. See that? “Keep watch on yourself, let you also be tempted.” Surely Jesus is warning us of pride here. We have to stay humble as we approach our family members. But we also might just get caught up in the same sin ourselves. Or another sin entirely. Satan is crafty. This whole passage reminds us of our danger - of His schemes. He wants to take everyone out. Stay humble, as you and I just might be next. 

So I’m about to zoom back out. But think about this. No matter what our world might say, if a fellow Christian is caught in sin, it’s your business. Not only do you care about him or her. And need to help them no matter how hard it is. You also know that sin ends up affecting all of us. So we seek to do what Paul says here. Hear me: this is why membership is so important. You give people permission to do this for you. You give others an opportunity to truly love you. And, as we do, we have an opportunity image our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Picture of Christianity

Now that leads to my next point. We’ve seen this picture of maturity. It’s one of humility. We’ve seen this picture of community. It’s one of responsibility - even the responsibility of helping a brother or sister out of sin. But something even bigger here is going on. Really, we see here a picture of what Christianity looks like. There’s a lot of confusion going on today - about what Christianity is, about what a Christian looks like. This passage can help us think through it together. 

First, think about who Jesus is and what He’s done. He is the gentle and lowly one. Who doesn’t think about Himself. Right? He thinks about others. He’s the most mature man in the universe. And He’s full of humility. He takes responsibility for the problems of others. He pours Himself out. He gives up His life. For the family of God. For the world. That’s who Jesus is. It’s what He’s done.

Second, think about who we are now and what difference it makes. He makes us deeply humble people. Because we know we’re sinners, and are only in His family by grace, we have nothing to boast about. We boast only in Him. Because of Him, we know we need help. 

And also it means we’re always ready to help. We see ourselves as responsible for others. We love. We give of ourselves - to our brothers and sisters, to our neighbors, as well. 

And this flows out of His love for us. We know we’re deeply accepted. For that reason, we have a confidence. We’re not as insecure. We no longer have anything to prove. We no longer need to use those around us to make ourselves feel good. We want to give of ourselves - as Christ has for us - seeking their good. 

Here’s what I want you to hear. As we live in these ways, showing humility, taking responsibility, we get to show what Jesus has done. And we image who He is to those around us. Now I skipped over a phrase in verse 2. As we “bear one another’s burdens,” God’s word says that we “fulfill the law of Christ.” 

You may remember from our passage a couple of weeks ago, in chapter 5 and verse 14, where we’re told, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” I said then - as we love, we keep the whole point of the Old Testament law. We keep the “law of love.” We fulfill this “law of Christ.” Here’s the point: as we love, as we humbly bear each other’s burdens, we look like Jesus. We show who He is to the world around us. 

Now I’ve been talking about this book The J-Curve a lot. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I said I’d get back to it. We have this symbol of the cross. What does it picture? What Christ has done for us. His death that redeems us from sin and makes us right with God. Paul Miller, in that book, argues that we need another symbol - what he calls the J-Curve. 

What’s that? We rely on the work of Jesus. That’s what the cross is a picture of. What it reminds us of. But we also must walk in the way of Christ. That’s what the J illustrates - dying with Jesus and rising with Him - from the day of our baptism, when we give our life to Jesus, and every day following until we go home to be with Him. We humble ourselves. We die daily. We give ourselves to others. We carry their burdens. We do that confident that we’ll be restored, resurrected, so that we can do it again the next day. 

Christ is first and foremost our Savior. Through the cross. But then He becomes our example. That’s the J. We rely on the work of Christ. We then walk in the way of Christ. Only the Spirit of Jesus makes us a maturity community that images the person of Christ. He makes us a gentle, lowly, sacrificial, loving people.       

What We - and They - Need

Family, to go back to where I started, here’s what we need: a mature community that images Jesus. Known for having a deeply humble posture. Famous for taking responsibility for those around us. That’s what we need. Think about it. We need a place where we can “let our hair down,” so to speak, and rejoice. And we need a place where we can take our masks off, and just be ourselves.  Where we can relax. And not feel like we have to perform. Where we know we’ll be loved. But we also need a place where we can bring our burdens and not be judged but be helped. That’s how we’ll get better. How we’ll recover. Among the people of God living out these truths.

But how will we get there? Again, we need His Spirit. God is sovereign. But we’re also responsible. Look back at the first verse of this passage again, verse 25 of chapter 5. Paul writes, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Hear that? “If we live by the Spirit.” He’s talking about our salvation. If we’re Christians - disciples of Jesus - the Holy Spirit of God has raised us from death to life. His breath has gotten in our lungs. And we have a pulse again.

“Let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” If that’s the case - if we’ve been resurrected by the Spirit - we now need to live in a way that fits with who He is.  And where He’s going. Picture yourself in marching band, following the drum major. Keeping in step. Or dancing, keeping in time with those around you. We’re to move with the pulse of the Spirit of God. And that moves us away from pride toward humility. And away from prideful isolation to carrying the burdens of those around us. Again, trusting in the cross that’s given us life by the Spirit, we keep in step by the Spirit, by living out the J-Curve again and again. 

So let me ask. Are you in step with God the Spirit? As you post on social media? As you interact with a brother or sister you don’t agree with? When someone confronts you for being out of line? When you see someone around you in need? Or when you find you’re in need of something yourself? Are you in sync with the Spirit who lives inside you? If you are - if we are - it will lead to a community that is good for us. Something that will help us recover. And then continue to grow in His grace. It’s what we need.

But let me say: it’s also what they need. My wife has been working a shift a week back in the hospital. She’s actually serving in the COVID unit. It’s been really hard. But she enjoys it a lot. And she’s very good at it. But more than just serving her patients, she’s also loving her coworkers well. And she’s had opportunity after opportunity to share the gospel of Christ. She’s sat in the nurses’ station, telling weary nurses and doctors that what they’d seen and heard out of  professing Christians over the last couple of years didn’t represent Christianity well. No. Christians shouldn’t be conceited. They should bear the burdens of others. In other words, we should look like Jesus. We should image Him to those around us. That’s what those who don’t know Jesus need.  

But there’s something else they need - and maybe even more. What they need first and foremost is to see those things among us. Are we humble toward one another? Are we walking in unity? Are we bearing each others’ burdens? Are we seeing each other as our responsibility? Amidst the insanity all around us - do they see us as a place of maturity? Do they see us as a place of genuine community? Or more like that crazy high school lunch room?

Do they see the church of Jesus Christ as a display of the glory of God? A new, different kind of family? Something compelling? Something beautiful? That’s first and foremost what they need. We want to speed to talking about our mission in the world. And that’s so important. But what about our family right here? Is it showing the power of the gospel? Are we imaging Jesus - together? 

Karis, we need the Spirit of God living and active among us - producing the kind of mature community we see here. But those who don’t know Jesus need that just as much. And we have this opportunity with the Spirit’s help to show those around us a vision of the Christian life, of the church of Jesus, and of Christianity itself - in how we relate and care for one another. Only the Spirit of Jesus makes us a maturity community that images the person of Christ. May God’s Spirit help us live this out together. Let’s pray.