Iliff & Saltillo UM Churches
September 12, 2004
“Are You A High Maintenance Christian?”
Galatians 6:1-10
INTRODUCTION: In a small town there was an old doctor who, when he wasn’t saving lives, was planting trees. Doc Gibbs didn’t look like any other doctor. Most of the time he wore overalls and a straw hat with a front brim of green sunglass plastic. He had a smile that matched his hat--old and crinkly and well worn. He never yelled at the neighbor kids for playing in his yard. Actually he was a much nicer person than circumstances warranted.
His house sat on ten acres and his life goal was to make it a forest. He had some unusual theories concerning planting trees and caring for them. One was that he never watered them. He said that watering them “spoiled them” and that if you water them, each successive generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots. He contended that trees that weren’t watered HAD to grow deep roots in search of moisture.
He would plant an oak; and instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled up newspaper. Said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Did his theory work? It must have because trees that were planted twenty five years ago are standing granite strong, big and robust. Adversity and deprivation seemed to benefit them in ways that comfort and ease never could.
On the other hand his neighbor planted a couple of trees in the front yard and carried water to them every night for a solid summer--sprayed them and prayed over them--the whole nine yards. Now two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter their branches. They have become high maintenance trees.
What does this have to do with Christians? Are you a high maintenance Christian?
High Maintenance Christians refer to people who need a lot of attention in order to keep going and remain faithful. They require constant encouragement and constant support from others all the time in order to survive. They are up one day and down the next. Some Christians never seem to progress from BEING SUPPORTED to supporting themselves. Unless constantly being nurtured, they fall by the wayside or become very lukewarm in their Christianity. They become weak and shallow because their spiritual roots are very shallow.
Today’s scripture talks about high maintenance both when it is NECESSARY and when it becomes DETRIMENTAL. Let’s see how we can apply these truths to our individual lives.
1. The Two Sides of High Maintenance: Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” The Message Bible says, “Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. However, a few verses later in verse 5 it says, “for each one should carry his own load.” Is this a contradiction? How should we look at the idea of HIGH maintenance versus LOW maintenance in our Christian life?
There are times when high maintenance is necessary. For example, when people first come to Christ, they need the support and help from others to get them established and grounded. Look back to the time you were a brand new Christian. You may not have known much about the Bible, or how to pray about things. People helped you in your learning and growing process. Other times when you were going through a spiritual crisis someone was there to pray with you and help to encourage you. We have all been in situations where we need the support and prayers of other people. Often it is necessary to meet with new Christians on a regular basis to study the Bible and pray together. Hour of attention and care are often needed.
The other side of high maintenance is where we have a responsibility to become strong Christians. Romans 14:12 says, “we will be held accountable for our own actions.” Hebrews 12:12-13 says, “therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” The subject of that sentence is YOU. YOU strengthen. YOU make level paths. It is our responsibility to pick ourselves up when we get discouraged--to let our spiritual roots SEARCH OUT the refreshing water of the Word that our roots go down deep--that we will become strong like Old Doc Gibbs’ trees. This doesn’t happen when we remain dependent on other people, waiting for their constant encouragement and nurture.
Hebrews 6:1 tells us to “...go on to maturity...” While high maintenance is crucial to the survival of brand new Christians, or necessary in crisis situations, we don’t stay at this point. We are to “go on to maturity.” We should reach a point where we are not always looking for someone to support us but that we are able to support others who are in need of it. When our spiritual roots begin to grow deep, we gain strength from God. Paul gave a good example of the strength that comes from God when he said, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and of all comfort, who COMFORTS US in all our troubles so that we can COMFORT THOSE in any trouble with the comfort we have received from God” (II Cor. 1:3-4).
Are you a new Christian who needs constant care? Are you a long time Christian who has failed to grow and who still needs constant care? OR are you reaching a point when you can help others who need a boost?
2. What is the Difficulty with High Maintenance?: You might say, “I can’t see where it matters one way or another whether I am high maintenance or low maintenance. But think of it this way. Our churches are only strong when the members are strong. Hebrews 6:1 says, “therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity...” When failure to bear our own load requires high maintenance all the time, we hinder the cause of Christ. Have you ever thought of it that way? This happened in the church at Corinth. Paul recognized their immaturity when he said, “I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it” (I Cor. 3:1-2).
High maintenance can hinder the growth of the church if people are not ready to step into places of ministry such as is needed--teaching, visitation, prayer, giving, helps.
If each member of this church were just like you, what would this church be like? Would it be stronger or weaker? Would it be spiritually immature or spiritually mature. Would it be a blessing to the community or a blight on the community? Would it be like Old Doc Gibbs trees, tall and stately, resistant to the storms or the drought? Would it be like the trees that had been coddled so much that they still were not strong and steadfast after two years?
3. How Do You Go Beyond the High Maintenance Stage?: To have a DESIRE to serve the Lord totally is probably the first step, but it is in itself not enough to get you there. There has to be ACTION taken as far as a decision. David prayed, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
COMMITMENT is the step that follows. Saying, “I have DECIDED to follow Jesus--it is an act of the WILL--not a feeling--because feelings come and go. You might have a severe headache, might feel exhausted, might feel depressed, might feel like quitting--but when you have made a rain or shine commitment, ... I have DECIDED--An act of the WILL, it will help you to get beyond the high maintenance stage.
STUDY--II Timothy 2:15 says “study to show thyself a workman that needed not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.” It’s important to grasp the truths that are in the Word of God not only by reading it but by thinking about it and understanding it. Then to apply it--to put it into practice in your daily life. You’ve got to work at it in order for you to be able to apply it to your situation during stressful times. Do you know the Word so that it is there when you need it?
David said, “thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11KJV). He went on to say, “I delight in our decrees; I will not neglect your word. When the devil tries to convince us that God does not love us, that we might as will give up and quit, we are able to defeat him by knowing and applying the Word of God to our situation.
PRACTICE--One of the things that will help you more than anything else is to not only learn and grow but begin to give out away from yourself to others who are struggling. Stretch yourself to do something you don’t feel comfortable doing--volunteer to do something new, something where you know you have to depend upon the Lord. Share an answer to prayer with someone. Pray for someone in need right then and there. Tell someone how to come to Jesus. Put into practice those things you are learning. Start a Bible study with one other person. All of these things will help your roots to go down deeper like Old Doc Gibbs trees. It will help you to make the transition from being a high maintenance Christian to a low maintenance one.
CONCLUSION: Are you a high maintenance Christian? If so, allow someone to help you when you need it. Sometime in the future you will be able to help someone else.
STORY: It reminds me of a story of a public school teacher who noticed a little girl straining to read. She made arrangements to take the girl to have her eyes examined. A few days later she handed the little girl a pair of glasses.
“I can’t take them. I can’t pay for them,” the little girl said, embarrassed by her family’s poverty.
The teacher told her, “You can pay for them someday by getting glasses for some other little girl.” She saw the little girl as a giver who would one day have something to share with someone else.”
Our prayer today needs to be,
“Lord, help my roots to grow deep into the Eternal God so that when the rains fall and the winds of adversity blow, we won’t be swept. asunder.”
AMEN
