by Pastor Patrick Cho

Last time I wrote about how I was reminded of the important principle that discipleship is life on life. It is not reduced to a program in the church, but instead, every time you interact with someone else it becomes an opportunity to help them in the faith. Even in your casual conversations, you can encourage, teach, help, or counsel others. It is just a matter of whether you choose to take advantage of those opportunities or not.

Since then I have had a few conversations with different people about how difficult it is to make the commitment to someone else to walk through trials with them. This reminded me of another principle regarding discipleship that is just as important to remember: discipleship is love. Paul writes in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The idea behind the word “burden” is weight. When someone else has a great load to carry, it makes it much easier when another comes to help bear it. This is part of how we fulfill Christ’s command to love one another. But this is hard, and it requires a commitment of love. It is telling your brother or sister, “It doesn’t matter how deep of a pit you are in. We will climb out together no matter how long it takes.”

This principle is also expressed in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 where Paul writes, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” The idea behind the word “help” is literally to tie yourself to another. It is like when a tree is too frail to straighten on its own and so you tie it to a stake for support. To help a brother or sister is to tie yourself to them until they have the strength to stand.

Sometimes growth is slow and so it requires time. Often other’s trials require patient and wise counseling from the Word. It is rarely easy. People are too often slow learners and growth can be painfully slow. This is why it is tremendously loving to say, “I will walk with you. We’ll do this together.” Discipleship is love.

Now here’s the thing for the believer: love is not an option. Christ does not leave it to us to decide whether we will love others or not. It is commanded of all believers that we commit to one another in love, just as Christ has loved us. If you are in Christ, you should be seeking out opportunities to love in this way. This is that agape love that serves others (cf. 1 Cor. 13:4-7) and is more than just a feeling or a thought (cf. 1 John 3:18). If we at LBC are going to pursue being a loving church, we need to make these kinds of commitments to one another in love.