The Charter of the Church (9)
Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk worthily of the calling in which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3
Bearing – God is calling you to become a Greek construction worker. Bearing with one another is not the same as being patient. We already saw the depth of patience in makrothumia. Now we encounter the verb anecho. It means, “to hold upright, to hold out, to endure.” It’s a word about building strong foundations; foundations that will resist outside forces. It’s about houses that stand on rock instead of sand.
Let’s take a look at the imagery. The church (our word is plural so it applies to all of the called-out ones) is measured on the balance scale by God’s weight of anecho. That means God looks at our foundation building efforts, not for ourselves but for the ones He has places in our theological geography. God wants to see if we are reflecting the image of His Son in our efforts to lift up, build, encourage, train and sustain the ones He has put under our care. No follower of Jesus is exempt from this requirement. Every one of us has caretaker duty for someone else. You may be a disciple of the Christ, but you are also assigned to disciple another.
Notice that this is a function that occurs within the body of the church. We are to be engaged with one another. This is not about your evangelistic efforts in the world. This is about the community of your brothers and sisters in the Lord. What are you doing to build a rock-solid foundation for them? Don’t use the excuse that you don’t have the training or the experience? Do you know how to pray? There is hardly a more important job among believers than anechomenoi. Practice brick-laying inside the fold. Mix the mortar for someone’s life. Add trusses that brace the spirit. Put a prayer foundation under the followers in the Way. In other words, be like Jesus.
Simple, isn’t it? Then why do you resist?
