Paul’s Letter to the Gauls (Galatians) – Chapter 6

I would urge you in the body of Christ, if you are a little more mature, and I thank God, I started with a bunch of teenagers, hippie teenagers. You can’t stay that way forever. The Vietnam War has been over for nearly 15 years now. There is no more rioting in Santa Barbara. We haven’t burned down a bank in a decade. You are becoming more mature, probably more than you realize. If you realize how much less mature others are, you may feel a real sense of weakness yourself, but if you compare where you are with where some other people are, you, brother or sister, need to consider a question being asked of you now. What do you do in restoring someone when he falls into sin? I think the first thing I have to ask myself is, God, Lord, give me the strength to go talk to him. I hate doing that. I hate to get into a problem. And you know something, most of you in this room despise it more than I do, to the point you will rationalize everything on earth to keep from doing it. I think that most of you cannot and never will. So that means it falls on a few people to do so.

Do it, don’t sit there with your hands in your pocket, brother. Go do it. Now, this is not Paul of Tarsus speaking tonight. This is Gene Edwards speaking, and hear me. When you go, do it according to this verse, verse one, go to that person as though it were you who had done it, and that you were the one to be restored. Go to that person as if they were you. Now, the first question you have to ask is, if I’d pull that kind of a stunt, what would I want said to me? And boy, that changes everything. I would beg you to never go to anyone harshly, never to go to anyone self-righteously, but don’t not go. It’s not good English, but say it again. Don’t not go. Now, I have something else to tell you who don’t ever go. This is personal. It’s out of my heart. It’s off the top of the stove. This is my personal experience. I am one of those who often have to go. I appreciate doing it just about like you do. Castor oil would look great compared to this… most of you have never had this stuff. It’s the most hideous taste in the whole world.

Those who go invariably…hear me carefully…lose their image as a caring person. I’m going to run that again. Those who go lose their reputation as caring people. The rest of you remain totally compassionate, loving, caring, and judgmental at your core about how those who did go handled it. Every once in a while…usually, these things work out very beautifully, but every once in a while, that person you’re talking to goes out. They talk from one end of the church to the other, and all of you caring people believe everything…you mistreated him…how in the world could you have done that? I’m so disappointed in you for going to that brother, that sister. You have no right to talk that way until you get out of your “caring” mode and into a “going” mode. You get involved with an adulterous…you get involved in a situation where someone has committed some sort of immorality. You won’t do it. You’re delighted for us to go, me to go, and then judge the very daylights out of those of us who do.

Now, I’m sorry, I’m off subject. That’s not in the Bible. That’s in my experience, but I am learning this. As much as I hate to go, if I really care, I have to go talk to that person. It is debilitating. It is emotionally draining. It sometimes takes weeks to recover from it. Therefore, it should be shared with many people. But brothers, go to those who are weak and restore and restore and restore and do it as though you were going to yourself.  Judge nobody, judge nothing. Be patient, be gracious, be so liberal, but don’t sit at home; if it hasn’t worked last time, or the time before, or the time before, go again anyway. Now, I know that’s a pretty heavy dose to put on you. Sometimes I just stop going. I get discouraged, and I always end up regretting it. I wished I had gone one more time.

We had a situation where this brother was just bound and determined to pull a dumb stunt. He was going to marry somebody that everybody knew he ought not to marry. I’m not like I used to be with some people. Some people, I let him do it. Dog on it. I just let him do it. I don’t care. I cared about this kid. I stopped him once. I stopped him twice. I had the church behind me in this. I had stopped him three times. I stopped him four times. I asked some other brothers to go talk to him. They spoke to him once. They stopped him. He started it again. I went to them. I said, “Go talk to him again.” They said, “No, let him go do it,” and they told me, “Don’t bother.” And by the way, this is the only good story I’ve got to tell myself in the whole world. I went to him when I was… this is not legal…I’m not talking about legal things. I’m talking about sitting down with a brother, crying with him, asking him questions to understand, asking him to consider what he’s doing, and talking to the sister, which went over like you wouldn’t believe.

He’s one of the dearest brothers I know in this world, and today he is married to one of the most precious sisters I’ve ever met. I’m glad I went the sixth time, but there are hundreds of brothers and sisters to whom I never went the first time, and for sure I never went the second. This is about the only one I ever went to again and again. Now, he was open to it. He was receptive. He was also his own man. He was not intimidated by what I said. Boy, was he not intimidated. I believe it was kept on a spiritual plane, and that is not easy to do; it has taken me 50 years to get to this point. You who are spiritual, restore. We don’t have any spiritual people other than the most spiritual among you. Go do it. Restore them. Don’t just let it go on, saints. Go care and help. That’s number one. That’s what Paul was telling these people. I am interpreting it based on my own experience. Verse two, bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. I could never have known what that meant if I had not observed the sisters in the church. Brothers watch the sisters care for one another. They really care for one another, and they bear one another’s burdens. I don’t think it’s natural for brothers to do that.

You know, when the sisters in our fellowship get together, they get together, and they talk about their needs and their problems. They’re so open, and then they all pray, and they all cry. They go out of their way to encourage. Their brothers get together, and not one of them mentions a problem he’s got. But he prays, is challenged, puts arms around one another, and sings, “Give me some men who are stout-hearted men…” And we wrestle with the problems of a building or something that broke, and the finances, and we go out of there, and we feel great. That’s how we care for one another.

Well, I would never recommend that the sisters be ministered to in the brotherly fashion, but brothers, you need to learn to care for other brothers in the sisterly fashion. To sit down and talk with one another about your personal limitations and your needs and your problems and bear one another’s burdens, and in so doing, fulfill the only law Jesus Christ ever left on this earth, and that is: bear one another’s burdens; to love one another; to love one another is to bear one another’s burdens. Brothers, bear one another’s burdens. Memphis brothers, be more compassionate. Why are you picking on us, Gene? Why? Why do you figure? What do you…What have you heard? But I know you, brothers, and I know men. There needs to be more openness among men to bear one another’s burdens.

I can tell you how much every brother in the church is making. I know whether he’s in debt. I know how badly off he is financially. I know whether they can buy food and pay their rent, and I know that almost on a monthly basis. I generally keep up with nearly everybody in the church. And yet with all of that, I still miss so much. I am shocked. I think I know where everybody is, and suddenly I realize there’s been something going on for six months or a year that I’ve been totally insensitive and uncaring about, not noticing, and often right under my nose…and I’m working at it. Brothers, open your eyes and care for one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Sisters show the brothers how to care.

Do you notice how often your wife takes something to someone? Do you know you? I know they do. They bring something to someone’s house and show a little token of care. Brother, you ought to do that. That does your old masculine soul good. You have nights when you can take someone out to dinner. You have nights when you can invite somebody over. I don’t care how well you know them. There are people whose burdens you can shoulder. The church must be a place that is constantly caring because there is a constant need. It is everywhere. We are weak people who need love. Demonstrated caring love.

Having said that, I’m going to turn around and show a little wrath here. There is also…I’m going to change to the next one…this is the other one. There’s also that soul who, “This is not a loving church. Where were you when I needed you? You didn’t hear what Gene said that night. You’re a callous, caring bunch of people. I was really needy, and you didn’t come help me, and I don’t care what happens to y’all. I just don’t care because you weren’t there when I needed you.” Well, rain on you. That’s how I feel about you. That’s childish. That’s immature, and I’ll tell you what else. If you get off the periphery and get in the middle, we might be able to find you. That is almost always some peripheral Christian who’s literally asking you to come over and find out what’s wrong with them. Get in the middle. Care a little bit, yourself. Let it be known. Do it in a mature way…and there’ll be someone to care for you. You spoiled brat.

By the way, you’re listening to a man speak who has earned the right to speak. And that’s what this other verse is: Bear your own burden. Each one of you should carry your own load. Now that’s part of it. The other part is to take responsibility for your own decisions and stop blaming others for your problems. Stop being a blamer. Let the bathtub sit on its own feet. Is that the way that old saying goes? How does that thing go? Let every tub sit on its own bottom: a chronic whiner and a chronic blamer. You do not need care; you need counsel. You need someone far, far wiser than I am to sit down and discuss with you your willingness to blame everybody on earth for your problems except yourself. That is caring for you, my dear child of God, and if you resent it…If you resent it, it only highlights your problem.