We shouldn’t have to tell other people that we are Christians. They should know it by what they see in us. Now of course, we want to share our faith. Because if we only do good deeds and never tell others about our faith in Christ, we are simply a nice person. But before we ever tell others about our faith in Christ, they should already know that something is different. They should see something different in us compared to the rest of the world.
Sadly, there are a lot of Christians that are known by their name, not their deeds. And that’s one of the reasons the church has struggled for years. We have done a poor job of discipling our church members, and because of that we don’t look much different than the world. We call ourselves “Christians” but the world doesn’t see much of a difference between how we act and the rest of the world’s behavior.
In Paul’s letter to the believers in the region of Galatia he tells them three ways that they should look different than the world in which they live.
WE HELP THOSE THAT HAVE FALLEN INTO SIN
We read in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (NASB).
The word for “trespass” here literally means “falling aside” or “slip” or “lapse.”[1] It describes someone that unexpectedly enters into sin. If we are active in a church we will always see people start to slip away from the community of faith and into a lifestyle of sin. As a result, those “who are spiritual” are supposed to restore those people from sin. As spiritual people we approach sinners “in a spirit of gentleness.” We don’t come ready to argue or prove our point. Instead, we approach them with kindness and humility.
When we approach those that have fallen into sin we are supposed to “restore” the person back into a relationship with God. This word is used in Greek literature to describe the setting of broken bones or mending of fish nets.[2] We are supposed to help those people correct their behavior.
The process of helping others that have fallen into sin is an obligation of Christians (v. 2). The word, “one another” is placed first in the Greek text for emphasis and the word “bear” is placed in the Greek present tense which means we regularly do this. It should be a habit in our Christian lives. The burden that Paul tells us we need to bear is probably related to the process of restoring the sinner of verse one. And when we bear the burdens of others it means we carry their loads. We often have to enter into their struggles to help them. Even if we don’t personally experience those struggles, we still feel the emotions that come with them or deal with the consequences of those burdens.
If we jump down to verse ten, we see that Paul reminds his readers to help others and he provides two priorities for us.
WE HELP ALL PEOPLE AS OUR SECOND PRIORITY
“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:10a).
Paul tells us “do good to all people.” This is a common command for the believer from Scripture. Warren Wiersbe writes about this verse, “It is not only by words that we witness to the lost, but also by our works. In fact, our works pave the way for our verbal witness; they win us the right to be heard.”[3] A few years of life under COVID restrictions has removed us from the habits of caring for others that we used to do such as giving hugs to people in tough times, taking people out for lunch to check on them, visiting people in the hospital, or even simple things like having people over to our homes for dinner. We need to get back into those habits as a way that we do good to all people.
WE HELP THE CHURCH AS OUR FIRST PRIORITY
We are supposed to help all people, but “especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10b).That’s us. This is the first priority. There should be a balance: we take care of each other within the church while also caring for and loving others outside our church family.
If you attend church and don’t see someone at church, call them. As a pastor I try to call a couple people each week when I don’t see them at church. I hope you would consider doing the same thing. If you don’t see someone at church or your support group, pick up the phone and call them or write them a note and send it in the mail.
I hope that we don’t have to tell people that we are Christians. Instead, if we do the three things Paul lists in Galatians 6:1-2 and Galatians 6:10 people should be able to identify us by our actions.
[1] AT Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Warren Wiersbe, Be Free (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009), 149.